Need suggestions...

[Manda]

My father has ALS and is unable to use his hands and walk on his own. He can walk a little little with assistance. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for activities that my family can do together with my dad? All we do is sit and watch tv and I always feel so sad because I want him to enjoy himself a little more.

 

[GregK]

Movies, parks, zoos, window shopping, viewing sports, lunch or dinner out

 

[codyclan]

It is much harder for my pals to get out now and we have always been a huge game family. So I got a card holder from Amazon and we set that up and we play a wide variety of card games. We have several versions of the cd game 'scene it' and play that with visitors and our nieces and adult kids. It's a great conversation starter and even though my pals has virtually no use of his hands and is losing his voice, he can still play. We have adapted a wide range of games and that's a wonderful way to interact with each other and not have to talk or just sit and watch TV.

We play music and we have Apple TV and flip through pictures that I have on the 'cloud' and talk about past adventures. I also went through the very old photo albums, the ones from when my pals was a kid, and scanned those into my phone so we can go through those and he can identify folks whose names my kids would never know otherwise. These we also mirror on the tv so we can all enjoy.

My pals loves movies and has recently watched a zootopia with our adult daughters. He had me by a 'sloth' online and has me hide it all over the house and in the girls cars when they come over. They, in turn, hide it in all kinds of weird locations that he will discover--it's all about making memories. Be creative and make your own memories!

 

[lgelb]

Sounds like he still has enough trunk control for a beach wheelchair (available for rent at some locations). Movies at the mall. Paths through woods/along the water. Tooling through the mall, flea markets, farmers' markets. When pumpkins, holiday lights come out, drive him through the good neighborhoods.

 

[Nuts]

This my sound odd, but a trip through Costco is one of my husband's favorite outings these days. He can scoot around in his chair and check things out. He is safe and I'm nearby, but I don't have to be right with him so he has some independence and alone time while being out in public.

He also LOVES eating out. I hope he'll continue to love it and allow me to feed him when that time comes.

Does your dad have a power wheel chair? Demonstrating his chair's abilities for young children, who are amazed, is also a favorite here.

 

[Neilswife]

I think it is wonderful that you want your Dad to enjoy himself more. What you may want to do is think about what your Dad enjoyed pre - ALS and then try to figure out ways to put those same joys back into his life. Maybe even start a conversation with him on what has made him happiest in his life and incorporate more of those things into his routine. I bet you will find it might be something very simple that gives him great joy.