Alzheimers, Its All in the Palm of Your Hand

Listen up. Many of the persons suffering from Alzheimer's can't make decisions. So, they do what they can do. They say NO.

They can't make a decision and when they are saying NO they are telling you they can't decide. No is the biggest, most frequently used, word in the Alzheimer's World dictionary.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Communicating in
Alzheimer's World

Back in early 2009, a few of the early readers of the Alzheimer's Reading Room wanted me to write about my own experience as an Alzheimer's caregiver. So I decided to write about my own metamorphosis. This metamorphosis continues to this day. I am constantly changing and refining my approach. 

I didn't realize it at the time, but the decision to get serious about the Alzheimer's Reading Room brought with it great benefit for both Dotty and me. 

As I began to write I was forced to think about my own caregiving effort. This lead me to examine what I was doing in greater detail. I soon realized I could improve on everything I was doing through greater systematizing of my own thoughts, efforts, and philosophy.

In The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver (Part One), I said:

The more I learned the more I wanted to know. I learned a great deal about Alzheimer's disease and dementia--including the science. It helped me understand a very mystifying disease. It helped me to put a frame around something that is difficult if not impossible to describe.

Near the end of that article I wrote:

Then one day--a couple of years in--I came to a realization--it was time to say NO to Alzheimer's. I decided to fight.
I decided I would not accept the crazy behavior, the incontinence, and I would not continue to live in a shell. Instead, I would find ways to change things.
First, we would go out in the world and resume living our life the way we had before the diagnosis. Second, I would find a new way to communicate with my mother. Third, I would identify each problem that comes with the disease and tackle it head on.
Change, not acceptance.

Continue Reading

via alzheimersreadingroom.com