1. < Caregivers: Dementia

Any Games or “Homework” useful?

Posted by boppi @boppi, Jul 3 1:52pm

In trying to keep my dear husband mentally present, I have him do “homework” everyday consisting of Easy Senior and children’s crossword puzzles that have word banks, aphasia therapy workbooks, etc. we also play games like Chinese checkers to keep him capable of processing. It seems to be helping and I wonder what specific exercises y’all use. Many of these are ones I found on Amazon in my first few months of being frantic over the news of his illness.

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boppi | @boppi | Jul 7 2:09pm

You are alive, Greg!!! And whatever level you play/do things is fabulous!!! Keep pushing forward or enjoy where you are!

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Teri | @tsc | Jul 7 2:20pm
In reply to @gregd1956 "Dear @tsc I was asking, what age of your husband? And he playing Scrabble, puzzles of..." + (show)
@gregd1956

Dear @tsc
I was asking, what age of your husband? And he playing Scrabble, puzzles of themes, uses his home phone, jokes & funny stuff, cleaning dishes —> that’s great!

Well, for me, I’m 68 know & had become TBI bicycle accident 14 years ago (later this summer). It’s great when he does a lot of these things. I lost 80% of my memory, understanding, reading or writing. I can’t use playing these think\gs. Did I play things that that before my accident? I have no idea. My wife, Karen, tells me of what I did like: working at my city 14 years ago; how about the Christmases of our family decades ago; playing my music/songs as a pre-pro musician; being a processional computer programmer and more, BUT I’m alive with a different life… ❤️

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Hi @gregd1956, thank you for your message. My husband will be 81 in a couple of months.
I'm so sorry to hear about your bicycle accident and your TBI. That must be so difficult for you and your wife. You sound pretty upbeat in spite of it all. What kinds of things do you like to do now?

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gregd1956 | @gregd1956 | Jul 7 3:24pm

I’m trying again to play my music. I lost the memory of what songs names, what chords do I -lay. I lost 50% of that, but I can play the other 50% if it’s written; I do a lot of other stuff - inside or outside… some part of this and other good stuff

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laurie22 | @laurie22 | Jul 8 1:32pm
In reply to @tsc "I used to have to coax my husband to do a jigsaw puzzle, but he enjoys..." + (show)
@tsc

I used to have to coax my husband to do a jigsaw puzzle, but he enjoys doing them more now. He actually does them on his own and is very satisfied when he's completed one.
Most are for seniors - from 18 to 36 pieces, but I've also bought some children's puzzles - 60 - 100 pieces that have mature themes like aquatic life, airports, urban scenes.
He also still does dishes.
I've kept our land line phone because he can still use it, where a mobile phone is beyond him.
I often play Scrabble with myself. He's often curious about the words and will look them up in the Scrabble dictionary.
He still gets jokes and I often say something ridiculous to make him laugh.

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My Mom (who had Alzheimers) and I used to laugh a lot at a lot of things, and it helped us both. I don't know if we can recommend anything specific, but I found a book that makes my husband and I both laugh out loud about 50% of the time and at least chuckle at the rest. It is called "The Almost Wet Your Pants Book of Humor" by R. Bruce Baum. We read one bit of humor every night before going to bed to end the day on a laugh. I found it and many other books of humor at The World Laughter Tour, 5691 Asherton Woods Dr, Columbus, OH 43081. they are a 501c3. Laughter Arts & Sciences Foundation is also another site. There are also more social laughter clubs which can be accessed at https://www.laughterinstitute.ca/laughter-club/
I hope this helps.

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1 reply
Teri | @tsc | Jul 8 3:18pm
In reply to @laurie22 "My Mom (who had Alzheimers) and I used to laugh a lot at a lot of..." + (show)
@laurie22

My Mom (who had Alzheimers) and I used to laugh a lot at a lot of things, and it helped us both. I don't know if we can recommend anything specific, but I found a book that makes my husband and I both laugh out loud about 50% of the time and at least chuckle at the rest. It is called "The Almost Wet Your Pants Book of Humor" by R. Bruce Baum. We read one bit of humor every night before going to bed to end the day on a laugh. I found it and many other books of humor at The World Laughter Tour, 5691 Asherton Woods Dr, Columbus, OH 43081. they are a 501c3. Laughter Arts & Sciences Foundation is also another site. There are also more social laughter clubs which can be accessed at https://www.laughterinstitute.ca/laughter-club/
I hope this helps.

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Thank you@laurie22, your post made me smile!

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bayviewgal | @bayviewgal | Jul 8 11:11pm

I got my husband signed up with Lingraphica Talk Therapy but he just couldn't navigate the tablet so he got frustrated and lost interest, so I went back to flashcards and workbooks. He's got severe cognitive impairment so even those are challenging for him so we give it a break every so often then start it back up again, until he's ready to "move on".

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boppi | @boppi | Jul 9 6:21am

I am with you on the iPad manipulation issue! Where do you buy flash cards?

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