On the dining room floor at work, crumbled cornbread from lunch.
"Do you have a broom?" asked a resident walking by. "I'll sweep that up."
"Oh, great," I said, and went and got a broom and dustpan for her.
Her friend scolded her. "Don't do that, you've got a bad back."
[She doesn't, this was a figment of the friend's dementia.]
"Hush!" the woman scowled. "I want to do it!"
Wow--a resident said what she wanted to do!
The Big A (not all people with dementia have Alzheimer's, but a lot do) erodes people's ability to communicate clearly in words. Getting to know them is like playing a clue game, usually without words.
But in this case--a free card!
Time for some more "therapeutic fibbing": I will get some popcorn or something and sprinkle it on the floor and see if it works a second time. There's no guarantee: the Big A is a cunning one.
"Do you have a broom?" asked a resident walking by. "I'll sweep that up."
"Oh, great," I said, and went and got a broom and dustpan for her.
Her friend scolded her. "Don't do that, you've got a bad back."
[She doesn't, this was a figment of the friend's dementia.]
"Hush!" the woman scowled. "I want to do it!"
Wow--a resident said what she wanted to do!
The Big A (not all people with dementia have Alzheimer's, but a lot do) erodes people's ability to communicate clearly in words. Getting to know them is like playing a clue game, usually without words.
But in this case--a free card!
Time for some more "therapeutic fibbing": I will get some popcorn or something and sprinkle it on the floor and see if it works a second time. There's no guarantee: the Big A is a cunning one.
Wonderful! She needs her own little broom and dustpan, perhaps.
ReplyDeleteI hope your cunning plan works again.
Fresca!
ReplyDeleteSo good to be back in your comments box...! have you redecorated? The old rattan chair is gone, I see....and it seems smaller than when I was here last, which was two years ago!
Anyway, so wonderful to be reading your blog again, its like coming home. Coming home to find you spreading popcorn on the floor, for some reason...
ZHOEN: This woman might enjoy having her own little cleaning cart!
ReplyDeleteMANFRED: Wow! You are back! Soooo happy to see you: I'm looking forward to the full launch of your new blog.