My dad has Alzheimer's and I need him to stop doing things but don't know how to get him to listen he thinks everything is funny and a joke. While it may not be important to others it is to us. I want him to understand and im not sure he will
Try retraining an old horse who has dementia. He wasn't very bright in the first place but a really nice guy. For years I was the only one who could catch him when it was time to come in and finally even I could not do.it. What did I do? I made an alley way from the gate into the barn. I led his pasture mate in and he follow just as a foal would follow its mother. Is there a moral to this story. I don't know I will leave you to decide but thought I would share it
a person with alz has a rapidly dying brain. picture this brain with patches of dead cells from the frontal lobes, laterally and rearward. be nice to that person, they will not be alive for very long. discipline is a most maligned objective imo. i just lost my mother to dementia and trust me all she needed was loved and protected, not disciplined.
Crystal- Someone once told me that we should try to train people that are developing Alzheimers and compared it to training a horse or a dog. People with the disease are struggling to hang on to old skills, and would not be able to learn new ones. It would be nice if their good behaviors would last through their lifetimes, but this is usually not the case. They lose their social filters and no longer understand what socially accepted behavior is.
Discipline is not a concept that most would understand, primarily because they would not remember why they are in trouble. No memory of the incident, no memory of the consequence, no learning from it.
Like vste said, he may need constant attention, and efforts to distract him into doing things that you do not see as harmful.
You may find that he really can't remember limits or behave more appropriately. It's sad to realize this, and there are times when some limits can be set, and some people have some control over their behavior some times....but you may be facing the reality that he just needs constant supervision and a lot of distraction or redirection, plus modification of the environment to limit access to the things that pose the greatest problems.
My dad had a phase where he would grab or pinch cute nurses' bottoms...it went away, I am pretty sure just because they learned how to avoid giving him the opportunity.
Good luck with that. Once had a patient who refused to listen to his nurse and whenever she started to instruct him about something he would laugh and start singing to her great frustration
Someone once told me that we should try to train people that are developing Alzheimers and compared it to training a horse or a dog. People with the disease are struggling to hang on to old skills, and would not be able to learn new ones. It would be nice if their good behaviors would last through their lifetimes, but this is usually not the case. They lose their social filters and no longer understand what socially accepted behavior is.
Discipline is not a concept that most would understand, primarily because they would not remember why they are in trouble. No memory of the incident, no memory of the consequence, no learning from it.
Like vste said, he may need constant attention, and efforts to distract him into doing things that you do not see as harmful.
My dad had a phase where he would grab or pinch cute nurses' bottoms...it went away, I am pretty sure just because they learned how to avoid giving him the opportunity.