Neuro Note #2: Alzheimer's Disease

To me, Alzheimer's Disease is the worst disease that someone can ever experience. It is awful for the person with the condition, but it's even worse on the family. I wanted to read the article "OT's Role in Helping Kids Understand a Grandparent's Dementia" because I have a grandparent who has Alzheimer's Disease. She has had this for about 15 years now. I am currently 23 so I was about 8 years old when she was diagnosed. This article was a perfect representation to me on how it was to grow up with a grandparent who has to go through this type of disease. As a kid, it is hard to understand how someone you look up to will slowly forget things and eventually forget who you are. I know for my situation, by siblings and I spent so much time with my grandmother doing fun activities because we didn't think we had much time left with her. As we got older, we have changed roles from being her playful grandchildren to her caregiver. My siblings and I love that we are able to help my grandfather take care of her because we know that it can get very hard for him to do by himself. We all learned at young ages how to correctly control a hospital bed, a wheelchair, and any other adaptive devices she needed to use before she was completely bed ridden. The article explains how Kathryn Harrison was able to come up with a book for children to explain what dementia is and how to handle it from a grandchild's perspective. It explains that the grandchildren help put the mom and the grandmother in better spirits because they would play all kinds of games together. It was a happy time and made for happy memories. They didn't let the fact that she had a disease get in the way of them making the most out of their time with their grandmother. When she eventually had to go to a nursing home, the caregivers there took the time to explain to the children what all they did so they could be there and help. They also allowed them to stay there when they would do any type of examination on her and even let them do crafts with the other people in the center. It was an important thing because it helped the grandmother be more comfortable in the center. It just helps the whole process when she starts loosing her memory. I love that she came up with this idea to make a children's book to help parents explain what will happen with this disease. I know it is extremely hard on the spouse and the children of the person who gets the disease. I cannot even begin to count the times that I found my mother crying when we all first found out that my grandmother had Alzheimer's. It has made my mom so happy to see that we all still have such a great relationship with my grandmother. Even though she cannot talk much anymore, she still recognizes us all! We know this because when we enter her room she starts smiling so much and tries to talk to us. I honestly believe that my grandmother is still with us after 15 years because we have been by her side from the beginning and have tried to make everything as comforting to her as possible. I would recommend everyone who has to go through telling small children what dementia is to get the book that Kathryn Harrison wrote. It will make things so much easier for the parents. It's hard to explain it to children when you don't really understand what is happening yourself. I am glad to know there is a book out there in case I ever need it in the future.





Picture and Article came from:
Seniors Flourish. (2019, February 11). OT's role in helping kids understand a grandparent's dementia. Retrieved from https://seniorsflourish.com/kidsanddementia/