Well, I had to break down and buy a new TV for the family room. It was a decision I hated to make, not because of the money or the hassle, but because I knew it would be a troublesome transition for my wife to learn a new remote. She was pretty good with the old one since the TV pre-dated her diagnosis of AD and she only switches between NBC and ABC for her afternoon stories, but the new one, although very similar, has thrown her for a loop. These little things reflect just how awful this disease is. From a very smart and active partner to someone that has difficulty learning a new remote. I hate AD !!!!!!!
Dick, I can so relate to you. My husband has finally learned how to use the new remote but if he accidentally pushes the cable button and it goes out he is unable to get it back despite repeated instruction. I have written out the numbers for his favorite channels so he can manage those. He loves listening to music, especially old Italian CD's. Unfortunately he cannot turn on the CD player either so he can only listen when I'm around. I'm with you, this disease is so devastating.
It is so sad, their world gets smaller and smaller...I remember nine years ago coming home from work and the house was totally dark....he didn't remember how to turn the lights on...it was then I knew my days of working were over.
In defense of the AD person, I have to say - I HAVE TROUBLE WITH THE NEW REMOTES!!! It took a cable guy (who installed HD on our big plasma, that already needed TWO remotes) 1/2 a day and two service calls to program all the TV"s, all of the remotes, and write out all of the instructions. When we messed up, and I am NOT blaming Sid -it easily could have been me- the guy had to come back, and I had to write out the instructions in a #1, #2, #3, etc. format. It's no wonder the person with AD is confused by the remotes.
I sat in front of the main TV with the remote, two pages of instructions, and I thought - I am old enough to remember when you bought a TV, plugged it in, and turned it on. (Maybe all I got was Howdy Doody in a fuzzy black and white picture, but at least I could turn the TV on and off without calling a service technician.)
Hey Joan, I liked to say that the issue was from a complicated setup like your speaking of, but I bought the simpliest TV I could find. No picture- in- picture, no frills, just plain HDTV. The remote is still a mystery. DickS
Sorry, I get very frustrated with TV technology, thus my rant about it.
Have you tried the colored circle stickers? Something like - big red circle on the on/off button.
A company representative contacted me recently about adaptive devices for the cognitively impaired. As soon as I get a minute, I am going to call him - maybe he has something in his inventory that may be helpful. I will let you know.
We had the same problem with the new phone. I thought it was important for O to at least be able to call 911. He suggested we put green tape with the words "talk" on one side of the ear piece and " push 911" on the other. He has been practising so hopefully he can do it in a real emergency. By the way, Joan, I'm a total techno-klutz ( sp.??) and I have never figured out how to tape a show or do anything fancy. I have done no special programming so really all we have to do is select the TV channels using the number pad. The one time I tried to play a movie using the DVD player we got for Christmas, I ended up having to call a friend when I couldn't get it back to TV. It' so frustrating when we have to deal with every stupid thing.
We got Jeff a cell phone about 2 years ago. We put a red sticker on the "off" or "end call" button, and a green one on the "send" or "answer call" button. Mostly, he doesn't go anywhere that he needs it anymore, but I've sent it with him when he flew from Baltimore to Denver on a couple of occasions. Fortunately, his brother, or whomever's at the other end of the flight knows to watch out for him. There's a type of cell phone called (I think) the Jitterbug, which is designed to be easier than average to use, and I considered one, but the context of his being without someone who's in charge now is just too rare.
I get the tv thing all the time though. "Why isn't the tv working?" And I check. He's accidentally pushed the "source" button on the remote so the monitor is trying to get its signal from the dvd player instead of the cable.
My DH loves music but he can't operate the stereo or ipod or anything really. My daughter had the idea to set up a room with sirius radio and just leave it on all day. It's great. He just loves it! We also set up a computer with a slide show of family photos running all day. He can watch and listen. Sometimes I put a movie on for him while I work, usually a concert video, and he will unplug everything when it's over because he doesn't know how to turn off the TV. Unfortunately it messes up my tivo settings when he does this.
Yes, I too just went through the whole gammit of what to do for Dee as she still enjoys differant tv shows during the day,, As I discussed on a differant topic here, I dropped Comcast and went with Direct tv so now I can program ( once only ) all her favorites for the whole day, Mon-fri...... What a simple salution to what was a real problem........ I also bought 2 phones that have the capability to put 9 pictures on the face and all she has to do is push on the picture and it dials that person ( have;nt installed them yet but are here on the ready . These are the things that help me as a caregiver and hopefully continues to give her a sense of independence
Update..... I went on Google and typed in "Univerisal TV Remote" and found a zillion sites. On www.dynamic-living.com I found a simple five button remote (on/off, Vol+, Vol-, Ch+and Ch-). that the writeup indicated was designed for people with dementia. Since my wife's range in from Ch 4 to Ch 7, I think the up and down channel buttom will be easy to learn. It was twenty bucks including shipping. Hope it helps! DickS
Good Luck with the simple remotes! I bought one a couple Christmas ago. He totally rejected it. He could not learn or understand anything new. He knew a few buttons on the old and wanted it back. Now he doesn't even know how to turn it off. Tonight the light beside his bed had him totally perplexed. I turned it off. He wanted to know how I did that. I showed him the knob to turn. This was my husband who used to tell me all about how electricity worked and rewired a a two story Victorian house. Also the pluming and completely remoldel it. I know this damn AD, but I don't understand why.
I mentioned that my DH designed & manufactured units for all the early space shots. The time came when he could not open a window, change a light bulb or get a glass of water. It is really annoying when 'experts' say you have to keep exercising your brain, learn new things, etc. Can any of you say your spouse was a real couch potato before AD? If it were true that you have to keep busy physically & mentally, then I'd be the one w/AD, not my DH.
Yes Betty, you are absolutely right. Almost everyone I can think of with AD was a creative, brain-using person. It is true that studies such as the Nun Study (the book is called Aging with Grace) shows a higher rate of AD in the nuns who had not spent their lives pursuing higher education, or taking a particularly intellectual interest in the world. And it may be true that there is a higher probability of AD among people who have avoided thinking much. But it sure seems that the process is going to overtake some of the brightest bulbs in the pack as well, ready or not.
One day at our clinical study site, a nurse (or tech, I don't know which he is) came in to do Jeff's vitals and saw that I had a crossword puzzle book, so he started going off about how "they say" doing crosswords can fend off Alzheimer's. It was kind of ironic. I don't think the tech staff always knows what study you're in, so it probably wasn't meant to be a horribly clumsy thing to say.
There may be a certain number of people who might, in parallel universes, get AD later in the universe where they use their brains, and earlier in the universe where they twiddle their thumbs and live shallowly.
But clearly, for certain people, if that card's in your deck, there isn't much you can do about it.
Hi Dick. I understand 110% what you are saying. I too bought a tv and an I-pod for my husband. I tried to teach him how to use it - I wrote every step of the way down for him - and still he just can't get it - it is so unbelievable - I agree - I hate hate hate hate this disease. It is destroying both of us. Like you said, college graduate so smart, so on top of things to not being able to read simple directions. I cry all the time.
My husband was an electrical technologist and did crossword and other word puzzels almost every day. He was also an avid reader.His language was affected early in the disease. Now he cannot follow a news program or movie , read a newspaper or book, have an intelligent conversation. Also the remote presents a problem, of course anything as difficult as the VCR,ATM,microwave are out of the question. He has in fact lost all his skills related to electronics. Something strange....he continues to play an excellent game of cribbage. Unfortunately I don't play but try to take him to places, like the Legion, where he can find a partner.
I give the nun's study short credence. It's too restrictive a group and many other things can come into play besides education. I just do not believe that more education, puzzles, new dances, whatever, will stave off AD. You can go to my web site http://geocities.com/caregiving4alz & click on 'You're in Good Company' and see how many famous, active, educated, intellegent, creative people have had AD. Statesmen, Generals, politicians, artists, writers, physicians and, especially actors whose stock in trade is using their memories. No, it's not education, it's not 'use it or lose it,' not by a long shot.
I agree with you. No one, regardless of education or intelligence or a million crossword puzzles is immune. I really think genetics has a lot to do with it. I hope I inherited my father's genes. He'll be 90 years old on April 1st, and his mind is as sharp as can be. He can hold an intelligent conversation on politics, sports, books - it's amazing.
Wow Betty...I did check your website. That's an impressive list. William Law Olmsted, Aaron Copeland, Norman Rockwell, and Frank Sinatra are on Jeff's most admired list, so I think he felt a little better learning this. My paternal grandmother was developing AD in her 80s when she died. My dad has Parkinson's, and I do wonder about my legacy from a neuro-degenerative standpoint. I hope I inherited someone else's genes...maybe my paternal grandmother's mother who was a feisty and fairly sharp pain in the tail into her 90s.
Sometimes I think that if it starts happening, I'll go on the meds just to give myself enough of a boost to sail a boat off into the sunset until it sinks in a squall.
Hi, I am new to this. I can identify with all and sometimes I don't know what to do. I have re-programmed the thermostat for the heat, coffee maker, grow lights, etc quite a few times and my husband unplugs when he gets frustrated. I kept a damaged remote for the tv (the puppy had chewed) but it really didn't prompt better recognition. I generally just call myself the "house tech" with a try at humor and he accepts that, is happy with it, I think.
I bought a new big button remote as hubby blamed his big fingers for hitting the wrong button. Of course you will all have to smile when he told my daughter when I wasn't in the room that he didn't need a new remote. He wasn't BLIND! ha! So now I tell him that remote is for ME not to have to get my glasses. He doesn't change channels and if I do, he wants it mostly back to this ONE outdoor channel. Then he will tell me turn it off, no , turn it back on, then he is sick of seeing turkeys! I used to always tease him about constantly flipping through the channels, I called it flyby surfing. He would ask me had I seen this movie or that, and I would tell him "Only part as it flew by!"
Before we knew about my husband's AD we bought a big, fancy TV set, almost a full scale home theater set up. The remotes drove me crazy. We have Direct TV and I bought an HDR setup from them when our original receiver died. The only reason I don't move that HDR to the other TV set is that he can basically use the remote, and turn the set on and off right now and I'm pretty sure he can't learn a new remote anymore. He won't watch anything that has been taped, so we aren't using most of the features we bought.
We have literally never used the CD player we bought as part of this set-up although we did watch a few DVR movies before he lost the ability to follow the story line. We bought an old fashioned record player that also played CDs a couple of years ago, but I think he has forgotten how to use that too because we aren't using it.
...[sigh]... And most of this happened before I realized that we had a problem. I look back now and I know it has been going on at least 4.5 years and maybe even more than that. He was really good at hiding the fact that he had a problem for a very long time.
Somehow our remote now goes to channel 2 if you push the up arrow instead of going from 31 to 32, etc. I have tried everything to fix it, but simply don't know how. This is when I HATE AD - my husband would have done all of this in the past. So, my husband can't find another station - he wants one that doesn't have commercials! but doesn't always want PBS of CSpan of course. Thankfully he can still use the mute button. I've shown him a zillion times how to push buttons in our motorhome and he just can't remember, so I can't see any reason to continue doing that. I find myself being thankful for the rest - he can still dress himself in the proper order and most of the time he is a very loving person who is extremely grateful I am around.
My husband loves to watch DVDs, so we set it up before we leave so that he goes to the DVD player and pushes the button to open the drawer, put in the DVD, push the button to close it, then he sits down and hits play. Then after 15 minutes, he falls asleep for about an hour, wakes up for the last 20 minutes or so of the movie, gets up and goes to the DVD player and switches movies! He has movies playing all day (and doesn't remember what he watched the day before, so sometimes I'll get home to the same movie five days in a row!). I took pictures of our remotes and in red, wrote on the pictures - #1, push this button; #2, push this button and #3, push this button - and he follows the pictures! (He lost his pictures twice, but I found them for him.)
My husband can't change channels at all, in the mornings I turn the T.v. on and put it on fox news and he is happy with that, I don't think that he is aware of what they are saying just enjoys the noise.If I won't to watch something at night I'll change it and he never pays any attention to it being changed. I hate this disease it has got to be the devil in deguise. GOD BLESS
You are soooo right, about the devil. There was a program on Alzheimers a few days ago. Husband watched it. He has no idea he has the disease. Also he was an electronic technician and now changing a light bulb is a challenge.
TV,s and controllers are definatlly a challenge....... I stopped our local cable for Direct tv so I could program tv for Dee .. They have a great system and in thiery would be wonderfull except the Direct TV system does;nt do what they say it will do ( programing from hour to hour ) so....... there outta here and now I;ll try the dish network... Both direct tv and the dish are programmable so you can set channels to change when ever you want and once set in, will change to the pre-programed channels everyday... Its great and when working its wonderfull, but as I said Direct tv can;t get it figured out, they even changed my box and still the same problems... I will post again on this subject once I get the dish... Others have told me that the dish system works great..... we;ll see and I;ll let you guys know... Dan