Montessori for Dementia revisited...more links and information!

Remembering to Close the Gate

Have your ever gone to the basement to get a can of tomatoes and could not remember what you where doing in the basement?  It is a very common thing.  Remembering where we are going and, more importantly, why we went there can be a challenge.

I am personally never going to know if I am getting worse in the memory department because I have left my glasses, purse, credit card and phone in seven states and Canada!  I am a very absent minded person. I have always been this way so how will I detect a change?

This whole conversation brings us back to the post from yesterday talking about Montessori for Dementia and how that program helps people with diminished memory regain part of the knowledge they have lost.  It seems to me that if you are a spouse dealing with this problem, you might be well served to begin leaving clues that help both you and your partner remember stuff (a big scientific word) and things.

We were talking with friends at lunch today about how we gave ourselves clues for remembering what needs to be done.  Things can be left in small sorted piles on the stairs so you can put them away when you go up or down stairs...desk items, notes, memos about phone calls...towels, clothes and shoes...you probably have your own system but you know what I mean.  My friend then said that she does that.  When she goes upstair to get pink thread she will pick up the laundry to put away then wonder what she came upstairs for in the first place.  She now recites a mantra....pink thread-pink thread-pink thread-pink thread...all the time she as she is putting things away.

Montessori methods probably are more a part of our lives than we can imagine.  For example, patterns for mundane tasks we do on a daily basis are very helpful.   Have you ever left your card behind at the ATM?  I bet if you asked the people inside your bank how many times customers leave their card in the machine in a month you would be surprised.

If we could all share how we are coping with those things that are problems for ourselves or someone we love, it might help someone else.  Be sure to revisit August 3 blog post.  Or visit Montessori Methods to to Treat People with Dementia for information on this subject.  You might also read "So simple, it's genius.(Cameron Camp, director of The Myers Research Institute usage of Montessori approach for people with dementia)(Interview): An article from: Nursing Homes. There are also a number of books available that might help:  Books on Montessori Methods for Dementia.

I think I am done talking about this for a while.  Pass the word by a Twitter post or on your Facebook account.  Who knows, someone might need a little boost.

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