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How to care for someone with Alzheimer’s without losing yourself
Geriatric Care Management
If you’re caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease, read this great advice from the Geriatric Care Management blog. It may change your caregiving experience for the better — for you and your loved one.
There are many things to be struck by whenever I meet with the daughter, son, spouse or friend of someone with Alzheimer’s. Strong, compassionate, patient – these words describe but never capture the essence of the person in front of me.
And as we talk, I’m invited into their unique experience of the illness. They share the good days with me and offer up the parts they wouldn’t change for anything.
But something else emerges too. It’s a sense of being lost – unable to tell any more where their needs begin and the needs of the person they are caring for, end.
Posted on June 30, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving | Tags: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, family caregiving, respite care
Study finds antidepressants not working in older men
The University of Western Australia
A recently published study in the journal PLoS-One has found that more than half of older men who use antidepressant medication or psychotherapy are not responding to treatment.
Lead author Professor Osvaldo Almeida, Research Director of the Western Australian Centre for Health and Aging at The University of Western Australia, said the finding was surprising and alarming.
“This is a big issue, not only because depression causes significant personal suffering and disability, but also because our results show that these men are also more likely to die,” Professor Almeida said.
“We found that older men who were using antidepressants but remained depressed had a substantially higher mortality risk. However, men using antidepressants who were free of depressive symptoms had a similar mortality risk over 10 years as the rest of the population.
“The most plausible explanation for these results is that the increased mortality risk associated with antidepressant use is not due to the medication itself, but to the persistence of depressive symptoms despite treatment. In other words, it is the depression that is contributing to shorten people’s lives.”
Posted on June 30, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Caregiving | Tags: depression, Men
Agency helps autistic children speak
The Capital
Two years ago, Stephen Hartman planned to shoot a video showing different stages of autism, but he got sidetracked at Syracuse University.
It was there that he learned about Kayla Takeuchi, a nonverbal autistic teenager who had learned to communicate using a keyboard in a style of “speaking” known as facilitated communication.
Hartman, who is executive director of an Annapolis-based agency that provides services to autistic children, decided to do a video about that concept instead.
The video, “Kayla’s Voice,” won a 2010 Telly Award, which honors local, regional and national cable television programs and videos. Now Hartman’s organization is helping six Maryland families bring the communication concept into their homes.
“People often tell parents of people with autism that if (your child) doesn’t speak by 7 or 8, it’s likely that they’ll never communicate, they’re never going to speak,” said Hartman, executive director of the Whole Self Center. “If you hold that kind of standard and don’t give that person a chance to learn, even the smallest potential is (gone).”
via Annapolis agency helps autistic children speak • Local (www.HometownAnnapolis.com – The Capital).
Posted on June 29, 2010 | 1 Comment | Category: Autism | Tags: Autism, children with Autism, communication, facilitated communication, typing
Autism in Summer: For some, it’s time for camp
For a lot of kids, summertime means summer camp. In recent years, more children with autism have been getting in on the summer camp fun.
There are a variety of autism camps being held this summer. In Florida, Joey Travolta, (brother of John Travolta) runs a film camp for children with autism.
In North Carolina, Funshine Camp lets children and adults with autism and other disabilities enjoy the outdoors for four days at no cost (they bring caregivers).
In Wisconsin, the organizers at Camp Awesum say they try to provide a traditional summer camp experience but accommodate the needs of autistic children with things like special sensory areas.
My Summer Camps, a directory of summer camps around the country, has a list of camps for children and teenagers with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
Here is Spirit of Autism’s list of questions to ask when looking at summer camps for your autistic child.
Is your child at camp this summer? How’s it going? Any tips to share on making the transition to camp?
Posted on June 29, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism, Caregiving | Tags: Asperger's, Autism, camp, summer, teens
Typing helps boy with autism communicate, write poetry
Healing Thresholds
Learning to type has helped this autistic child communicate – and express himself through poetry. Visit Healing Thresholds’ Facebook page to read one of Jamie’s poems.
Jamie Ponsoby, now 13, was diagnosed with autism at 2 1/2. His speech gradually disappeared and he had difficulty with sign language. His mom read about a person who found it easier to communicate by typing rather than talking and decided to teach Jamie to type. Now being able to communicate, Jamie has proven to his family that he is aware, has a sense of humor, has above-average emotional skills, and has a gift for poetry.
via News: Typing Helps a Boy with Autism Communicate | Healing Thresholds Autism Therapy.
Posted on June 28, 2010 | 1 Comment | Category: Autism | Tags: assisted communication, Autism, children with Autism, communication, poetry
Boy with autism, Down syndrome will throw first pitch at Red Sox game
Kennebec Journal
A Maine boy with autism and Down syndrome will throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park in Boston Tuesday, disability awareness night. Go Jackson! (And go Red Sox!)
Jackson Hickey will be on the mound Tuesday night at Fenway Park, not as a replacement for the battered Red Sox staff but to throw out the first pitch.
The 11-year-old from West Gardiner will be center stage on disability awareness night prior to Boston’s game against Tampa Bay. Jackson’s mother, Jayne, entered her son’s name into a contest promoted by Exceptional Parents Magazine and got a response within 24 hours.
“I filled out (a form) and I saw the Red Sox were an option,” she said. “I said ‘I’d really like to make his dream come true.’ ”
The magazine honors a special family each year and selected the Hickeys for their compelling story.
via West Gardiner boy to throw out 1st pitch at Fenway | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME.
Posted on June 28, 2010 | 2 Comments | Category: Autism, Down Syndrome | Tags: Autism, Boston, Massachusetts, Red Sox, sports
Autism can be your child’s ally, not enemy, in making friends: 5 tips on turning peers to pals
Psychology Today
Childhood friendship is a busy highway with lots of maneuvering and plenty of traffic, but for children with autism it is often an isolated one-way street. If a child with autism has difficulty relating to his peers, then find ways to have his peers relate to him.
Here are five tips on how to help develop friendships for your child with autism.
Posted on June 28, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism, Caregiving | Tags: Autism, Caregiving, children with Autism
Memories in Making art program for Alzheimer’s patients
Denver Post
Memories in the Making is an Alzheimer’s Association program that gets Alzheimer’s patients painting, often with remarkable results. Organizers say that Alzheimer’s patients often portray memories or feelings they’ve lost the ability to express. The Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association recently raised $190,000 at a fundraiser featuring the auction of Memories in the Making paintings, as the Denver Post reports here:
Sure, it would be nice to have something by Picasso or Van Gogh hanging on the living room wall. Problem is, an original is priced out of most everyone’s reach. Better, then, to make an investment that’s affordable, and in the end, much more meaningful.
That’s the story behind Memories in the Making. Hosted by the Colorado chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, Memories is a sale of 70 paintings created by Denver-area residents with Alzheimer’s disease. The 20 works that a jury selects for live auction are matched with companion pieces done by such professional artists as Anne Aguirre, Peggy McGivern, Jill Soukup and Michelle Torrez; other professionals contribute decorated palettes, jewelry, fabric art andSeen Gallery View more pictures from social events around town in the exclusive “Seen” gallery.sculptures for silent auction.
The 15th edition of the sale raised $190,000 for the Colorado chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and was enjoyed by the crowd that filled the United Club Level at Invesco Field. Joanne Fisher is the event manager; Gwen Ippen serves as program coordinator.
Posted on June 28, 2010 | 1 Comment | Category: Alzheimer's | Tags: Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's Association, art, fundraising
Multigenerational Homes on the Rise
Oregon Live
Multigenerational homes – when three or more generations are living together as a single family – are again on the rise. More and more, middle generations find themselves caring for young children (or even adult children) and their parents at the same time. This trend is the result of a poor economy, in which many families find the costs of long-term care overwhelming, and many families opt to have aging loved ones move in with them to ease the financial burden.
The arrangement is full of both challenges and opportunities. Some families hesitate to take on such a big responsibility, fearing a loss of privacy and increased stress. Another consideration for families contemplating a multigenerational living arrangement is cost.
On the surface, moving mom or dad in might seem like a money-saving opportunity, but one spouse may have to cut back on hours or even quit a job altogether in order to provide care. Financial stress can take a toll on families already struggling with the unknown terrain of caring for an aging loved one.
via Multigenerational Homes on the Rise | OregonLive.com.
Posted on June 25, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia | Tags: Caregiving, family caregiving
Mothers of children with autism pay price in workplace
EurekAlert!
VANCOUVER, Wash.—Mothers of children with autism see their careers disproportionally affected as they confront greater demands on their time, inflexible workplaces and increased medical costs, according to a new study by researchers at Washington State University Vancouver.
The study, based on a survey of 326 families in Washington and Oregon, found that slightly more than half the women worked fewer hours to accommodate the needs of their child and three out of five had not taken a job because of their child’s autism. To care for the child, one-quarter had taken a leave of absence and nearly as many had not taken a promotion. Nearly 60 percent had suffered financial problems in the past year.
via WSU researchers find mothers of children with autism pay price in workplace.
Posted on June 24, 2010 | 3 Comments | Category: Autism | Tags: Caregiving, children with Autism, family caregiving, mothers, research
