Week 5: Chapters 14 & 15

Coming up to the home stretch in our course these last few chapters have really put a lot into perspective. Currently working in the healthcare field with the elderly I see a lot of what has been talked about on a day to day basis. The Alzheimer's video was very touching and almost a little hard to watch at some points. My great grandmother was diagnosed with alzheimer's when I was young and it was really hard for me to understand why she could no longer communicate with me, it was almost as if my grandma was not their anymore. Just like in the video with the boy on the swing, how his grandmother said she didn’t really like him either as if they were to children playing together. It is very hard for loved ones to cope with a disease like this when there is this person they have known their whole life and now they are just gone and will never come back. I see a lot of people through my work when they come to see their relatives going "don’t you remember me? It’s me ___? come on I know you remember." it is really tough to see that because then it just agitates the resident more and makes it really hard for either one of them to connect on any level. I saw a great video a little while ago by a doctor named Teepa Snow. If none of you have ever heard of her I would highly recommend going to a conference of hers or getting your hands on a video. She really puts alzheimer's into perspectives and teaches many amazing techniques that will help you better understand and cope with dementia and alzheimer's.

A lot of times the elderly are always portrayed as being sickly and unable to complete any tasks on their own. The book refers to how some adults are not as fortunate as other and are deemed frail older adults. I feel that this is the general consensus of what it is like to grow old and why so many people are afraid of it. But there are many, in fact most of the elderly are just fine getting around until their dying day. I feel that many people walk on eggshells around their elders because of this when they just want to be treated as equals, or even the opposite, the younger generation will start to talk to them as if they are children. I hate it when I see this; I would never want to be talked to like that from a younger generation. I would be one of those old ladies with a broom running after youngsters shouting "you rascals get off my lawn!" But I think that many people should show more respect and try to learn from older adults because they have a lot to offer, look past the wrinkles and the walker, because inside they are still the same young person they have always been they just might not be able to do things as efficiently as they used to, but that does not mean that they are no keen and sound of mind.