Jill posted this link on Alzheimer's. Thanks! I can absolutely see the changes they outline, in almost the exact same order.
The video says that one in ten over the age of 65 suffers from Alzheimer's. Yet, the thing that I have noticed most in living with Alzheimer's is how little others understand. When they are told someone has Alzheimer's, they associated it with the classic wandering off or repeating questions, but they don't understand other aspects. It is all around us, but most people never attribute certain behaviors to mental disease.
I must admit, that knowing what I now know, I can play back situations and have new understanding for what I was seeing.
I remember teaching relief society and having a woman make the strangest comments. It was hard to deal with. I would be working to establish an emotion or thought process, and her comments would really detract from that. I remember thinking, "You are a strange duck", but I didn't think, "Oh, you have Alzheimer's. Your brain just isn't functioning properly."
I remember working with people who were so obnoxious - wouldn't accept new ways of doing things. I remember thinking, "You just won't change your ways of doing things," but I didn't think, "You are having trouble learning new things. You can't grasp this new way."
I remember working with people who would promise you something and then act like they had never heard of the promise. I remember thinking, "I can't trust you," I didn't think, "Oh, you are having trouble remembering. I need to help you find a way of recording what we decide."
After Steve retired, the teacher evaluations for his last semester were left in my box. I should have ground them without reading them. However, I realized that none of his students had any idea whatsoever what was going on. They knew he was retiring, but had no suspicions why. After observing his behavior for a whole semester, they had no clue. They would say things like, "He was unprepared. Sometimes he would repeat the same lecture we had already had." or "He didn't care." Of course, some were positive and said they enjoyed the class.
It made me realize how often we make judgments without seeing through the correct lens.
1 comment:
That is really interesting, and made me stop and think how many times I have made a judgement about someone, and never once considered they might be struggling with beginning Alzheimer's. Such a scary disease, and one of those that is really hard for others to recognize, even those closest struggle.
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