Books for PWD?

LizardJoy

Hello,

First time poster here. My mom has "mild to moderate dementia" (presumed ALZ after tests) and wants me to send her books about Alzheimers. I'm not confident she will be able to comprehend them as she can read aloud, but doesn't seem to understand what she has read. Are there any that are fairly easy to read? I've enjoyed reading several, but they are either highly scientific or geared toward caregivers rather than PWD.  

I'm a little worried that reading about ALZ will only distress her. Maybe I should just keep telling her I will mail them soon??? Thanks in advance

loveskitties

I looked up books for children to explain Alz.

Here is one I found which might be appropriate.  Not a recommendation, just a suggestion.

Can I Tell You About Dementia?: A Guide for Family, Friends and Carers 

If this does not work for you, perhaps just continue search about books for children.

Rescue mom

My DH with Alzheimer’s, formerly a voracious reader,  lost the ability to understand what he read, very early. He could say the words out loud, but did not comprehend them. (It was hard to get my head around that, but that’s how it was. I now know that’s very common). 

As others said, children’s books might work for a while. Or keep saying you’re looking, or you’ll send one soon, etc.

Cynbar

Personally, I would tell her you are still looking. Alzheimers is such a terrible disease, it will probably upset her (actually terrify her) to read too much. Many PWD dementia start with memory loss but progress to not knowing their loved ones, stop driving fairly early in the process, become incontinent, sometimes get agitated and aggressive, need total care ---- if it were me, I wouldn't want to know. My DH is just starting stage 7, and one of the things that comforts me is the fact he doesn't know how bad he is and that the end of his life is approaching.

GothicGremlin

Generally I agree, these books are tough to read. 

Near the beginning of stage 5, I found a book that I was able to read to my sister -- her vision and perception are such that she can't read on her own anymore and hasn't been able to since about stage 4.

The book is "Somebody I Used To Know" by Wendy Mitchell and it went over well.  It's not a depressing book, in fact, it's kind of inspiring. Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with early onset in her earlier 50s sometime around 2014, and she was (is) determined not to give in to Alzheimer's until she absolutely has to.  She's still on Twitter, by the way. She posts mostly photos, but she's still there!

Anyway, as soon as I told my sister the title of the book she said "that's exactly how it feels - somebody I used to know."  We would stop every few pages and she'd describe to me whatever resonated with her.  Since both Wendy Mitchell and my sister were diagnosed with early onset, it was something my sister could relate to.  I was able to use the book to ask my sister questions about her perceptions, feelings, etc.  It was good for her because it was a concrete way for her to know that she matters and that I care. It was good for me in that I was able to get a little window into what she was experiencing at that time.

Now that she's all over the place in stage 6, the book has been forgotten, but I still have the lessons from it, and she still has the warm feelings.

harshedbuzz

I don't know that I would take this one on.

While dad could decode words well into the disease- and loved to show off reading street signs and billboards as proof he could still drive- he didn't have the comprehension piece fairly early on and by midstages he didn't have the short term memory to recall what he'd read on the previous page. If she has some awareness of her condition and comprehension, giving her most books seems unkind as it could trigger or worsen depression.

There is a Chicken Soul for the Soul "Living with Dementia" but I'd want to vet it before handing it over.

HB