Telling a Young Grandchild

FAHNJL

DW has an EO Alzheimer's diagnosis at 64. We raise two grandchildren, 19 and 7. Because they live with us, they need to understand why grandma acts the way she does. The older girl gets it, but I can't find a way to effectively educate the younger one. I'm looking for resources. Anybody?

Ed1937

https://pennmemorycenter.org/books-to-teach-children-about-ad-dementia/

https://www.hgseniorliving.com/blog/top-childrens-books-to-help-your-kids-understand-dementia-and-alzheimers

Here are 2 links for you, although it might appear to be only one. There are others too. Google "Alzheimer's books for children".

harshedbuzz

This sounds heartbreaking all around. I am sorry.

In your shoes, I might reach out to the 800 number here and ask to speak to a care consultant. This service is free and will offer you a highly trained social workers who might know of age-appropriate resources. Another resource might be your younger girl's pediatrician; they may know of resources associated with your regional pediatric hospital's mental health department. Another option might be a local or national support group for parenting grandparents like this one-

Resources for grandparents raising grandchildren » NCRC

Lgb35

We also have a 7 year old grandson living with us. I know we will need to explain it eventually but we are early in the process and I don’t think it is noticeable for him yet.

jillpietroburgo

It is insightful that you see that dementia has an affect on everyone. Your grandchildren are on the journey too. There are a lot of great books that you can locate on a site called alzauthors.com

I have recently published my own book for younger children ages 3-8. It was written as much for parents/caregivers as the child. There are many tips on how to help teach and support a child during this time. You can find my book on Amazon. It is called, "Sometimes Grandma Calls Me Jean."

My author website is jillpietroburgo.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD39JNTT

Ed1937

The hardcover is $28.50 for a 40 page book. Paperback is $15.50. This thread is 2 weeks old, and if the author was interested in buying a book, they probably would have already ordered one.

The author of this post wrote it as her first post, with a link to her book. I did not report it because a good book on this subject is welcomed. Use your own judgement if you think it should be reported.