Demented--Does Not Mean Stupid!

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com
Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving
 
Jacqueline's Lecture on CD; 12 Experts; 14/hrs. of Help--ASK ME!

WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS—Tell us your story!
When I was taking care of my elderly parents, both with early Alzheimer's (just one type of dementia), I was so astonished by the many creative and crafty manipulations my father came up with. One time he hid the car keys and we couldn't find them for four days. We patted him down, searched every inch of the house, and begged him to give them up. He swore a blue streak at us that we must have just lost them, which was impossible since we drove there.

Finally one morning we heard, "click, click, click", as he shuffled to the kitchen table. "Daaaad, what's that clicking noise?"

"I don't hear nothin'." (Turn up your hearing aid.)

"OK, lift up your pant leg." Finally he complied, and there, masking taped to his calf, were the car keys. Oy ve.

When I told a social work about his latest antics, she tried to put it in perspective for me when she said, "Oh yes, I see these types of manipulations all the time. Let me assure you: Demented does not mean stupid--at all. It's a concept that is not widely appreciated nor accepted, but let me assure you of it. You get that, right?

Not wanting to feel too stupid myself I said, "Oh yeah, of course not", while I secretly thought... well, it must just be that my father was a smart guy and was always very manipulative--and he just wasn't as dumb as he looked.

Only after I published my book, "Elder Rage", and started to receive thousands of hysterical emails from adult children coping with their own crafty elders, did I really get it.

One gal emailed that she put "The Club" on the steering wheel of the car to keep her demented father from driving, and the next day when she went to visit her parents, her father had AAA there-sawing it off! When she stopped that from happening, the next day her father just called the dealership and bought another car!

Please share your favorite stories about your elders' crafty manipulations!

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com
Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving
 
Jacqueline's Lecture on CD; 12 Experts; 14/hrs. of Help--ASK ME!
 
Tell us your story!