Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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My father become visually impaired and I don't know what to do. (self.Blind)
submitted by ilmale
Hello,
as the title said the part of the brain that process the vision has been damaged by a stroke. This happened to my father one month ago and now the doctor said that it's permanent. He is 75 and his perception of the world changed suddenly.
My father can still "see", the eye didn't have any damage but he doesn't recognize anything. So he can't do anything at home, he can't play a CD neither watch TV and my mother have to help him constantly. As a result he spent most of the time sleeping, and I think is falling in depression.
Also one of the problem is that I work in UK and he live in Italy, so my mother is under a lot of pressure. :(
How can I help him?
Thanks a lot.
as the title said the part of the brain that process the vision has been damaged by a stroke. This happened to my father one month ago and now the doctor said that it's permanent. He is 75 and his perception of the world changed suddenly.
My father can still "see", the eye didn't have any damage but he doesn't recognize anything. So he can't do anything at home, he can't play a CD neither watch TV and my mother have to help him constantly. As a result he spent most of the time sleeping, and I think is falling in depression.
Also one of the problem is that I work in UK and he live in Italy, so my mother is under a lot of pressure. :(
How can I help him?
Thanks a lot.
enjoyoutdoors 2 points 6y ago
My grandfather got something similar too in the mid-80's, and there are a few things you can do to help him.
The general idea is that he should be able to, within his ability, do things he enjoy doing. Otherwise he will probably accept that his body is failing him, accept defeat and sit down and wait for his life to run out.
They all depend on his interests and his ability, of course. He is probably pretty used to be able to do things on his own and it's possible that he is a tiny bit to proud to ask for help with everything. (And it also means a partial admitting that age is winning over stubbornness.)
* is he reading a lot of books? Audio books are nearly as good. At the very least they offer the same ability to flee into the authors fantasy.
* is he keen on keeping track of time? Make sure that there is at least one chiming clock in the house so that he can somewhat keep track himself.
* newspapers are often available as audio files as a special subscription. If he usually spends an hour and a half in the morning reading the paper, he can just as well spend an hour and a half listening to the news.
* if he enjoys gardening, he still can. Within reason, of course. It's hard when you can't *see* the result but have to *feel* it instead. The trick is to find the plants that offer a rewarding smell from the blossoms, or the berries that he will pursue for the taste. Or apple trees. Because, hey, apple pie.
* if he is embracing technology it's probably a lot easier. There is screen reading software for both smartphones and computers, and if he is somewhat familiar with either already it's a lot easier to start there and let him adapt to the new way to use it than if he is to start from nothing and make use of the new technology.
* some sports are so much about technique that you can still do them despite not seeing a thing. Golf and boule comes to mind; if you have a pretty flawless technique and a sighted partner able to tell you what to do, you can probably get by anyway.
* some sports, like airgun target shooting, instead offer a special technical aid so that you depend on your hearing instead of your eyes.
* most of the classical board games like chess and so can be played just as well despite not seeing the board. If he is already good enough at it to enjoy playing, he might also enjoy the challenge of memorising the board and all the pieces.
My point is that the first question you should ask yourself is what he is usually doing during the day, and the second thing you should ask is *"alright, how can he still do that in the same or a similar way so that he is not forced to forfeit a hobby he enjoys?"*
The general idea is that he should be able to, within his ability, do things he enjoy doing. Otherwise he will probably accept that his body is failing him, accept defeat and sit down and wait for his life to run out.
They all depend on his interests and his ability, of course. He is probably pretty used to be able to do things on his own and it's possible that he is a tiny bit to proud to ask for help with everything. (And it also means a partial admitting that age is winning over stubbornness.)
* is he reading a lot of books? Audio books are nearly as good. At the very least they offer the same ability to flee into the authors fantasy.
* is he keen on keeping track of time? Make sure that there is at least one chiming clock in the house so that he can somewhat keep track himself.
* newspapers are often available as audio files as a special subscription. If he usually spends an hour and a half in the morning reading the paper, he can just as well spend an hour and a half listening to the news.
* if he enjoys gardening, he still can. Within reason, of course. It's hard when you can't *see* the result but have to *feel* it instead. The trick is to find the plants that offer a rewarding smell from the blossoms, or the berries that he will pursue for the taste. Or apple trees. Because, hey, apple pie.
* if he is embracing technology it's probably a lot easier. There is screen reading software for both smartphones and computers, and if he is somewhat familiar with either already it's a lot easier to start there and let him adapt to the new way to use it than if he is to start from nothing and make use of the new technology.
* some sports are so much about technique that you can still do them despite not seeing a thing. Golf and boule comes to mind; if you have a pretty flawless technique and a sighted partner able to tell you what to do, you can probably get by anyway.
* some sports, like airgun target shooting, instead offer a special technical aid so that you depend on your hearing instead of your eyes.
* most of the classical board games like chess and so can be played just as well despite not seeing the board. If he is already good enough at it to enjoy playing, he might also enjoy the challenge of memorising the board and all the pieces.
My point is that the first question you should ask yourself is what he is usually doing during the day, and the second thing you should ask is *"alright, how can he still do that in the same or a similar way so that he is not forced to forfeit a hobby he enjoys?"*
ilmale [OP] 1 points 6y ago
Thanks you a lot, awesome answer. He likes to collect and fix old bicycles. :-|
I guess I'll find something else.
I guess I'll find something else.
enjoyoutdoors 1 points 6y ago
That's...difficult. But not undoable.
angelcake 2 points 6y ago
http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/the-brains-way-of-healing
This might be worth a read plus there's links to other articles/shows. A friend was telling me about this today and there is some potential. Whether it's something that could help your grandfather or not I don't know but it's certainly worth a bit of reading. Our brains have incredible flexibility when it comes to working around damaged areas. It takes effort but it can happen.
This might be worth a read plus there's links to other articles/shows. A friend was telling me about this today and there is some potential. Whether it's something that could help your grandfather or not I don't know but it's certainly worth a bit of reading. Our brains have incredible flexibility when it comes to working around damaged areas. It takes effort but it can happen.
ilmale [OP] 1 points 6y ago
Thanks, it bring a bit of hope for the future.
I know about neuroplasticity. It's a well known phenomenal in children when they are full of staminal cell, in a 75 year old men the healing is painfully slow. It took more than one month just to reabsorb the blood from the stroke. But considering the miracle that append the first time I'm hoping in another miracle.
Thanks again.
I know about neuroplasticity. It's a well known phenomenal in children when they are full of staminal cell, in a 75 year old men the healing is painfully slow. It took more than one month just to reabsorb the blood from the stroke. But considering the miracle that append the first time I'm hoping in another miracle.
Thanks again.
angelcake 2 points 6y ago
One of the linked shows is dealing with a man in his 70s or 80s who has Parkinson's who has retrained his brain so that he can walk and run again. It's definitely going to be harder for someone who's older but at least it's not hopeless. In the meantime audiobooks and podcasts are a wonderful distraction, my partner is low vision bordering on legally blind and being able to listen and continue learning and discovering is probably what keeps him same.
ilmale [OP] 1 points 6y ago
Audiobooks is a wonderful idea, I hope to find something in Italian. Thanks.
angelcake 1 points 6y ago
There are also a ebook readers, off the top of my head I can't think of any that are good but I know that there are some out. If you can find something that works for him that means any book that has been digitized can be read aloud on a tablet.
awesomesaucesaywhat 2 points 6y ago
Has his speech or listening comprehension been affected from the stroke? Maybe there is a radio program he could listen to, or buddies he could hang out with?
ilmale [OP] 1 points 6y ago
Thanks for you replay.
Apart from the vision he is ok. He had a previous stroke three years ago and he couldn't speak for a while but he recover quite well, almost a miracle, he could even drive a car (slowly) before the second stroke hit him. Of course still 75 year old, but not rubbish.
He become really confused where there are a lot of noise around, for example in a supermarket or in a restaurant.
When the weather is good he go in the building garden with other people but the warm day are becoming less frequent with the winter. I think that he is closing in himself, maybe I was thinking that he may even need some psychological help.
I really want to try to help him somehow. I'm going to Italy for his birthday in two weeks.
Apart from the vision he is ok. He had a previous stroke three years ago and he couldn't speak for a while but he recover quite well, almost a miracle, he could even drive a car (slowly) before the second stroke hit him. Of course still 75 year old, but not rubbish.
He become really confused where there are a lot of noise around, for example in a supermarket or in a restaurant.
When the weather is good he go in the building garden with other people but the warm day are becoming less frequent with the winter. I think that he is closing in himself, maybe I was thinking that he may even need some psychological help.
I really want to try to help him somehow. I'm going to Italy for his birthday in two weeks.
awesomesaucesaywhat 2 points 6y ago
I think he'll be really glad to see you, maybe you can make future plans too so he has something to actively look forward to!
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