Working with Numerals

As this year comes to a close and the new year is about to begin, I am reminded of how many people are affected by dementia. I am thankful that this past year has been one where I have been blessed to be part of the beginning of a new focus for touching those lives. None of us knows what the future will hold but it is always a privilege to be able to share with others. Hopefully, there will be many more opportunities to share ways to give dementia a detour through activities.
One of the activities that can touch most lives is that of using numbers. Numbers, math and the various ways numerals are used in school, in recipes with cooking, measuring, constructing, in mileage, on maps, in telling time and so many other ways.
The use of numbers with a person who has dementia can provide a rewarding activity as well as a worthwhile way to interact. This is especially true if numbers were a part of the individual’s everyday work or hobby. If the person was a math teacher, an engineer, someone who did installations or maybe enjoyed a game of poker or any type if card games in general, then engaging them in an activity that involves simple math, can be satisfying.
Depending upon the level of mathematical skill that is present when trying to do the activity, an assortment of things can be tried. Start with a game or simple math problem and then adjust to make it more or less challenging, determined by the present abilities and interests of the person.
If a person used to have to take measurements, whether for sewing or building etc, then giving them a tape measure and a pencil and paper can be a way to occupy time. The person who sewed may need a pattern and/or a piece of material to pull the activity together and props like a piece of wood or an item to measure along with the measuring tape and the paper and pencil would help cue them to reminisce and remember how to engage in the project. Even if numbers are never written on paper, just the act of measuring itself is a positive activity. For the one to one interaction, facilitate by suggesting what to measure, looking together for the numbers on the measuring tool, writing down what is said or discussing past experiences.
I worked with a woman once, who owned a bar. She had the responsibility of counting the cash drawer each night before the bar closed. In her dementia, she would get up each night around 2AM (the time the bar usually closed) and she was disruptive to everyone on the floor. It was impossible for the staff to get her to go back to bed and it became a stressful night for all. This happened repeatedly night after night. When the activity of giving her a cash box and asking her to “close” the bar by counting the cash was added to the end of her day, she was able to go to bed and get to sleep through the night.
In the Brainy Day Program, www.hippocampus-hq.com, we answered the need for incorporating math into the lives of those with dementia by a product called Shut the Box. With it, a person has the opportunity to satisfy repetitive behaviors by flipping numbers again and again, or work on number recognition, or enjoy a past pleasure of rolling dice. We are seeing the joy it brings to so many who have used it for a number related activity pursuit.
As we do the countdown into the new year, it is a good reminder that numbers are a part of everyday life and can be a good way to create an activity for engaging someone who is living with dementia.
Wishing you and yours a very blessed and prosperous New Year in 2010, Mary Ann