My Mother-in-law

[Winchester]

I've talked about Rick's mother before; she is 97 years old and I think she's an amazing lady. A few years ago, she was having some eye problems and she can no longer even read the large-print books from the library. I bought a Kindle Paperwhite for her (because of the adjustable font size); she didn't like the Paperwhite, but it turned out that she loved my Nook. I gave her the Nook to use and whenever I visit (at least once a week), I throw on 4-5 library books so she always has plenty to read. The woman is an avid reader and she devours books.

Well, her eyesight is getting worse. She has days where it's becoming difficult for her to even read the Nook at its largest font. We've tried changing the contrast to see if that would help, but it doesn't.

She doesn't like audio books and, really, it's difficult for her to hear over all the noise in the nursing home. Her roommate is an incredibly loud woman and she's always talking, always complaining, and she has her tv on way, way too loud. (Honestly, if I had to live in a nursing home, I'd probably walk up and down the hallway and destroy every single tv on the floor! Just visiting Rick's mom makes me crazy with all the loud tvs. Combine that with a very loud roommate and you understand why audio books wouldn't work.)

At this point, I really don't know what to do for her anymore. She's frustrated and she's getting depressed because she can't read. She called me yesterday, so frustrated because she could only read the titles of newspaper articles. She asked me to read an article in the paper and then tell her what the article said because she was very interested in what was going on. I did suggest a magnifying glass, but she has essential tremor, so it would shake too much when she tried to hold it.

I feel bad for her. She's powerless. For the most part, she's OK with living there, but sometimes it all gets to be too much.

What can we do? How can we keep her reading? She just loves to read and it doesn't seem fair that she has all the time to read and can't. And I completely understand when she tells me that. But I don't know what to do.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Tobermory]

My mom (also in her 90s) was an avid reader, too. She had a similar problem. While she didn’t find audio books satisfying, we bought her some noise-canceling headphones—the kind that cover the entire ear. She eventually got used to them and to audio books although she still really missed reading.

 

[AbbysMom]

How about something like this?


She could use the neck cord.

 

[verna davies]

How about a large magnifying glass on a stand with a light. My mother is 95 with bad eyesight and this is what she has. She claims the light helps a lot.

 

[DreamerRose]

What is causing the loss of eyesight? Many conditions can now be treated. My father had cataracts, and after a VA doctor blinded him with a laser in one eye, he refused to have the other one done, even though they now use ultrasound to break up the old lens. I've had both eyes done, and it completely restored my eyesight. Even at 97, it's worth doing. She will lose the will to live if she can't do what she loves.

 

[artiemom]

The only thing I can think of, which is temporary is a hand held magnifier, from the eye doctor..

My dad had cataracts, glaucoma, and wet macular degeneration in both eyes.

I know how hard it is .... I ended up having to read specific articles in the newspaper because he could only read the headlines.

As his vision declined, I ended up just reading a ton of the newspaper to him.. articles I thought he would be interested in... It is so hard for our loved ones..

Sometimes, there is no solution.

My dad, ended up with only making out shadows on a 46 inch smart tv.... It was him hearing things more than anything else...

A really horrible thing for anyone to go through..

I even went onto the Perkins Institute for the Blind, looking for resources... sigh...

My dad; ended up having several injections into the eye which had the more severe macular degeneration. It stopped the immediate hemorrhage; however, the damage was already done.... sigh....

Could You Mom-in-law, use the noise canceling headphones, OVER a regular set of head phones? This way, maybe, the noise canceling will stop the extraneous noise and she can concentrate on the regular ear plugs, so she can listen to Audible?

Good Luck...

 

[denice]

I think the noise canceling headphones and audio books would be good. I listen to audio books at work. It took a while to get used to but I really like them now. I just started a different job, same company but different job in August so I haven't been listening to them nearly as much until I get the hang of this job. I was going through 3 sometimes 4 books a week at my old job because I listened to them 40 hours a week. I borrow them from the library.

 

[LTS3]

Maybe the nursing home could work out something with a local school and school kids could come over and read to the residents? Kids would improve their reading skills and the residents would get to enjoy listening to the story or newspaper article or whatever is kid-appropriate.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Both my grandfathers have had the lighted magnifying glasses on floor stands.

I hope you can find something to help her. Reading is my escape. I can imagine how devastating a loss that is.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I'd also suggest the magnifying glass on a stand and for audiobooks the noise canceling headphones. Most libraries have apps to download audiobooks too, so if the audiobook thing works out, look into those. The most popular ones are Overdrive and Cloud Library (at least for the library I work at).

 

[Mother Dragon]

There are small magnifying glasses that rest right on the page. They're hemispherical. There are also page magnifiers that are sheet size. I like the idea of the craft magnifier on a stand. That way she can adjust it to best suit her. The light is an even better option with it. If it's a daylight bulb, it will provide not only better light but better contrast. It's a really remarkable difference.

The noise-cancelling earphones would help with the TV noise from her roommate, but it's a waste to buy expensive ones because they're likely to be taken. Painting them a distinctive color helps somewhat if one of the residents takes them, but not if someone else does. You can also use a blacklight marking pen to put her name on things. It aids in proving ownership. It's great to mark all your home items that night be stolen. You can also buy an inexpensive engraver and engrave her name on her things and mark your things at home. Most legitimate pawn shops won't buy anything that's engraved or blacklight marked.

I know this sounds awful, but do you think she could learn to read braille? Libraries usually can obtain books in braille. It would probably really demoralize her, though.

It's hell getting old!

 

[Winchester]

Thanks guys! I ordered the Magnipro screen from Amazon. She can have it on her lap and put the newspaper under it. My understanding is that it will even work with her Nook and it has lighting, too. (If it doesn't work for her, I can put it on the kitchen counter and slide a cookbook underneath....I'm starting to have some problems trying to tell the difference between 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup, especially in cookbooks that have a very small font or a very pale type.)

She can't use anything that is hand-held because her hands shake. She won't use any kind of head phones; I tried to go that route when this all first started; she was very adamant then. That's how she ended up with the Nook.

It's simply old age with her eyes. She's 97 and, like everything else in her body, her eyes are simply bad.

Thanks so much! I appreciate you taking the time to help me.

 

[Mia6]

Could someone read the books aloud to her? Maybe a family member
could each take a different day and read to her for an hour or so. Or
a helper could be hired to come in and read for 3-4 hours a day?

 

[sabian]

As others have mentioned, noise canceling headphones, lighted magnifiers. They come in all shapes and sizes that mount to tables and such. One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned are glasses that mostly jewelers use. They are magnified and I think you can get them with lights as well. I use a desk mount magnifier for tedious work such as soldering and my vision isn't really that bad at all.....YET!

 

[Elphaba09]

Maybe the nursing home could work out something with a local school and school kids could come over and read to the residents? Kids would improve their reading skills and the residents would get to enjoy listening to the story or newspaper article or whatever is kid-appropriate.

While this is great, someone who is an avid reader may not want to have children read books to them often. A lot of books may be too difficult. Reading aloud is an art, in my opinion, and I cannot imagine school-age children or even high school kids reading a book well enough for an adult avid reader to enjoy it. Sure the children could come and read stories occasionally--it really is a great idea--but, if it were me, I would not like it for anything more than a children's book, something I would not want to hear very often.

Audiobooks are okay, especially with noise canceling headphones. (My husband listens to them all the time while at work.) They have to be good readers through. I got one of "The Scarlet Letter" (my all-time favorite!) and the reader was horrible! She did not fit the story and she mispronounced words, including Hester Prynne. She made it rhyme with "brine." Yuck! So, if you do go the way of audio books, make sure you check the narrator. On Audible, you can listen to samples and they are often reviewed for their reading.

 

[cheeser]

If the Magnipro screen doesn't work out, are there any medical or optometry schools in your area? Some of them have low vision clinics where you can buy all kinds of cool stuff that's more powerful than products marketed for the general public.