Activities of Daily Living for Seniors

I recently watched a video about seniors who are color blind.  They were each given  special type of glasses.  These amazing glasses gave the seniors the ability to see color.  The one man in particular looked at his jeans and yelled out “blue jeans” after seeing blue for the first time.  How many of us would be excited to see that our blue jeans are actually blue?  I would guess very few of us including myself.

I belong to a entrepreneurs networking group. Once a year we have to stand up and do a 10 minute presentation about our companies. I needed a new idea about how to present my company this year since many in the group already knew about the services that we provide. After watching this video I wondered to myself, what ADL’s (Activities of Daily Living) do I take for granted?  A light bulb turns on in my head; I know how I am going to present.

First thing I asked my audience to do was to stand up; they did. Five seconds later I said, “sit down”. Audience responds laughingly, as they wonder what I am up to.  Next, “pretend you are taking your foot off of the gas pedal and move it over to the break”. Then I say, “pretend you have a fork and pick up some food and place it your mouth. O.K., now bend down and untie your shoe and then retie them”, I tell the audience.”Wow”,  I say,” these Activities of Daily Living are so easy for everyone, right?”

” Wrong! ”

“Let me tell you a story about my eighty nine year old father.  My father has Parkinson’s disease.  His right hand shakes constantly, making it very hard to eat. Sometimes he has to use two hands on the fork, other times he misses his mouth completely.”

” If my dad where to drive a car, there would be disastrous consequences. He can not physically move his foot from the gas pedal to the break to stop the car.”

“My father uses the aid of a lift chair at his home to get out of the chair. He enjoys going to my son’s sporting events, and we need to bring a special chair for him. When he needs to get up, my brother and I physically lift him up.”

This really hit home with the audience.

We take for granted the Activities of Daily Living that are extremely difficult for some seniors.

So please enjoy the simple things in life while you can!