“Where could I get a book like this one?”Simone lifts her walker’s seat. She pulls out a square paperback, and start turning the pages: ”Look, I finished it. ” I admire page after page of carefully colored mandalas. I noticed that some seems unfinished. Maybe Simone considered the white of the paper as a color … Continue reading
Tag Archives: mental operation
PIAGET, The Very Fascinating Problem of Knowledge
“Young children cannot achieve the mental operation necessary for thorough comprehension of numbers. A 4 year old child might think that two sets are equivalent in number (Set1 = Set2) if they have the same length. The child focuses on a single quality of each set: LENGTH.” Set 1: O O O O Set 2: … Continue reading
Nest & Cocoon
Brigitte sits sideways on her bed, in the middle, where the security side rail ends. She wears a night gown, a white terry cloth towel draped over her shoulders. Her wavy white hair is gathered in a becoming ponytail. This is my first visit since Brigitte recent admission. We talk about her food preferences, her … Continue reading
Dominoes
“Domino, Domino, Le printemps chante en moi Dominique Domino, Domino, J’ai le cœur comme une boite à musique J’ai besoin de toi, De tes mains sur moi, Domino, Domino, J’ai besoin d’être aimé Domino.” Singing that famous French waltz, I open the shoe box. I pull out the tiles and lay them randomly on the … Continue reading
SAFETY
“Call Security! She is hitting us!” Nicole, behind her walker, is zooming through the hallway, surrounded by nursing staff. She speaks in a language we don’t understand well. Framed by her short silvery hair, her face is serious, focused. Her walker went straight into the nursing assistant who was trying to redirect her. A few … Continue reading
SPEAKING TO HERSELF
“–Pauline looks better today. –Yes, she is speaking non-stop, to herself. – I noticed that. She does it often, even when surrounded by people and activities. What does she say? –She talks about her house, her things. That she has a lot of gold and diamond jewelry. In reality she had some, but not that … Continue reading
You are my princess
“You are my princess. I am your prince charming. I come to wake you up.” Clara’s lips stretch into a soft smile. It is eleven in the morning. All dressed up, she is sleeping on top of her bed. She likes to be there during the day, lying on her back with abandon. “Clara, come … Continue reading
STAND BY ME
D-O-R-A- P-I-R-I-V-I-D-A-N-Y-I I am writing slowly on the little white board, hanging on the wall of the day room. I check if all the letters are there, even size in a straight line. I don’t want to make a mistake. I don’t want somebody to think I did not care; that I did not love … Continue reading
PARO the Personal Robot
See below an excerpt from the French Radio Program PARO ET L’ANGOISSE DE LA PERTE DE MEMOIRE (PARO, and the Anxiety of Memory Loss) broadcasted 2/17/2016. The group sessions recorded for the program are part of a 7 months pilot study. It took place in the locked memory care unit of the Corentin Celton, Hospital, … Continue reading
ANGRY
Elsa was having a fairly good day watching “Rick Steves Italy” She seemed interested by the colorful displays of pasta dishes, regional costumes and constant optimism of the host blowing out kisses from a gondola. Her mood darkened around 3pm, when she returned from the bathroom. She started calling out in Russian: “Papa! Papa!” To … Continue reading
Soul2Soul Seniors 