Looking Back At The Past Five Weeks

What I am referring to is our summer Journalism Class 333:  Introduction to Interactive Media Design.  I am definitely not the same person I was five weeks ago.  I have been introduced to a whole new world.  In learning how to design my own blog page I have also learned how to incorporate “Tweeting” into a blog in order to reach out to others with a desire to learn about babyboomers and to those who are babyboomers and are looking for answers to future problems facing babyboomers.

I thought “Twitter” was a tool for reaching out socially to others and although I know I could use it for journalistic reasons, I did not really “get it” until I started using it for this class. Now I realize what an efficient tool it can be to alert others regarding a new blog I may have written or important information I may have obtained and want to “get it out there” as expeditiously as possible.

I learned all about “Delicious” and its importance as a tool in ascertaining information pertaining to babyboomers or any other category I am researching.  By bookmarking my desired areas of interest, I have been able to fine tune my searches and eliminate a lot of wasted time perusing articles of little importance to me.

Pictures that allow my blog to be more personal and to have access to pictures to accompany a particular blog will never be a concern for me as I am now an avid user of “Flikr.”  I cannot believe how easy it is to incorporate any picture into one’s blog or news story or portfolio.  Text can look very boring but when a picture accompanies the text, an article becomes more appealing.

If I want to have an audio component incorporated into my blog, I now have the ability to add this added dimension to anything I desire. In using “podcast”, I now have the capability of using it as a lead-in to every blog or I could use it to break-up written blogs by speaking personally about a given subject.  It is such an excellent way for those who might follow my blog to feel more connected to me.

You Tube is a total surprise to me.  I realized it had to be fairly easy to construct because of so many you tube videos available on a day to day basis.  I just didn’t ever think I would learn how to construct my own and I never thought about using it as a journalistic tool.  But, once again it is another magical tool us journalists have at our disposal to make our stories more personal, certainly more interesting and easily produced for quick and widespread availability to the public.

Yes, I feel like I was such a caterpillar before this class and although I certainly don’t consider myself a butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, I do feel I have the tools to help me break out of my cocoon.

I would like to add that I sincerely enjoyed and appreciated the ability to read everyone’s blog.  I learned so much from the other students.  It has been an excellent class.  Michael Wilder has succeeded in making this online class a wonderful, enjoyable, learning experience.  His words of encouragement, timeliness in responding to my email questions and his obvious passion for teaching this class really made the difference.

 

 

 

1 Comment, Written on July 7th, 2011 , modern day journalist Tags: , , , ,
What Happens When You Think A Family Member has Alzheimer’s

Among those who do develop Alzheimer’s, there are those who accept their situation and there are those who don’t. I’m referring to those who refuse to accept even the idea that they might have Alzheimer’s. You have no idea how a parent may react.  Their reaction to your concerns might be extremely hurtful and not what you would expect.  I believe everyone should speak to their family or caretakers to talk about the possibility and how to best handle the situation if it were to arise. If you and your elderly caretakers do not put into place some kind of plan, your ability to help them becomes extremely difficult.

Their doctor’s first impulse is to protect their patients.  If the signs are subtle or sporadic, and therefore the doctor doesn’t detect any problems, you may not be helped by the doctor.  If you have no power of attorney, there may be nothing you can do until the signs become apparent to anyone. Even if you do have a Power of Attorney, you would have to prove in court that your family member is incompetent.  Unfortunately, a loved one could hurt themselves or others by the time their condition is recognized.

If you call the Alzheimer’s Association they will be very good listeners and refer you to a local chapter.  The chapter will have access to an “Elder Care” association that will go to a home to check on an individual who is suspected of having Alzheimer’s or being unable to care for themselves.  However, unless the loved one is exhibiting obvious signs of dementia, they will leave and close the case.

A living will that might designate you as a caretaker in the event of Alzheimer’s is useless unless you are able to prove they are incompetent.

The problem surrounding a loved one with what appears to be the beginning Stages of Alzheimer’s is if they are in denial and do get angry, they could cut off communication with you and there would be nothing you could do about it.

Everyone who develops Alzheimer’s progresses differently.  If your loved one is independent and high functioning the likelihood of them accepting their plight  is unlikely,  The importance of this is they could have an “episode” wherein they pay for items two or three times or maybe not at all.  They may not  know where they are or what they are doing, including driving.  They could end up hurting themselves or someone else.  You cannot take their keys away without a diagnosis.  You can’t force them to go to a doctor to get the diagnosis and you can’t help them manage their finances unless they let  you.  No one will help you help them unless the disease has worsened to the point anyone would be able to identify it as Alzheimer’s.

The other sad part of this difficult road is most medications used for the disease work best if they are taken in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.  If the medicine isn’t administered at that point, its positive effects are diminished, the disease progresses more quickly and their time is shortened.

The medical industry and our government must design a plan to help those who show the beginnings signs but refuse to admit it.  There has to be a plan put into place for family members to be able to help them without having to encounter one roadblock after another.

And  yes, my sister and I are going down that road right now.

When Your Family Member Doesn't Think They Have Alzheimer's Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
16 Comments, Written on June 28th, 2011 , People Are Like Trees Tags: , , , ,
<< Older Entries

Kathy's Blog is proudly powered by WordPress and the Theme Adventure by Eric Schwarz
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).

Kathy's Blog

Babyboomers' voice