My Father has Parkinsons. He is an amazingly intelligent man, who has become frustrated because Parkinsons gets in the way of the quick thought patterns he has always had.
We have taken to doing crossword puzzles and playing scrabble together on the computer.
Sometimes the words don't come as quickly as he would like, other times I am astonished at the way he can think of a word, or see/spell something I am struggling with.
I have come to realize that even though I was raised with an excellent education by Dad and Mom ( Mom is a retired English teacher and gave me a great vocabulary)..my brain has become lazy. I rely on "spell check" and don't remember how to spell the easiest words. I do not have Parkinsons, but I am benefiting by giving my brain a workout during the games I play with Dad.....and we are having fun together at the same time.
Have any of you tried these kinds of word games-and are you finding they benefit you?
PS ...as I write this I am trying to remember if the words "Dad and Mom" should be capitalized since I am using them in lieu of their proper names! It seems that the saying "Use it or lose it" is true of people with or without Parkinsons!
Written by
Kat00
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Kat00, I too love word games and yes I play them every day on the computer. If I ask my family to play a games of scrabble they say no because I know too many words. I use to do cryptograms and I love them but my writing so bad its hard to put the letters down so that even I can read them. The fact that you take the time to spend playing these games with your Dad is wonderful.
Yes good question online crosswords would be great for us, I the carer my hubby the sufferer who love s cross words but gets frustrated when he cannot read his own hand writing on crosswords....again isnt it great to share thankyou and take care x
I have always had this capability of closing my eyes to spell a word and it appears as if on a screen.
I love crosswords (with sensible clues) I think any word games are good to keep the brain active, those books you can buy with many different word games in are excellent.
I have found it easier with handwriting if having to write a letter to do it the childs way i.e write in single letters rather than try to do your usual handwriting.
time consuming I know, but I find it works.
There are some really good fonts on the computer to use if you like to see a nicely written letter, cheating I know but who cares?
If you have an iPad, download the Scrabble app and you can play against the PC or with a friend beside you or on line. I fill in lots of spare moments playing Scrabble with my PC opponent--while learning lots of 2-letter words that I don't have the faintest idea of what they mean
My Dad and I play scrabble against the computer. We are constantly amazed at the forms of words the computer uses that we feel are not proper. We have nicknamed our computer opponent "Crooked Tony" , as we are convinced he cheats!
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