Independent Living: Are You Communicating With Your Family?

Communicating with friends and love ones could very well be the key to independent living.   Receiving and sending information keeps us in touch with the world around us, whether by reading a newspaper, writing a letter or e-mail, or talking on the phone.  Your family wants to hear from you and they want to hear that you are okay.  If you can share a little bit of yourself, even if just telling them what you had for dinner or what social activities you enjoyed that day, they are less apt to worry about.  If you don’t speak up, nobody can hear you.

 

Silence is not golden.  For many seniors, the printed word is the traditional and most familiar form of communication.  You can write old fashioned letters but if you are developing arthritis in your fingers your penmanship skills may be deteriorating.  Learning how to use a computer is much more fun and your grandkids will think you are really cool, even if all you can do is use it for e-mail.  It is a beginning and it is a great way to keep in touch with your world.

 

Unfortunately, low vision or vision loss is fairly common among seniors.  There are some products on the market that can enhance vision.  Some are small and inexpensive and some are large and costly but well worth the money.  Communication is that important.

 

Reading magnifiers are available in all sizes.  Some are small and hand held and others are large enough to cover a whole page.  There are even bifocal magnifiers.  Some clip on or can be attached to your reading glasses.  For anyone with severe vision loss there are tabletop electronic readers that either hook up to your television or stand alone models with a screen attached.

 

There are a variety of products available to help the vision impaired see to write as well as comfortable designed pens for easier gripping.  For people who can operate a keyboard, large print typewriters (never too late to learn how to type) and computer programs that provide large font options are available.

 

If you use a telephone to keep in touch there are a number of products designed to compensate for vision, hearing and cognitive deficits.  If you have trouble grasping a phone, hand clip phone receivers are available as well as speaker phones.  There are even augmenting devices for people who have difficulty speaking.  Explore all of your options.  If you don’t communicate your thoughts and your needs people are going to assume that you can’t, and don’t be surprised if they start making decisions for you.    If communicate with your family and others on a daily basis you will put many of their fears to rest.