If you read and write about aging — your own, your parents’ or older adults in general — you often hear people comment that as they get older, they feel that their perspective broadens. Aging adults often describe how, as they age, they have more time to observe, reflect, and worry less about differences of opinion. I’ve discovered … Continue reading
Tagged with lifelong learning …
Wireless: A Primer for the Rest of Us (Including Aging Parents)
When we install wireless access in our homes or in the home of aging parents, it’s common for most of us to use it intensively while understanding few of the details about the equipment and how various components work. We usually know when it’s not working, but that’s about it. Bottom line? We should all learn … Continue reading
iPads for Seniors? My Dad Knows How Cool It Is!
iPads for seniors as a way to decrease isolation and stimulate intellectual curiosity? You bet! After writing over 20 iPad for Dad columns about my dad and his iPad, I could have told them so and my dad can, too. I know that Steve Jobs was not thinking about seniors in the elder years of their lives … Continue reading
Still Learning at Age 88: Reading the Language of Life
My dad is an ardent lifelong learner. Here’s recent post from his private family blog. At the Eastern Mennonite University bookstore students and faculty have exclusive access for the first two weeks of the semester. Shortly thereafter, the store’s stacks are opened up to the public. So several of us from the retirement community next door, … Continue reading
SeniorTech: Nothing to Fear but Fear …
Many of us find ourselves helping senior parents with technology. These days it goes hand-in-hand with even the most moderate caregiving assistance. Read Seniors Have Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself, a post by Jamie Carracher over at the Aging Online blog. Carracher points out that most seniors want to learn as much as they … Continue reading
Teens Mentoring Seniors and Mobile Phones
Saw this article, Want to Know What Your Cell Phone Can Do? Ask a Teenager, published in a Patch.com Reston,Virginia edition. The article describes how middle and high school students, from schools in the Reston, Virginia area, volunteered to be cell phone tutors with seniors, showing the elders how to use mobile phone features such … Continue reading
As We Age: Keeping In-Touch with Tech Changes
A couple of weeks ago in my post, A Gardening Product for Everyone but Great for Seniors, I wrote about a gardener’s product that I discovered — one that was modular and light-weight, thus making it easier for me to continue creating flower and herb gardens without all of the heavy lifting. The product was … Continue reading
Lots of Seniors on Social Networks!
According to a December 15, 2010 USA Today article, people over age 65 are the fastest growing group of social networking users. Seniors Surge on Social Networks, by Janis Lloyd, described Generations 2010 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a report that examines the variation in Internet and social networking experiences among various age groups. … Continue reading
Holiday Gifts: Buying an iPad for Your Senior Parent?
If you like this post, read some of the other descriptions of our Father/Daughter iPad adventure. iPad for Dad, #1, iPad for Dad, #2, iPad for Dad, #3, iPad for Dad, #4, iPad for Dad, #5, iPad for Dad, #6, iPad for Dad, #7, iPad for Dad, #8, iPad for Dad, #9, iPad for Dad, #10, iPad for Dad, #11, iPad for Dad, … Continue reading
iPad for Dad, #16: Maps
Last weekend I visited my dad, and we had only a bit of time to enjoy the iPad together. However, quite by accident we started playing with the map application. I turned on the location part of the map program and then showed my father how look over maps of his neighborhood and town. Next … Continue reading
Guest Post: Adult Child Develops iPad Apps for Senior Mom
Paul Rhoades is an adult child and a subscriber to As Our Parents Age. He keeps an eye on his 90-year-old mother and has introduced her to the iPad. I’ve looked at his apps, developed to help her use the iPad more effectively, but I have not been anywhere near my dad’s iPad so I have not … Continue reading
Internet Cafe in Philly Senior Center
A senior center in Philadelphia recently used United States Recovery Funds to renovate its dining room, make it green friendly, and add an Internet cafe with connected laptops. Lots of enthusiastic elders, who have been enjoying meals for years, are thrilled with the new dining facilities and eager to connect. Tutoring will be available for … Continue reading
Yes, Grandma is on Facebook
Join Facebook? For three years I avoided the site. I knew that some of my friends from work, church, and other activities were joining, but I just did not feel like it was a fit. My daughter, then in graduate school, used the social networking site, and she occasionally suggested I get started with Facebook. … Continue reading
iPad for Dad #13, Keyboard Update – Next Step Printing
My Dad now uses his iPad keyboard to write on the yellow note pad multiple times each day. Sometimes he just writes, but at other times he taps the letter icon and send his writing off, via e-mail, to a family member or friend. I have received a number of these compositions and get a thrill … Continue reading
Bloomberg News Features iPad for Dad!
… and other seniors, too. In an August 5, 2010 article, This Is Your Grandfather’s iPad as Japan Elderly Embrace Apple, two Bloomberg News reporters, Pavel Alpeyev and Yoshinori Eki, mention the As Our Parent Age iPad for Dad series. The piece has an international focus, describing how the iPad is becoming popular with seniors in Japan, … Continue reading
iPad for Dad, #12 – Adding a Keyboard!
I strongly recommend adding a keyboard to a senior parent’s iPad if typing is important! Dad thinks it’s a “game changer.” Over the past three months he’s used his iPad in a variety of ways, but when he wants to type more than a word or two, he is frustrated by the iPad’s touch keyboard. I … Continue reading
Good-bye Daniel Schorr
Daniel Schorr died yesterday at age 93. In addition to being an amazing newsperson for more than 65 years, he also set an example for all of us — aging parents and adult children — who want to stay engaged and keep working long past traditional retirement age. Schorr experienced occasional health issues, and Scott … Continue reading
iPad for Dad, #10: Vacation, Technology, and Podcasts
We had a wonderful vacation in far-away upstate New York, near Canada. Interestingly, every person — all six of us — brought along our technology tools. Our cottage held six people ranging in age from 57 to 87, six laptops, one iPad, one Kindle, a Blackberry, and five cell phones. In order to charge everything … Continue reading
iPad for Dad, #9 – Guest Posting from Dad!
If you like this post, read some of the other descriptions of our Father/Daughter iPad adventure. iPad for Dad, #1, iPad for Dad, #2, iPad for Dad, #3, iPad for Dad, #4, iPad for Dad, #5, iPad for Dad, #6, iPad for Dad, #7, iPad for Dad, #8, iPad for Dad, #9, iPad for Dad, #10, iPad for Dad, #11, iPad for Dad, #12, iPad … Continue reading
PointerWare Review @ Transition Aging Children
Check out the post reviewing PointerWare at Transition Aging Parents. I was thinking about reviewing this amazing software, but Dale Carter beat me to it with her wonderful post. Dale describes the ease and functionality of the product as well as the steps she went through to set up PointerWare on her mother’s computer. She is … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age 