Explaining Alzheimers to teens
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice on how to support teenagers who are having a hard time dealing with their grandmother who has Alzheimer's disease. The situation has been challenging for them, and I'm hoping to find effective ways to help them cope and interact positively with her.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? What strategies or activities have worked for you or your family to make the experience less stressful and more meaningful for the teens?
Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Hi
. I'm glad you reached out. Teenage years are hard enough, and adding the complexity of Alzheimer's to them can be confusing and just plain difficult. I hope others will chime in to share some of their experiences. In the meantime, I wanted to share this article by about talking to teens: https://alzheimersdisease.net/living/talking-to-teenagers. Holly was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, and she shares some of her thoughts. I love this quote from her: "While I am not an expert on early-onset Alzheimer's, I am an expert on loving my kids. I am also an expert on being the child of a parent with EOAD. I spent a lot of time thinking back on what I wish I had known, what I felt, and what I wished my mother could have given me." I hope this is helpful. Warmly, Patty, Team Member Thank you 🌻
My husband has dementia. We were at a three day event with our grandson (age 12). At the time my husband was in the early stages and would wander off. My grandson asked me what's wrong with Paw Paw. I quietly explained that my husband had a disease; that there was no medicine to help and no cure. I explained that it would get worse until eventually he wouldn't know who we were. I told him all that we could do was love him, take care of him and enjoy the time we had with him. This seemed to help. That was three years ago and my husband has progressed to final stage and is on hospice care. My grandson has spent a lot of time with his Paw Paw. He would go outside with my husband and spend time doing the things they enjoyed. He offered to stay with my husband while I went grocery shopping (I never did this I didn't want to put him in that situation). Whenever he leaves he always gives my husband a fist bump (too old to hug).
The younger grandson is now 6 and really has no understanding. It's harder to explain things to him. When I moved my husband to the facility he asked "where's Paw Paw?". I explained that my husband needed a lot of help and it wasn't safe for him to stay at home. He accepted that but wanted to go see my husband so I took him for a visit. Thankfully my husband recognized him and they had a big hug. Recently he asked when Paw Paw was coming home and I explained that he wasn't and that he was safe and happy where he is. Two days ago he said "Grandma you must be lonely living here without Paw Paw". Kids understand more than we know.
I hope this was helpful.
You did a beautiful job explaining and handling this in my opinion. I appreciate your honesty and sensitivity in this. I think your grandchildren will fully appreciate it as well. Thank you for sharing this with our community. Scott Team Member 
Thank you for sharing this sweet story,
. Children do understand more than we'd know and they have this amazing ability to accept and adapt, and if we let them, teach us how to do the same.
I'm glad that your older grandson got to make his memories with his PawPaw, and so glad that the Universe aligned to give your younger grandson a memory of his own.
Thank you for sharing your insight - Warmly, Donna (Team Member)
