Tablet for an elderly, paralayzed parent

[dsmith72]

My mother was hit by a drunk driver 26 years ago. She is paralyzed on the left side, in a wheelchair and has a speech impediment from the having 3 brain stem strokes and losing a part of her tongue because of being hit. She lives alone after my father passed away 4 years ago. She is the strongest person I know. Anyway, she has had a laptop which she never really knew how to work well (technologically challenged) and now it won't turn on for some reason anyway. I would like to get her something like a Kindle Fire so she could read, play games and mostly send and receive emails. She is very difficult to understand on the phone. Would this be a good choice? I do not have one so I do not know. Does she need to have WiFi at her house? Is there one that would be easier for her to handle. I do not want to spend ipad type of money because she does have caregivers in and out of her house and I worry that an ipad might be too tempting to steal if she ever forgot and left it out where it was seen. Or do you think having the laptop fixed or a netbook would be better choice? Thanks for any help you can give me!

 

[Sadie22]

The laptop problem may be as simple as a battery that no longer charges. If your mom can work that, getting it repaired may be the best option.

If you haven't recently consulted with speech, occupational, and physical therapists, they might have ideas. After my mom had a stroke, I was referred to a regional loaner program for various types of tablet or push-button speech and communication-oriented technology. I had not known that much of it existed. I visited their main office where I could try out the various items.

 

[lucigo]

Check and see if you can get an iPad through her insurance to facilitate communication. Also look into the speech apps as the ones for apple may be different than the ones for android. Put a large bright case on it both to make it more visible and so that if it drops it will be less likely to break. You can get some really good ideas by reading about ipads being used to give nonverbal autistic children a voice.

 

[lucyem]

I would recommend doing your research and seeing what might be the best choice for her particular situation. A tablet may not be the best for her for typing for example. Like Sadie22 said speak to any speech, occupational, and physical therapists to get ideas.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

There are a number of great (but expensive) apps for people with disabilities for the iPad. It would be much easier for her to use than a computer.

I agree that you should speak with her caregivers as well as do some web research.

 

[cel_disney]

I know you are concerned about the ipad going missing, but my friends with speech and physically disabled children have all gone the ipad route because of the apps that are made for it. A refurbished one is sometimes less expensive than a new one...

The newer OS's on apple do a decent job of learning how to interpret your speech after a while...and there are several after market keyboards etc if the touchscreen is too hard to use...

If you end up not being able to afford an ipad, I still think that a tablet like a kindle would be enjoyed by her.

She would want to have wifi to get the most out of it - if she does not have internet service to her house and wifi - you would want to upgrade to one with a cellular plan or buy her a mifi unit to go with it.

Also - many that I know have gotten some assistance from insurance to support as a cummunicative and OT/PT device..its worth asking her care givers and insurance company about that to defray the costs..

 

[JessB320]

In regards to the worries of it being stolen there are several apps that you can install that will actually show you the gps location of the iPad from another device. You can also activate an alarm to come from it from another device , so if it is lost or stolen its very easy to locate.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

If you decide on the ipad check into getting the ipad 2 or 3 instead of the new one just released. It will be less expensive and most likely will do everything she needs. We wanted a second 3 for DS so that all the charging cords would work for both and just found one at Best Buy. they didn't have them out but did have a few left. Saved us some cash over the new one too.