One of the huge challenges I have is trying to engage Matt in projects, or better put, tasks, that give him a sense of accomplishment
I don’t know how much it is accomplishment and how much it is doing something helpful for others, or just simply something to do…..but you get my direction, what I am trying to describe
Nora has more patience than me
She engaged him to help her fold the napkins today
Matt decided yesterday he wanted to wash them, so it was quite the circus for us, for me, trying to help him do that while I was otherwise talking to his sister on the phone
Engagement works for a while, a short bit…..
Then Matt looses interest, he walks away
It takes coaxing to re-engage him
Doing these tasks on his own is a show stopper
The task might be to fold them….on his own he might stuff them in the fireplace, recycle bin….or put them in the bathroom
So just sharing that this kind of thing is much easier suggested than done–I’ve tried and my GSD (“get shit done”) tendencies gets in the way every time!
Mid month I have some consultants lined up to join into this effort via the Hummingbird Project
Apparently they have some experience helping create environmental engagement for folks who have dementia, they have experience currating a home environment to ease the stress that we experience
But before that…..the family is gearing up to put together “Matt’s Workshop”
I am so very grateful Terri stepped up to lead the charge, organize the troups, kick this idea into gear
I am learning, am being humbled to learn over and over, that I just can’t do everything on my own, my GSD has limited powers
Here are some current, unadulterated, pictures of the space we’ve decided to make into “Matt’s Workshop”
This is what it looks like now……its a mess, all kinds of junk in it (not all ours but left behind by the landlord)
Terri is going to come next week and help me clear it out and tuck things that need to be preserved away so we can utilize this space
I had AI create pictures of what it looks like with all the junk removed
This could be a really great space for him to putter……
A bunch of family members will be coming the following week to help us with this project once we get alot of the junk and clutter out of the way
They will be contributing in lots of ways, including little fidget kind of projects that he can play with…..I am excited to see what ideas folks want to try
Ultimately, I think this is our goal (another AI generated image):
There are so many things to do here to get Matt’s Workshop ready……
Its going to take a village, our village!
Once he has “his” space, certainly our hope is he will engage with it, find a sense of purpose, or just some fun in it
I am excited about the energy, the attention Matt will be getting, the fun we will have
I have hope this will be super meaningful for him
We have some unhung art that maybe needs to find a nail to hang on, including a poem that was written by one of his aunties way back when……
Boy, if we could fill this space with all things Matt, wouldn’t that be great?
Maybe we need to get him both a high stool and a low comfy chair for his space…….I think I have just the right low comfy chair and can see the right place……
Oh, this is exciting!
Leave a Reply