Macs for the very elderly?

My brother, Chris, and I used the Mac and iChat AV with my mother with
great results.

She was somewhat familiar with computers, and had done basic
word-processing and e-mail, so this might have been a help.

As her health started to deteriorate, we got her an eMac with an iSight
camera. The local computer store installed it for her and set up .mac
and the local cable modem. When she was first using it, we might have
to call her on the phone and tell her to find the iChat icon in the
dock. Sometimes we might have to remind her she could hang up the
phone. But she loved being able to see us. She would say that it was
like have you in the room.

Then this summer she had a stroke and was in the ICU. I flew in, and
each day I would take little movie clips with my digital camera. I
would then go to her room, download them to the computer with iMovie,
and then post them on my .mac site. My brother could monitor how she
was doing.

Later, I returned home and Chris flew in to help her transistion
through the rehab unit.
One night, I was iChating with him from her apt, and she called him,
very confused. We were able to have an impromptu family conference. If
only they had iChat there.

She later moved into a room at a nursing home. We were able to get her
cable internet there, and she was able to talk with one of us most
days.

When she died, Chris put together a wonderful video of pictures from
her life for the funeral that he made with iMovie.

So, I think the Mac was invaluable.
Mike

My father is 92 and still going strong. He's using a G3 iBook and happily checks his email and watches his stocks without too many problems. One thing I added to his computer is a program called Mouse Locator (http://www.2point5fish.com/). After a certain user settable amount of time of not moving the mouse, you get a bullseye graphic around the cursor the next time it gets moved. He was having trouble finding the cursor on the screen. Rather than simply making it permanently larger, which would get in the way during normal use, Mouse Locator only shows up when it's needed. Not bad for a free program. I find it useful as well on my iBook (even though I'm "only" 46<g>). I don't need it on my iMac, oddly enough. Maybe the higher resolution screen makes it unnecessary, but it sure helps on my iBook.

I also turned on Zoom in the Universal Access control panel. My dad doesn't use this all that often, but it's good to have for the occasional small print.

Seth

My mother in-law had problems using a standard mouse, had problems clicking and dragging or just keeping the cursor steady while trying to click. We found that a track ball worked better, she can use two hands for clicking and dragging and she can get the cursor over something and click without moving the cursor.

On Mar 28, 2006, at 7:31 AM, seth.elgart wrote:

> My father is 92 and still going strong. He's using a G3 iBook and
> happily checks his email and watches his stocks without too many
> problems. One thing I added to his computer is a program called Mouse
> Locator (http://www.2point5fish.com/).

Seth:

        Thank you for reference to Mouse Locator.
        Just feeling same problem strongly as part of loss of left-=eye vision
via glaucoma,at 88, while still consulting-writing in broad media
areas.
        Your Locator reference should solve ongoing problem for me, and I am
in process of installation.
        Will report later on experience if helpful for others.
        Nothing like solid and democratic exchange of experience to guide all
of us to new conquests...and that applies to much more than use of EMac
!!

Hank

We've had this kind of thread before, but I'll say again what I've said
then: get the biggest screen and the fastest Mac that you can afford. The
subconscious perception that an "old" user just needs a minimal cheap
computer is wrong. My mother (who is my model for a completely unintuitive
computer user - she can't even remember how to select multiple objects) has
been sooooo much happier since we replaced her iMac DV with an iMac G5
20-incher. After all, she has never quite grasped the multiple-window
paradigm, so having a screen where she can see *two* fullsize windows at the
same time is a huge help. The speed boost means she spends much less time
waiting and wondering whether she has screwed up. And we communicate all the
time using the built-in iSight. Plus, she loves Front Row - she finds it
much easier to watch a DVD on the computer than on her dedicated DVD-player
upstairs!

So I'd recommend trying to find a pre-Intel iMac G5 and attaching any
helpful hardware (special keyboard if need be, etc.) to that. Plus, run any
software that you might need in order to be helpful at any time - e.g. if
using PPPoE, something that shows the IP number in her menu bar, so she can
tell you the number and you can use VNC to see / control her screen. You be
an admin and tell her the admin name/password, but set her up as a non-admin
user with automatic login. Also, I wrote a special app (MothersHelper, get
it at my web site) that makes it clearer to my Mom what app she is currently
using, something that she finds confusing on Mac because of its window
layering model.

m.

--
matt neuburg, phd = matttidbits.com, http://www.tidbits.com/matt/
pantes anthropoi tou eidenai oregontai phusei
AppleScript: the Definitive Guide - Second Edition!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596102119
Take Control of Word 2004, Tiger, and more -
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-customizing.html
Subscribe to TidBITS! It's free and smart. http://www.tidbits.com/

I'd like to mention the 3M Renaissance mouse, (looks like a joystick,
but the whole thing rolls around, which really saves your wrist &
fingers). I originally bought it for my wife after she injured her
wrist in a car accident, but it didn't work for her injury, so I
started using it, and have used it for the past 5 years or so. There
is no software, so you will need USBOverdrive if you want to program
the buttons, but it will work without programming.

might be helpful for older fingers, which tend to stiffen up (voice
of experience).

Roger
Roger Henriques
rdh at rhen dot com

On Mar 28, 2006, at 10:35 AM, rkwalker wrote:

> My mother in-law had problems using a standard mouse, had problems
> clicking and dragging or just keeping the cursor steady while
> trying to click

At 4:45 AM -0800 2006/03/24, JBD wrote:
>There may be someone on this discussion group that will give you advice, but
>otherwise, Easter Seals has an excellent assistive technology department
>that specializes in just those types of issues. They service all ages, all
>abilities.

        About a decade ago, my father helped out a friend with
assistance from Lighthouse International (NYC based). I believe they
had labels for the key caps with higher contrast and larger point
sizes, as well as a range of other stuff. FWIW.

http://www.lighthouse.org/


                                                Chris
--
Chris Pepper: <http://www.reppep.com/~pepper/>
Rockefeller University: <http://www.rockefeller.edu/>

On or about 3/30/06 8:12 PM, thus spake "Pasich, William C"
<william.c.pasichboeing.com>:

> I have gotten around the vision aspect with increasing the font sizes
> everywhere possible

And let's not forget that Tiger includes VoiceOver, one of whose functions
is to act as a massive magnifying glass for whatever is under the mouse. (It
can also read parts of the interface to you - hence the name.) m.

--
matt neuburg, phd = matttidbits.com, http://www.tidbits.com/matt/
pantes anthropoi tou eidenai oregontai phusei
AppleScript: the Definitive Guide - Second Edition!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596102119
Take Control of Word 2004, Tiger, and more -
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-customizing.html
Subscribe to TidBITS! It's free and smart. http://www.tidbits.com/

At 20:12 -0800 UTC, on 2006-03-30, Matt Neuburg wrote:

[...]

> get the biggest screen and the fastest Mac that you can afford. The
> subconscious perception that an "old" user just needs a minimal cheap
> computer is wrong. My mother (who is my model for a completely unintuitive
> computer user - she can't even remember how to select multiple objects) has
> been sooooo much happier since we replaced her iMac DV with an iMac G5
> 20-incher. After all, she has never quite grasped the multiple-window
> paradigm, so having a screen where she can see *two* fullsize windows at the
> same time is a huge help. The speed boost means she spends much less time
> waiting and wondering whether she has screwed up.

Yep. I have the exact same experience with several elderly Mac users.

Another reason to get a current Mac is that, in the case of inexperienced
users, they seem to have a much easier time with Mac OS X than with Mac OS 9.
For example, Finder's Column View finally helps them find their way through
the folder hierarchy. (And being able to set them up as a non-Admin helps
prevent them from messing up the system.)

I would also recommend setting up a good automated backup strategy.

[...]

> something that shows the IP number in her menu bar, so she can
> tell you the number and you can use VNC to see / control her screen.

She won't even have to do that if you set up a dynamic DNS service for her,
like <http://no-ip.org> for instance.


--
Sander Tekelenburg, <http://www.euronet.nl/~tekelenb/>

We just gave my mother in law an iBook. She has fine vision, hand eye
coordination, etc... But she's never ever used a computer in any way.
Period. I'm about to send out an email to the other relatives to stop
sending her pictures and complicated forwards and attachments. She's
overwhelmed by opening and closing windows and email attachments are
putting her over the top. :(

Any suggestions for someone who has never ever used a computer? The most
she has done is type over 40 years ago.

On or about 4/30/06 11:25 AM, thus spake "David Ross"
<drdavidrossconsultant.com>:

> We just gave my mother in law an iBook. She has fine vision, hand eye
> coordination, etc... But she's never ever used a computer in any way.
> Period. I'm about to send out an email to the other relatives to stop
> sending her pictures and complicated forwards and attachments. She's
> overwhelmed by opening and closing windows and email attachments are
> putting her over the top. :(
>
> Any suggestions for someone who has never ever used a computer? The most
> she has done is type over 40 years ago.

Stay at her house for several days of lessons. There is nothing like
patience and interaction. By watching what she does and needs to do, you'll
know what to tell her. Keep it simple and focus on actual tasks that arise.
m.

--
matt neuburg, phd = matttidbits.com, http://www.tidbits.com/matt/
pantes anthropoi tou eidenai oregontai phusei
AppleScript: the Definitive Guide - Second Edition!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596102119
Take Control of Word 2004, Tiger, and more -
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-customizing.html
Subscribe to TidBITS! It's free and smart. http://www.tidbits.com/

On Apr 30, 2006, at 2:25 PM, David Ross wrote:

> We just gave my mother in law an iBook. She has fine vision, hand eye
> coordination, etc... But she's never ever used a computer in any way.
> Period. I'm about to send out an email to the other relatives to stop
> sending her pictures and complicated forwards and attachments. She's
> overwhelmed by opening and closing windows and email attachments are
> putting her over the top. :(
>
> Any suggestions for someone who has never ever used a computer? The
> most
> she has done is type over 40 years ago.

If she has a fast Internet connection maybe you could send her in-line
photos that she might like to see. Also, sit with her repeatedly to
help her through the processes that she needs to know.

Another way for relatives to share photos is to upload them to
shutterfly.com (or another such free service). That way she can go to
the website and view the photos and not have to worry about
downloading them.

I hope she gets the hang of it. My 86 yr. old father-in-law just
bought his 2nd computer...said the old one was too slow! He
sometimes has trouble with downloads, also, but still enjoys his
computer. Good luck!

Kathie

Last February, we had a thread on TidBITS Talk called: Introducing and
elderly computer novice to Macintosh. This may contain useful
information.

http://emperor.tidbits.com/webx/TidBITS/Talk/395/0

Matt is absolutely right about the coaching and training side of
things. As an emigrant, I have done the following to minimise the
number of applications that needed to be 'learned' and help alleviate
similar issues:

++'Newsletter' emails become blogs++
Instead of 'newsletter' emails, my wife and I write separate blogs
which folks can read in their browsers. These contain general 'we
did this' news and photos and are good for 80-90% of our news. The
remaining, more private stuff is dealt with by sending specific
emails - either on a 1:1 basis or to distinct groups (Family or
Friends mostly but occasionally Old Colleagues). Blogs - whether
whole chunks or single posts - can be printed easily for the 'take
along to show of the grandkids' purposes too.

++Photo attachments become online albums++
Instead of photo attachments, we use Flickr and email/provide web
links for the vast majority of pictures we take. Flickr allows for
three levels of access: public, friends and family - again, this is
good for 90% of what we need. An added benefit is that you/they can
always generate perfectly acceptable prints direct from web-based
picture services.

That said, we find that there is no substitute for a hand-written
letter wrapped around photographs where the more mature
correspondents are concerned. With mail between the UK and NZ taking
4 to 5 days at present, there's no excuse for us not writing either :-)

--
bignoseduglyguy
http://www.bignoseduglyguy.com
http://www.bignoseduglyguy.com/no8wire
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59999295N00/

We just gave my mother in law an iBook. She has fine vision, hand eye coordination, etc... But she's never ever used a computer in any way. Period. I'm about to send out an email to the other relatives to stop sending her pictures and complicated forwards and attachments. She's overwhelmed by opening and closing windows and email attachments are putting her over the top. :(

Pictures (and one page pdfs) are not a problem for received messages in Mail. They show up inline, with no need to 'open' the attachment.



[This is true of many email clients at this point, but it can still be confusing, depending on where the image shows up in the message. -Adam]



Percy

On Apr 30, 2006, at 11:25, David Ross wrote:
> Any suggestions for someone who has never ever used a computer? The
> most
> she has done is type over 40 years ago.

For the initial introduction to things like windows and the mouse, I
used to get great results with the interactive tutorial that Apple
used to include with Macs. When you're clicking fish in an on-screen
fish bowl, it's somehow just not so intimidating :-).

Sadly, Apple stopped bundling any sort of tutorial at all many years
ago. I think they assume that everyone has these basic skills now,
but that's clearly not the case.

I would try setting things up in as simple a fashion as possible. For
example, you might set her account to use the Simple Finder, and you
could put the three or four apps she'll ever use in the Dock and
remove all the fluff that's there by default.

I find that most people who are over about 65 or 70 and just learning
about a computer start in a very activity-oriented way. That is,
they'll record the specific steps to open their mail client, which
are very distinct from the specific steps they'll record to open
their web browser. You and I know that these activities are in fact
very closely related and can be easily generalized, but they don't
see it that way. So keep that in mind when you're showing her how to
use the computer. Show her the specific steps necessary to do the
specific things she wants to do, and avoid generalizations until
she's a little more advanced.

Also, stick to the same set of fundamental actions as consistently as
possible. For instance, if you tell her to select an icon in one
situation by clicking it, don't tell her to select an icon in another
situation by typing the first letter or two of the name. Stick to
clicking, even if typing may be easier in a particular case.
(Unfortunately, Apple's muddied the interface since the advent of OS
X such that maintaining this level of consistency is impossible in
many cases, especially when using Apple software.)

Finally, make sure she has a high-speed Internet connection to
minimize frustration, make sure you have remote SSH admin access to
the machine, and make sure you have VNC, ARD, or Timbuktu installed
for remote troubleshooting and tutoring.


Regards,
Bob

David Ross wrote:
> We just gave my mother in law an iBook. She has fine vision, hand eye
> coordination, etc... But she's never ever used a computer in any way.
> Period. I'm about to send out an email to the other relatives to stop
> sending her pictures and complicated forwards and attachments. She's
> overwhelmed by opening and closing windows and email attachments are
> putting her over the top. :(
>
> Any suggestions for someone who has never ever used a computer? The most
> she has done is type over 40 years ago.
>
To reply to everyone at once. She has a high speed connection. I
installed Timbuktu. And my wife is getting comfortable with watching her
mom and giving advice while on the phone. (Our free night minute usage
has gone up by about 1000.)

She's a 5 hour drive away if the Richmond and DC traffic cooperate.
(Yeah, right.)

She doesn't like to NOT be in control of her universe. She really wants
a book (let?) that covers things like single and double clicking,
windows vs programs, etc... The real basics. She hates to ask a question
for the 4th time.

But we are getting better. We told all the relatives to cool it on the
complicated emails. Triple forwarded emails with links to myspace plus
some attached photos and such. So now she can READ emails without
wondering what is going on.

As Adam implied, things which appear incredibly simple to us, appear
bewilderingly confusing to someone in her position. In many ways it's
the learning to drive analogy. Folks in industrial nations have been
around cars all their lives before they start to learn. Without that
experience, it's a much harder skill to master.

Still would love to find that booklet. :)

On May 4, 2006, at 11:47, David Ross wrote:

> To reply to everyone at once. She has a high speed connection. I
> installed Timbuktu. And my wife is getting comfortable with
> watching her
> mom and giving advice while on the phone. (Our free night minute usage
> has gone up by about 1000.)

In my case I use the free software Chicken of the VNC instead of
Timbuktu (I'm Cheap). Furthermore, I use Skype to talk to my Mother
as I watch her. She can even call me on her local phone because I set
up a SkypeIn number in her local calling area for $38 a year.
..lj

On 3/23/06, Eric Durbrow Ph.D. <eric.durbrowcomcast.net> wrote:
> Does anyone have any experience or suggestions for rigging a Mac for the
> very elderly. That is, poor vision, adequate hand dexterity, poor memory? Is
> communicating by iSight asking for trouble? My mom will be moving to a
> center that has high broadband and is about 30 minutes away. Any thoughts on
> keyboards, mice, software, accessiability settings, etc much appreciated. --
> If you want to unsubscribe or change your address, use this link:
> http://emperor.tidbits.com/webx?unsub.3c3f6899!u=3087c58e


Another source of assistive technology for people with special needs
is your state department of vocational rehabilitation. This is a
resource now required by federal statute. Information regarding this
program can be obtained from any local or state office of vocational
rehabilitation. Any expense would be minimal to nonexistent.

Hope this helps.

William