Benefits of Technology for Seniors
As much as I talk about the difficulty people of my generation, those born during the Great Depression or just before WWII, have in learning our way around the Internet I must concede that we benefit enormously in several ways.
Learning new things, acquiring new skills keeps our brains active as we struggle to learn. If something takes longer to do than it does with younger folks who have grown up with technololgy, then so be it. So we’re slow. So what? We are persistent. I watch my husband, thirteen years out from a brain cancer diagnosis that had predicted his untimely death.
His cognitive comeback has been nothing short of amazing. From playing comedy tapes on television, using a stop and start approach to absorb the information, he gradually gained the ability to remember what he had learned from seeing and hearing. From there he went to the computer and practiced the basic skills that today’s kindergartners are supposed to know. From there he picked up the programs he had been installing on customers’ computers the year before cancer struck.
By the time he was several years along in his survival he was back to building computers for the family just as he had done when operating his little computer company. But slower. Much slower. The brain tumor had stolen his intellectual quickness. He has had to move slower in order to figure things out. But I shudder to think how he would be if he’d had to stop his progress with just watching television. Also, there are brain builder computer programs available for brain injured folks; there is a good chance that Gabby Gifford has been using one or more of these tools.
Along with cognitive stimulation to heal brain damage there is the opportunity for cognitive growth. I sometimes make fun of some of our modern technology. (Maybe I’ll be another Andy Rooney twenty years from now?) But in truth I admire younger generations in their ability to pick up skills quicker than I can pick up a pen. As I say in a previous post, they are sharpening their skills, preparing to run the world. They might be able to do a better job in some ways than we’ve done.
Last, not least, is the ability to stay connected to the world. I thought about that one recent gloomy and cold day as winter begins to grip this part of the country with icy fingers and we stay indoors much more. Since Kindles, Nooks and other ebook readers are becoming more commonplace, we can–in many communities–order an ebook to be connected to our device and settle down for a cozy winter afternoon with a good read. I almost said book, but have you ever tried turning pages on an ebook reader? At first, it felt odd to press a button to turn a page, but I felt so proud the first time I read my Kindle in public. Look at me, I wanted to say to the world in general, I’m (pardon the expression) hep.
Facebook and other social media is great for keeping families together—in cyberspace, that is. And our neighbors too: We can neighbor in ways totally different from the days when we chatted over the back fence—in good weather. Late this past summer, I noticed that my tomatoes were ripening at a faster pace than I could use them and some were on my next door neighbor’s side of the fence. (the old chain link sort of fence) Why waste time going outdoors to chat with her, and besides, she was at work. So I went to her FB page and typed in, “Pick the tomatoes on your side of the fence.” The next day we both harvested tomatoes on our respective sides of the fence, laughing at ourselves and the new way of communicating.
Technology is good for seniors. It keeps us on our mental toes. It keeps us in touch with our neighbors, our families, and the world in general. It offers mental challenges that our parents and other generations before us didn’t have. Modern medicine (enhanced with technology) keeps us alive, technology keeps us cognitively healthy and we are living longer. The mature years are becoming more interesting every year.
Benefits of Technology for Seniors
As much as I talk about the difficulty people of my generation, those born during the Great Depression or just before WWII, have in learning our way around the Internet I must concede that we benefit enormously in several ways.
Learning new things, acquiring new skills keeps our brains active as we struggle to learn. If something takes longer to do than it does with younger folks who have grown up with technololgy, then so be it. So we’re slow. So what? We are persistent. I watch my husband, thirteen years out from a brain cancer diagnosis that had predicted his untimely death.
His cognitive comeback has been nothing short of amazing. From playing comedy tapes on television, using a stop and start approach to absorb the information, he gradually gained the ability to remember what he had learned from seeing and hearing. From there he went to the computer and practiced the basic skills that today’s kindergartners are supposed to know. From there he picked up the programs he had been installing on customers’ computers the year before cancer struck.
By the time he was several years along in his survival he was back to building computers for the family just as he had done when operating his little computer company. But slower. Much slower. The brain tumor had stolen his intellectual quickness. He has had to move slower in order to figure things out. But I shudder to think how he would be if he’d had to stop his progress with just watching television. Also, there are brain builder computer programs available for brain injured folks; there is a good chance that Gabby Gifford has been using one or more of these tools.
Along with cognitive stimulation to heal brain damage there is the opportunity for cognitive growth. I sometimes make fun of some of our modern technology. (Maybe I’ll be another Andy Rooney twenty years from now?) But in truth I admire younger generations in their ability to pick up skills quicker than I can pick up a pen. As I say in a previous post, they are sharpening their skills, preparing to run the world. They might be able to do a better job in some ways than we’ve done.
Last, not least, is the ability to stay connected to the world. I thought about that one recent gloomy and cold day as winter begins to grip this part of the country with icy fingers and we stay indoors much more. Since Kindles, Nooks and other ebook readers are becoming more commonplace, we can–in many communities–order an ebook to be connected to our device and settle down for a cozy winter afternoon with a good read. I almost said book, but have you ever tried turning pages on an ebook reader? At first, it felt odd to press a button to turn a page, but I felt so proud the first time I read my Kindle in public. Look at me, I wanted to say to the world in general, I’m (pardon the expression) hep.
Facebook and other social media is great for keeping families together—in cyberspace, that is. And our neighbors too: We can neighbor in ways totally different from the days when we chatted over the back fence—in good weather. Late this past summer, I noticed that my tomatoes were ripening at a faster pace than I could use them and some were on my next door neighbor’s side of the fence. (the old chain link sort of fence) Why waste time going outdoors to chat with her, and besides, she was at work. So I went to her FB page and typed in, “Pick the tomatoes on your side of the fence.” The next day we both harvested tomatoes on our respective sides of the fence, laughing at ourselves and the new way of communicating.
Technology is good for seniors. It keeps us on our mental toes. It keeps us in touch with our neighbors, our families, and the world in general. It offers mental challenges that our parents and other generations before us didn’t have. Modern medicine (enhanced with technology) keeps us alive, technology keeps us cognitively healthy and we are living longer. The mature years are becoming more interesting every year.
Benefits of Technology for Seniors
As much as I talk about the difficulty people of my generation, those born during the Great Depression or just before WWII, have in learning our way around the Internet I must concede that we benefit enormously in several ways.
Learning new things, acquiring new skills keeps our brains active as we struggle to learn. If something takes longer to do than it does with younger folks who have grown up with technololgy, then so be it. So we’re slow. So what? We are persistent. I watch my husband, thirteen years out from a brain cancer diagnosis that had predicted his untimely death.
His cognitive comeback has been nothing short of amazing. From playing comedy tapes on television, using a stop and start approach to absorb the information, he gradually gained the ability to remember what he had learned from seeing and hearing. From there he went to the computer and practiced the basic skills that today’s kindergartners are supposed to know. From there he picked up the programs he had been installing on customers’ computers the year before cancer struck.
By the time he was several years along in his survival he was back to building computers for the family just as he had done when operating his little computer company. But slower. Much slower. The brain tumor had stolen his intellectual quickness. He has had to move slower in order to figure things out. But I shudder to think how he would be if he’d had to stop his progress with just watching television. Also, there are brain builder computer programs available for brain injured folks; there is a good chance that Gabby Gifford has been using one or more of these tools.
Along with cognitive stimulation to heal brain damage there is the opportunity for cognitive growth. I sometimes make fun of some of our modern technology. (Maybe I’ll be another Andy Rooney twenty years from now?) But in truth I admire younger generations in their ability to pick up skills quicker than I can pick up a pen. As I say in a previous post, they are sharpening their skills, preparing to run the world. They might be able to do a better job in some ways than we’ve done.
Last, not least, is the ability to stay connected to the world. I thought about that one recent gloomy and cold day as winter begins to grip this part of the country with icy fingers and we stay indoors much more. Since Kindles, Nooks and other ebook readers are becoming more commonplace, we can–in many communities–order an ebook to be connected to our device and settle down for a cozy winter afternoon with a good read. I almost said book, but have you ever tried turning pages on an ebook reader? At first, it felt odd to press a button to turn a page, but I felt so proud the first time I read my Kindle in public. Look at me, I wanted to say to the world in general, I’m (pardon the expression) hep.
Facebook and other social media is great for keeping families together—in cyberspace, that is. And our neighbors too: We can neighbor in ways totally different from the days when we chatted over the back fence—in good weather. Late this past summer, I noticed that my tomatoes were ripening at a faster pace than I could use them and some were on my next door neighbor’s side of the fence. (the old chain link sort of fence) Why waste time going outdoors to chat with her, and besides, she was at work. So I went to her FB page and typed in, “Pick the tomatoes on your side of the fence.” The next day we both harvested tomatoes on our respective sides of the fence, laughing at ourselves and the new way of communicating.
Technology is good for seniors. It keeps us on our mental toes. It keeps us in touch with our neighbors, our families, and the world in general. It offers mental challenges that our parents and other generations before us didn’t have. Modern medicine (enhanced with technology) keeps us alive, technology keeps us cognitively healthy and we are living longer. The mature years are becoming more interesting every year.
Benefits of Technology for Seniors
As much as I talk about the difficulty people of my generation, those born during the Great Depression or just before WWII, have in learning our way around the Internet I must concede that we benefit enormously in several ways.
Learning new things, acquiring new skills keeps our brains active as we struggle to learn. If something takes longer to do than it does with younger folks who have grown up with technololgy, then so be it. So we’re slow. So what? We are persistent. I watch my husband, thirteen years out from a brain cancer diagnosis that had predicted his untimely death.
His cognitive comeback has been nothing short of amazing. From playing comedy tapes on television, using a stop and start approach to absorb the information, he gradually gained the ability to remember what he had learned from seeing and hearing. From there he went to the computer and practiced the basic skills that today’s kindergartners are supposed to know. From there he picked up the programs he had been installing on customers’ computers the year before cancer struck.
By the time he was several years along in his survival he was back to building computers for the family just as he had done when operating his little computer company. But slower. Much slower. The brain tumor had stolen his intellectual quickness. He has had to move slower in order to figure things out. But I shudder to think how he would be if he’d had to stop his progress with just watching television. Also, there are brain builder computer programs available for brain injured folks; there is a good chance that Gabby Gifford has been using one or more of these tools.
Along with cognitive stimulation to heal brain damage there is the opportunity for cognitive growth. I sometimes make fun of some of our modern technology. (Maybe I’ll be another Andy Rooney twenty years from now?) But in truth I admire younger generations in their ability to pick up skills quicker than I can pick up a pen. As I say in a previous post, they are sharpening their skills, preparing to run the world. They might be able to do a better job in some ways than we’ve done.
Last, not least, is the ability to stay connected to the world. I thought about that one recent gloomy and cold day as winter begins to grip this part of the country with icy fingers and we stay indoors much more. Since Kindles, Nooks and other ebook readers are becoming more commonplace, we can–in many communities–order an ebook to be connected to our device and settle down for a cozy winter afternoon with a good read. I almost said book, but have you ever tried turning pages on an ebook reader? At first, it felt odd to press a button to turn a page, but I felt so proud the first time I read my Kindle in public. Look at me, I wanted to say to the world in general, I’m (pardon the expression) hep.
Facebook and other social media is great for keeping families together—in cyberspace, that is. And our neighbors too: We can neighbor in ways totally different from the days when we chatted over the back fence—in good weather. Late this past summer, I noticed that my tomatoes were ripening at a faster pace than I could use them and some were on my next door neighbor’s side of the fence. (the old chain link sort of fence) Why waste time going outdoors to chat with her, and besides, she was at work. So I went to her FB page and typed in, “Pick the tomatoes on your side of the fence.” The next day we both harvested tomatoes on our respective sides of the fence, laughing at ourselves and the new way of communicating.
Technology is good for seniors. It keeps us on our mental toes. It keeps us in touch with our neighbors, our families, and the world in general. It offers mental challenges that our parents and other generations before us didn’t have. Modern medicine (enhanced with technology) keeps us alive, technology keeps us cognitively healthy and we are living longer. The mature years are becoming more interesting every year.
Benefits of Technology for Seniors
As much as I talk about the difficulty people of my generation, those born during the Great Depression or just before WWII, have in learning our way around the Internet I must concede that we benefit enormously in several ways.
Learning new things, acquiring new skills keeps our brains active as we struggle to learn. If something takes longer to do than it does with younger folks who have grown up with technololgy, then so be it. So we’re slow. So what? We are persistent. I watch my husband, thirteen years out from a brain cancer diagnosis that had predicted his untimely death.
His cognitive comeback has been nothing short of amazing. From playing comedy tapes on television, using a stop and start approach to absorb the information, he gradually gained the ability to remember what he had learned from seeing and hearing. From there he went to the computer and practiced the basic skills that today’s kindergartners are supposed to know. From there he picked up the programs he had been installing on customers’ computers the year before cancer struck.
By the time he was several years along in his survival he was back to building computers for the family just as he had done when operating his little computer company. But slower. Much slower. The brain tumor had stolen his intellectual quickness. He has had to move slower in order to figure things out. But I shudder to think how he would be if he’d had to stop his progress with just watching television. Also, there are brain builder computer programs available for brain injured folks; there is a good chance that Gabby Gifford has been using one or more of these tools.
Along with cognitive stimulation to heal brain damage there is the opportunity for cognitive growth. I sometimes make fun of some of our modern technology. (Maybe I’ll be another Andy Rooney twenty years from now?) But in truth I admire younger generations in their ability to pick up skills quicker than I can pick up a pen. As I say in a previous post, they are sharpening their skills, preparing to run the world. They might be able to do a better job in some ways than we’ve done.
Last, not least, is the ability to stay connected to the world. I thought about that one recent gloomy and cold day as winter begins to grip this part of the country with icy fingers and we stay indoors much more. Since Kindles, Nooks and other ebook readers are becoming more commonplace, we can–in many communities–order an ebook to be connected to our device and settle down for a cozy winter afternoon with a good read. I almost said book, but have you ever tried turning pages on an ebook reader? At first, it felt odd to press a button to turn a page, but I felt so proud the first time I read my Kindle in public. Look at me, I wanted to say to the world in general, I’m (pardon the expression) hep.
Facebook and other social media is great for keeping families together—in cyberspace, that is. And our neighbors too: We can neighbor in ways totally different from the days when we chatted over the back fence—in good weather. Late this past summer, I noticed that my tomatoes were ripening at a faster pace than I could use them and some were on my next door neighbor’s side of the fence. (the old chain link sort of fence) Why waste time going outdoors to chat with her, and besides, she was at work. So I went to her FB page and typed in, “Pick the tomatoes on your side of the fence.” The next day we both harvested tomatoes on our respective sides of the fence, laughing at ourselves and the new way of communicating.
Technology is good for seniors. It keeps us on our mental toes. It keeps us in touch with our neighbors, our families, and the world in general. It offers mental challenges that our parents and other generations before us didn’t have. Modern medicine (enhanced with technology) keeps us alive, technology keeps us cognitively healthy and we are living longer. The mature years are becoming more interesting every year.
Benefits of Technology for Seniors
As much as I talk about the difficulty people of my generation, those born during the Great Depression or just before WWII, have in learning our way around the Internet I must concede that we benefit enormously in several ways.
Learning new things, acquiring new skills keeps our brains active as we struggle to learn. If something takes longer to do than it does with younger folks who have grown up with technololgy, then so be it. So we’re slow. So what? We are persistent. I watch my husband, thirteen years out from a brain cancer diagnosis that had predicted his untimely death.
His cognitive comeback has been nothing short of amazing. From playing comedy tapes on television, using a stop and start approach to absorb the information, he gradually gained the ability to remember what he had learned from seeing and hearing. From there he went to the computer and practiced the basic skills that today’s kindergartners are supposed to know. From there he picked up the programs he had been installing on customers’ computers the year before cancer struck.
By the time he was several years along in his survival he was back to building computers for the family just as he had done when operating his little computer company. But slower. Much slower. The brain tumor had stolen his intellectual quickness. He has had to move slower in order to figure things out. But I shudder to think how he would be if he’d had to stop his progress with just watching television. Also, there are brain builder computer programs available for brain injured folks; there is a good chance that Gabby Gifford has been using one or more of these tools.
Along with cognitive stimulation to heal brain damage there is the opportunity for cognitive growth. I sometimes make fun of some of our modern technology. (Maybe I’ll be another Andy Rooney twenty years from now?) But in truth I admire younger generations in their ability to pick up skills quicker than I can pick up a pen. As I say in a previous post, they are sharpening their skills, preparing to run the world. They might be able to do a better job in some ways than we’ve done.
Last, not least, is the ability to stay connected to the world. I thought about that one recent gloomy and cold day as winter begins to grip this part of the country with icy fingers and we stay indoors much more. Since Kindles, Nooks and other ebook readers are becoming more commonplace, we can–in many communities–order an ebook to be connected to our device and settle down for a cozy winter afternoon with a good read. I almost said book, but have you ever tried turning pages on an ebook reader? At first, it felt odd to press a button to turn a page, but I felt so proud the first time I read my Kindle in public. Look at me, I wanted to say to the world in general, I’m (pardon the expression) hep.
Facebook and other social media is great for keeping families together—in cyberspace, that is. And our neighbors too: We can neighbor in ways totally different from the days when we chatted over the back fence—in good weather. Late this past summer, I noticed that my tomatoes were ripening at a faster pace than I could use them and some were on my next door neighbor’s side of the fence. (the old chain link sort of fence) Why waste time going outdoors to chat with her, and besides, she was at work. So I went to her FB page and typed in, “Pick the tomatoes on your side of the fence.” The next day we both harvested tomatoes on our respective sides of the fence, laughing at ourselves and the new way of communicating.
Technology is good for seniors. It keeps us on our mental toes. It keeps us in touch with our neighbors, our families, and the world in general. It offers mental challenges that our parents and other generations before us didn’t have. Modern medicine (enhanced with technology) keeps us alive, technology keeps us cognitively healthy and we are living longer. The mature years are becoming more interesting every year.
Benefits of Technology for Seniors
As much as I talk about the difficulty people of my generation, those born during the Great Depression or just before WWII, have in learning our way around the Internet I must concede that we benefit enormously in several ways.
Learning new things, acquiring new skills keeps our brains active as we struggle to learn. If something takes longer to do than it does with younger folks who have grown up with technololgy, then so be it. So we’re slow. So what? We are persistent. I watch my husband, thirteen years out from a brain cancer diagnosis that had predicted his untimely death.
His cognitive comeback has been nothing short of amazing. From playing comedy tapes on television, using a stop and start approach to absorb the information, he gradually gained the ability to remember what he had learned from seeing and hearing. From there he went to the computer and practiced the basic skills that today’s kindergartners are supposed to know. From there he picked up the programs he had been installing on customers’ computers the year before cancer struck.
By the time he was several years along in his survival he was back to building computers for the family just as he had done when operating his little computer company. But slower. Much slower. The brain tumor had stolen his intellectual quickness. He has had to move slower in order to figure things out. But I shudder to think how he would be if he’d had to stop his progress with just watching television. Also, there are brain builder computer programs available for brain injured folks; there is a good chance that Gabby Gifford has been using one or more of these tools.
Along with cognitive stimulation to heal brain damage there is the opportunity for cognitive growth. I sometimes make fun of some of our modern technology. (Maybe I’ll be another Andy Rooney twenty years from now?) But in truth I admire younger generations in their ability to pick up skills quicker than I can pick up a pen. As I say in a previous post, they are sharpening their skills, preparing to run the world. They might be able to do a better job in some ways than we’ve done.
Last, not least, is the ability to stay connected to the world. I thought about that one recent gloomy and cold day as winter begins to grip this part of the country with icy fingers and we stay indoors much more. Since Kindles, Nooks and other ebook readers are becoming more commonplace, we can–in many communities–order an ebook to be connected to our device and settle down for a cozy winter afternoon with a good read. I almost said book, but have you ever tried turning pages on an ebook reader? At first, it felt odd to press a button to turn a page, but I felt so proud the first time I read my Kindle in public. Look at me, I wanted to say to the world in general, I’m (pardon the expression) hep.
Facebook and other social media is great for keeping families together—in cyberspace, that is. And our neighbors too: We can neighbor in ways totally different from the days when we chatted over the back fence—in good weather. Late this past summer, I noticed that my tomatoes were ripening at a faster pace than I could use them and some were on my next door neighbor’s side of the fence. (the old chain link sort of fence) Why waste time going outdoors to chat with her, and besides, she was at work. So I went to her FB page and typed in, “Pick the tomatoes on your side of the fence.” The next day we both harvested tomatoes on our respective sides of the fence, laughing at ourselves and the new way of communicating.
Technology is good for seniors. It keeps us on our mental toes. It keeps us in touch with our neighbors, our families, and the world in general. It offers mental challenges that our parents and other generations before us didn’t have. Modern medicine (enhanced with technology) keeps us alive, technology keeps us cognitively healthy and we are living longer. The mature years are becoming more interesting every year.
