ALZHEIMER'S BLOGGING:

One of the hardest things to do is to tell your loved one with Alzheimer's that they no longer are allowed to drive. I remember back when my sister in law called me to let me know that a police officer came to the house. He told her that Dad had hit a couple of cars. When he hit them he drove away from the scene of the accident. They caught up with him, and tried to talk to him, but he wasn't making much sense, and didn't remember hitting anyone. So my sister in law took his keys and hid them. Dad was angry and searched the house for days looking for his car keys. When we moved into his house, Dad was already use to the fact that he was not suppose to drive. But if I forgot to lock his car door or even our car doors, I would find him behind the wheel trying to figure out how to turn the car on. I know this is difficult task to know when to limit or even stop driving. Here are few things that may help you.

If you loved one with Alzheimer's forgets how to locate a familiar place. If they make a poor decision, or does not follow the traffic sign. If they become angry while driving, maybe hitting a curb, or even gets confused which pedal is the brake or the gas pedal.

Losing the independence of driving can be upsetting. My father in law was a truck driver his whole life. When ever I drove him anywhere he would correct the way I drove, either I was going to fast or going to slow. He would read the street signs like a child. I remember one time after one of our outings with his sister in laws, we were driving back home and a semi pasted us on the road. He took his fist and slammed in on the dash. I jumped because he scared me. Then he said he wished he was able to drive again with tears in his eyes. I was started to doubt myself. Maybe I was to hard on him. But it didn't take long before he asked me where we were going and totally forgot about our outing.

Please get this medical alert for your loved one so that if they do get lost they can be found. http://www.alz.org/safetycenter/we_can_help_safety_medicalert_safereturn.asp

I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint of James A Rock Pub., Co.
www.mariefostino.com
www.mariefostino.blogspot.com