Rara Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) I'm looking for advice for someone that I befriend. I took on telephone help for lonely people back in summer, I guess like a Daoist pledge of some sort. He is 3/4 blind and hasn't left his flat in months. He has bad lung health in particular, but he's losing mobility just from being stationary for too long. I want to give him something to do to keep him occupied. I mean, something fun, as he doesn't want to leave the flat, which is fair enough. A friend has already suggested meditation and breathing exercises, especially walking meditation which is fine, but it's not like he's that way inclined. Are there any puzzles or something out there for this sort of thing? He can't do anything like crosswords, I'm thinking something sensory 🤔 Edit: Quite an important thing to note is that he's elderly and has no computer/internet. Edited January 21, 2021 by Rara 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sketch Posted January 21, 2021 I am compelled to recommend musical instruments. Or sing to them. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted January 21, 2021 I got my 20 year old kids a 'Bop It' toy, $15. It has 4 noise makers, they make a sound and you hit or twist shake a piece of it. It becomes a memory game w/a timer. Quite fun, a little exercise.. It gets a body moving, but not too much. Great if there is buy in. Also got a Simon!, these days its has more game variations then single person memorizing the lights flashing. Similarly there are larger sized Rubik's cubes and $9.99 classes that teach the basics or free youtubes. A guy carrying around a Rubik cube and solving it by barely looking will draw a crowd. The highest ability is solving it blindfolded or behind your back! For $7, I'd consider getting him this- https://www.amazon.com/High-Performance-Mind-Anna-Wise/dp/B0026ETBO4 10 audio's that teach relaxation, visualization and meditation thru relatively short guided meditations. Couple healing things to boot. He gets into them, then he can get into some of the trippy ones on the youtube. Finding favorite ones and making MP3's. For some people its better then VR. How's his voice? I think there's always a need for readers, even if its specializing in shorter kids books. Maybe Libra Vox https://librivox.org/ is always looking for readers. If he can read (big letter english or braille) he can be worthwhile volunteer. Giving back can be a wonderful experience. lastly I typed Massive Online Games for the Blind and I got- https://itch.io/games/accessibility-blind/tag-multiplayer which had a interesting blind first shooter game and others https://www.avalon-rpg.com/info/blind a massive text based game for the blind https://blindgamers.com/Home/GameList Visioned or not, we're all staying home these days. If he can join a group, and electronically kill some of them off, it'd be great. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bhathen Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) Braille Sudoku magic cubes (thelerner mentioned them), Braille Jigsaws and Tangrams, Wooden puzzle set, chinese diablo, wooden solitaire Online sound-based games https://www.audiogames.net/ Becoming a language partner on sites like: italki.com, hellotalk.com Edited March 12, 2021 by Bhathen Picture edited 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rara Posted January 21, 2021 1 hour ago, thelerner said: I got my 20 year old kids a 'Bop It' toy, $15. It has 4 noise makers, they make a sound and you hit or twist shake a piece of it. It becomes a memory game w/a timer. Quite fun, a little exercise.. It gets a body moving, but not too much. Great if there is buy in. Also got a Simon!, these days its has more game variations then single person memorizing the lights flashing. Similarly there are larger sized Rubik's cubes and $9.99 classes that teach the basics or free youtubes. A guy carrying around a Rubik cube and solving it by barely looking will draw a crowd. The highest ability is solving it blindfolded or behind your back! For $7, I'd consider getting him this- https://www.amazon.com/High-Performance-Mind-Anna-Wise/dp/B0026ETBO4 10 audio's that teach relaxation, visualization and meditation thru relatively short guided meditations. Couple healing things to boot. He gets into them, then he can get into some of the trippy ones on the youtube. Finding favorite ones and making MP3's. For some people its better then VR. How's his voice? I think there's always a need for readers, even if its specializing in shorter kids books. Maybe Libra Vox https://librivox.org/ is always looking for readers. If he can read (big letter english or braille) he can be worthwhile volunteer. Giving back can be a wonderful experience. lastly I typed Massive Online Games for the Blind and I got- https://itch.io/games/accessibility-blind/tag-multiplayer which had a interesting blind first shooter game and others https://www.avalon-rpg.com/info/blind a massive text based game for the blind https://blindgamers.com/Home/GameList Visioned or not, we're all staying home these days. If he can join a group, and electronically kill some of them off, it'd be great. Thanks for all this, I'll take a look through the list. I should have mentioned he's 74, doesn't use a computer and generally has quite a defeatist mentality, so I'd like to find something fairly basic. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Limahong Posted January 21, 2021 1 hour ago, Rara said: He can't do anything like crosswords, I'm thinking something sensory 🤔 Hi David, It has been quite a while. Very good re what you are doing. Very positive energy. How about transferring your positivity to him and let him transform/expand on his own? Share with him the body-mind awareness (or bridge) that he can bring to the fore to experience life/living anew. A body can be likened to a temple for him to seek himself from within. Tell him about the seven chakras ~ he has a latent rainbow binding from within himself. Introduce the sixth chakra (third eye) to him. Ask him to get in touch with his own body through exercises, self-massage... Feelings can be felt more than words. Suggest to him to buy a yoga mat as a motivation to him(self) to do floor exercises, meditation... Ask him to open the windows and buy a wind chime... Sounds are energies ~ tell him to cultivate new energies. The best is yet to be ~ keep it up! - Anand 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rara Posted January 21, 2021 54 minutes ago, Bhathen said: Braille Sudoku magic cubes (thelerner mentioned them) Braille Jigsaws and Tangrams Wooden puzzle set Online sound-based games https://www.audiogames.net/ Becoming a language partner on sites like: italki.com, hellotalk.com I was thinking about wooden puzzles! I have a mensa one... ...I haven't solved it 😂 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rara Posted January 21, 2021 2 minutes ago, Limahong said: Hi David, It has been quite a while. Very good re what you are doing. Very positive energy. How about transferring your positivity to him and let him transform/expand on his own? Share with him the body-mind awareness (or bridge) that he can bring to the fore to experience life/living anew. A body can be likened to a temple for him to seek himself from within. Tell him about the seven chakras ~ he has a latent rainbow binding from within himself. Introduce the sixth chakra (third eye) to him. Ask him to get in touch with his own body through exercises, self-massage... Feelings can be felt more than words. Suggest to him to buy a yoga mat as a motivation to him(self) to do floor exercises, meditation... Ask him to open the windows and buy a wind chime... Sounds are energies ~ tell him to cultivate new energies. The best is yet to be ~ keep it up! - Anand Nice to cross paths again, Anand. Thank you...I have already made a start on this as my practice always becomes a talking point. Since his last chest infection, he stopped smoking so little by little he'll edge towards a better way. I just think he needs to keep his brain busy by using his hands as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Limahong Posted January 21, 2021 2 minutes ago, Rara said: I just think he needs to keep his brain busy by using his hands as well. Ask him to count to find out how many fingers has he? Are they all the same? Which is his favorite finger? Can his fingers do wrestling? . . 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted January 21, 2021 If he doesn't have one, smart speakers like the Amazon Echo Dot are amazing (& require internet). Cheap too $35ish. Particularly if someone could go through the various possible apps they have with him. And sadly musically they're much improved if linked to an Amazon Prime account. But they also play Pandora and will if you name an artist they'll play there songs. Beyond music they can read audio books to you. I can use Overlook app on my android phone, download ebooks into it, then have the echo read them to me. It'll play podcasts, give me weather, you can even have it call people and act as a speaker phone, if you set up properly. Audio games too. For my dad I found setting listen word 'Computer' instead of Alexa made him happier. Hooking it with a simple cable to a better speaker or say clock radio made the sound better. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
