<p>I bought her a cover that can be a stand to prop it up and also bought her a stylus pen to touch the screen. Just now I ordered her an ‘Ipad for dummies for seniors’ book from amazon.</p>
<p>I assured her she will figure it out and love it (hope I’m right and if not I will get a new toy). Mom said that she was reminding herself that she did not want to become like her mother who did not want a washing machine in her home for fear she would not know how to work it. She walked across the street to the laundry mat instead!</p>
<p>My mom is visiting me for a couple of months. She is 88. No one is home during the day and we don’t have television. She got bored within the first 3-4 days. I showed her how to use my 1st generation iPad. She was reluctant at first that she might break it by not pressing the right keys. I showed her how to play word games and stuff, and I had to really assure her that no matter what keys she press, she can’t break it. Now she is so hooked to it that I think I’m gonna have to buy her one … or let her take this one when she leaves. She now does a lot of things on it. She listens to audio books while playing games. She does have little trouble touching small buttons with sometimes shaky fingers, but other than that she finds the thing very useful in keeping her occupied. </p>
<p>I am sure that had I not showed her how to do things in the beginning … quite a few times repeatedly … to get her acquainted to the device … until she felt comfortable and confident, she surely wouldn’t have made any effort to learn anything by herself</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your story about your 88-year-old mom. That’s great that she now feels comfortable using an iPad. I think that if most seniors can get over their initial reluctance, they can master using an iPad.</p>
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<p>I think a lot of seniors are deathly afraid of “breaking it”. If you can get them past that fear, they have a lot of fun. But it’s difficult to get them past it!</p>