I can understand it with my dad as a remnant of his stroke is he does need things written down to follow and then he can do that task (eg. he collects and buys stuff on ebay without problem) but I've never understood it with my mother.
Even something like printing, if it was a new program to her, she'd ask before considering that as File/Print works on everything else she uses, the answer might lie in trying that. Again, she does her daily web browsing and email, etc. fine. We've a pretty stable set up that works well for both of them.
But I (and a brother before - I gather they wound up coming to blows back in the days of Windows 98) when it comes to something new want her to have the freedom to think and try new things for herself and she wants lists of instructions. She is a very intelligent woman with no form of mental handicap.
I can't remember what started this off but things didn't go well last night. I went sort of "mum, when you learned to drive in a Triumph Herald and then got the old A35, did you have to go back and ask what a gear lever is. Did you have to be shown where the brake pedal is or what a steering wheel does? Even if I put you in a bus, would you have to ask what a stop sign on the road meant?" Somehow she moved on to pianos from there referring to her trying to teach me some bits, to which I retort "yes that was piano and I know there are differences but if I was given a harmonium and asked to play chopsticks (about my limit...) would I be asking where the notes are or see it as similar enough to have a go?"
So, I failed badly yet again...
I'm really not sure family are the best to teach family but my serious question is how would I get her to sort of learn again.
To go back to the idea of a file manager and how she can organise where she put things. And that there is a certain amount of commonality with programs (or at least the things she would be using - I go back to the days of learning the control codes on Wordstar, can to a limited degree handle vi, etc - maybe I should call hers desktop programs?) and get to much can be looked at as things with potential similarities rather than starting from scratch each time is what I'm looking for.
Even something like printing, if it was a new program to her, she'd ask before considering that as File/Print works on everything else she uses, the answer might lie in trying that. Again, she does her daily web browsing and email, etc. fine. We've a pretty stable set up that works well for both of them.
But I (and a brother before - I gather they wound up coming to blows back in the days of Windows 98) when it comes to something new want her to have the freedom to think and try new things for herself and she wants lists of instructions. She is a very intelligent woman with no form of mental handicap.
I can't remember what started this off but things didn't go well last night. I went sort of "mum, when you learned to drive in a Triumph Herald and then got the old A35, did you have to go back and ask what a gear lever is. Did you have to be shown where the brake pedal is or what a steering wheel does? Even if I put you in a bus, would you have to ask what a stop sign on the road meant?" Somehow she moved on to pianos from there referring to her trying to teach me some bits, to which I retort "yes that was piano and I know there are differences but if I was given a harmonium and asked to play chopsticks (about my limit...) would I be asking where the notes are or see it as similar enough to have a go?"
So, I failed badly yet again...
I'm really not sure family are the best to teach family but my serious question is how would I get her to sort of learn again.
To go back to the idea of a file manager and how she can organise where she put things. And that there is a certain amount of commonality with programs (or at least the things she would be using - I go back to the days of learning the control codes on Wordstar, can to a limited degree handle vi, etc - maybe I should call hers desktop programs?) and get to much can be looked at as things with potential similarities rather than starting from scratch each time is what I'm looking for.
Last edited: