Joel

Hey, everybody! Welcome to the Senior Reset podcast. We are discussing resources, education, solutions, entertainment, and training for the senior community and their families. I am very happy to have Michelle Mince with us today. She’s a speech-language therapist. She’s worked in senior cognition for nearly 30 years. She’s worked in hospitals, rehabs, and now in home Health. 

So, she will talk with us today about keeping our memory sharp, which even I need help with, and I am still not quite in my senior year. So, hey, Michelle, how are you doing?

Michelle

Hey, I am so happy to be here and share my wonderful information with all of you.

Joel

Yeah. Do you mind giving us a little overview of what you’ve been doing, especially in taking care of seniors and cognition? All of that.

Michelle

Yeah, I’d be happy to. So, I’m Michelle. I have been a speech and language pathologist for over 25 years. I specialized in working with the very young, from zero to five, and the senior population, basically 70 and above. I like those different age groups. They bring me a lot of joy to work with. I find a lot of similarities as well. There are a lot of differences between the age groups.

So, I’ve worked all over. I’m in California, but I’ve worked in hospitals, rehabs, schools, outpatient facilities, and home health where people have had strokes or some sort of head injury, and they’re back home and still need some help. There was a lot of speech and swallow therapy, cognition, and memory, which we’re here to discuss today. One of my passions to talk about. 

So, I’m happy to let you know what I can share with you. Rehabs, schools, outpatient facilities, and home health where people have had strokes or some sort of head injury, and they’re back home and 

Joel

Yeah, I think we might have you on again when we can discuss the speech. So, with memory care, can you just go into what it is and what happens with our memory as we age?

Michelle

I sure would. So, from a speech and language pathologist’s point of view, I like to think of our memory in our brain as a file cabinet, which some people may have heard before or not, as a file cabinet. As we learn things, as we grow and age, we kind of stick it in and find where in which file cabinet we have many files. Cabinets which file cabinet to stick it in so that we can find it later, and we do that as we grow, and then what happens as we age is that we start to lose track of which file cabinet it might be in or which file in that file cabinet, and so it starts to get lost, and that’s the normal aging process. 

I’m in my 50s. Unfortunately, I’m having some difficulties, too, and I’m recognizing being in the profession that I am. I’m very on top of it, so I need to do memory care for myself to stay sharp. I’m practicing what I preach.

So, we lose track of those file cabinets, and they lose track more and more often as we age. And that’s where it starts to become. Difficult or a problem, as we say. 

So, where is that word? Where is that item? And I can’t quite find where that is in my brain to remember it.

Joel

It happens all the time. That’s what’s in that word. You know, what do I do with that? Yeah.

Michelle

Yep. Yeah, it does; that feeling like it’s on the tip of my tongue. OK, that word that’s on the tip of your tongue. That is a common thing that happens—everybody at every age. The challenge, and I’m jumping right in, is that as we get older, it happens more often and impedes our ability to communicate our wants and needs. And that’s where an issue becomes. More than just like, oh, I just can’t remember it right now. And it’s, you know, just what it is, but yeah.

Joel

So, you know. I guess that follows the next question. It sounds like forgetting the words is kind of natural, but when does memory loss, or, you know, losing track of these file cabinets, start becoming problematic? And somebody needs to start taking an active role in their memory and trying to keep it sharp.

Michelle

So, as I said, I’m, and honestly, at 52, I’m starting to notice some things. I don’t know why, but I am. And so, you must do something about it when you start noticing things are different. So, it doesn’t matter what age that is if that is starting to happen. You need to work on getting your memory sharp and taking an active role, not just when things happen. I’m going to try to remember it. I’m losing words because I’m a speech therapist. Most of what I’m about is communication. 

So, when I talk about memory, it could be that you forgot where you put your keys, don’t remember what you had for lunch yesterday, or can’t remember if you told this person something. Those are all things. But my main focus is: Is that an idea of communication, and how does memory affect our ability to communicate with one another? 

And so that’s where I come in often, mostly because people have had strokes because that’s why I’m there. But I can come in even without that. And if somebody is having difficulty relaying information on a more consistent basis, they’re getting frustrated because they can’t communicate or they can’t remember. And that frustration is enough. It isn’t very pleasant to them, their loved ones, or caregivers because sometimes we don’t recognize it ourselves. 

And that’s a dimension. And Alzheimer’s and things like that, which is a medical diagnosis, which I don’t do, but I help with therapy, and so on. At that time, when you’re saying, gosh, I just can’t function anymore, I can’t function in my day-to-day life, or I’m recognizing that my loved one is having trouble functioning or that communication breakdown. It’s just so frustrating.  I am working on it and tending to it. There’s no magic age number. It’s a lot of awareness, and just listening to this podcast and listening to me will help you.

Joel

Yeah. Well, that’s our goal: to provide the education seniors and their families need. You know, for that matter, that seniors often might not be tapping into information resources like this. Well, so it sounds like you’ve got a toolbox there. What is it that people can do to keep their memory sharp? What are? What’s your what? What’s what? What can we do if you say you’re doing stuff daily or working on yourself? What can we be doing every day to keep our brains sharp?

Michelle

Yeah, I have so many things that are coming into my head from my toolbox right now. OK, one of the things that is very common that people have difficulty with first is remembering names.

Joel

Oh, I’m the worst. I am the worst! My wife gets me all the time.

Michelle

Whether you already start with the difficulty of remembering names as a young person, then you know you’re not going to grow that knowledge, right?

Joel

And now I’m doomed.

Michelle

Your loss, no, so this is what I’ve been doing, and this is what would be great for you, and I’d love feedback from anybody you know later on if you’ve done this: when I go places, I’ve been in a hotel, I’ve been in restaurants, I’ve been at CVS, and I’ve been to the grocery store. Whoever has a name tag and their name is on there. I use it, and guess what? It helps me connect to that person.

So, I go. Thank you so much, Pam. You know? And they’re like, oh, you know, how do you know my, oh, right there, you know? And then, as I was engaging with them or at a hotel, I saw the person the next day, and she didn’t have her name tag on. But because I had said it a few times the day before, I now remember it, and now, each time I see her, it makes it very personal, so saying people’s names as you see them and then repeating them.

Joel

Now, we’re trying to do that with people at restaurants. Will that help you remember other people’s names that you mentioned, like meet, and then, you know, don’t see for a while? Or do you have to do that with every person to remember their name?

Michelle

You understand the concept. The idea of repeal is really behind everything. OK, you would need to repeat Paul’s name many times, but that doesn’t mean you’ll remember Susan. You know what I mean? 

So, it’s, and all of my strategies that I’m going to go into right now have to do with repetition. But perhaps if you said Paul’s name ten times in a row, while you’re trying, you know, not in a row, but like, hey, Paul, can you get me this? Oh, thanks, Paul. Oh, Paul, do you know where I did it? And you did that? Then maybe you’d only have to say Susan’s name like five times, you know. And then it would click, you know, a little faster.

Joel

But so when I meet people and want to meet anybody, I should say, Hey, this is John, and be like, “Oh, John. You know, so what’s John? You know, you should just find ways to say their name many times.

Michelle

There you go. There you go. And you know to do that right at the beginning because I’ve found what I’ve done is I’ve. I’ve introduced myself, and I’ve heard their name. But I’m so on to what my agenda is or what my question is. I want to pretend that I haven’t taken their name. It’s just what you do socially during the conversation. But then I’m

Joel

Right.

Michelle

Like, oh gosh, what? Did they say what their name was?

Joel

That’s probably half my issue. I’m very goal-focused, so even in conversations, I always try to get there. Somewhere, right? That’s a great point, Michelle.

Michelle

Well, thank you very much. Because then, when you are goal-focused and want to get to where you’re doing, you’re not listening, attending, and thinking about what the other person is saying.

Joel

Right.

Michelle

We do that because we don’t want to forget what we will say to them. Another person, that’s just the memory.

Joel

Say their name three times, and I forget why we even started the conversation. Yeah.

Michelle

Right, right, right. OK. How great is that? And that was, like, no pun intended or whatever. And that is actually what my father says: that he will interrupt what I’m saying or say something completely off-topic. 

And I go, where did that come from? That wasn’t nice. I was talking. If I don’t, get it out now, he says. I will not remember it, so I must blurt it out while thinking about it. It doesn’t matter. That’s what I like. And I’m thinking about it. Right now, that’s his goal. 

So it doesn’t matter what is happening around him; otherwise, he’ll forget to tell me. And that is, so that is very common and not socially appropriate. I am not talking about that. You interrupted me. If you’re thinking about that, you’re not listening to me. And so a whole breakdown and communication is happening right there. And I just got off on the whole tangent.

Joel

Well, that’s. So repeating people’s names—I like that. Let’s see what else you have in your toolbox.

Michelle

OK, so my toolbox is OK, so count things. So let’s say I look in my refrigerator and go, OK. It looks like I need milk, eggs, and sour cream because sour cream is my favorite, and I go OK. It’s only three things. I don’t need to write it down, but it’s three things. I know there are three: milk, eggs, and sour cream. 

So, first of all, I’m counting. I’m also repeating them: milk, eggs, and sour cream. There are three things. There are three things. OK, so I listen, and then I get a phone call in the car on the way to the grocery store. And I’m listening to music and taking care of an email. Then I go to the grocery store. And I go. OK, I’m here to get milk. And what else? What else? What?

Joel

You’re giving me Deja vu.

Michelle

I know, right? I’m talking about what everybody goes through, and it doesn’t matter what age but it happens more as we age. So that is what happened. Why does it relate to seniors? OK. So I’m at the grocery store for milk. I at least know I’m missing two things because I know there are three. 

That feels more settling to me than going to milk, and I don’t. Know what else? There could be five things: I don’t, I don’t know, but at least there are milk eggs. So, I’m just missing one. I know there’s one. Maybe I’ll spot it. How could I forget my sour cream? OK, so. So. OK, three. I know I’ve got them all now, and I’m missing one. Was there another one? No. There were three. I have three. 

So counting things, finding places where you’re like, needing to count how many things you need to remember—not past five, I would say maybe, depending on your memory, we’re supposed to be able to remember seven things, like a phone number, but that is what I’m noticing too is that I used to be able to remember all seven numbers of a phone number. No problem now; I’m like 3. I’m chucking 3 and 4. 

Chunking is another tool. So I’m moving on from counting if everybody’s following me. That was another tool.

Joel

I am following you.

Michelle

Chunking, I know, but some seniors might be hopefully listening and need it a bit slower, which is appropriate. So we need to make sure everybody’s on. I am a speech therapist communication.

Joel

So we’ve got repeating, like repeating people’s names, repeating stuff, and then we have counting so that you can combine that with names. I just met John, Julie, and Jim. That’s three people that I just met. All right, so we got it.

Michelle

And they all start with J. Which is it?

Joel

I’ll start with Jay.

Michelle

So, what I started mentioning is chunking. OK, so we chunk groups of information, like a phone number. OK, natural chunking is the three numbers, then the four numbers if you’re chunking. Names: John, Juliet, and Oh God. I kind of paid attention, but I kind of didn’t. But I know there are three names, and I know the third. One starts with J. OK, so even though I don’t remember those names because I wasn’t focusing, I know something that might remind me a little about them.

 OK, so chunking is trying to chunk information by grouping things so that you remember milk, eggs, and sour cream. And John, Julie. And do you remember what you said?

Joel

Jim is here. Yeah.

Michelle

I was going. See, I was. I’m going to say Jim too, OK, so.

Joel

You could also chunk all three of those as if these are all three dairy products. Right. Milk, eggs, and sour cream… eggs—dairy.

Michelle

Yeah, right. And dairy is my favorite. So that’s, I guess, why I went there; I don’t know. That’s so yes. So, I mean, that’s another memory strategy you just mentioned without maybe even knowing it—putting things in categories. OK. So those were all. Dairy, and then the other three things we chunked. Or names. Now, I’m going to chunk some colors. Red, blue, and yellow. What I say

Joel

Red, blue, and yellow.

Michelle

How are you going to remember that?

Joel

I don’t know the colors.

Michelle

I chunked them into how many?

Joel

There’s three.

Michelle

I’m testing you. I’m testing your memory right now.

Michelle

Do you see that? Have to.

Joel

They’re all primary colors, too, so that’s

Michelle

They’re all primary colors that will help you remember. OK, and then what you didn’t do was what you did once, but repeat it. If you repeat it, I usually say if you can repeat things five times in a row. You are more likely to remember it than if you just said it. What do you know? Is it more likely that you’d remember it if you said it seven or eight times? I don’t know. There’s probably research on that, and I don’t know about that. 

So, when do I have it? I’m working with patients either on memory or with, as I mentioned, very young children, actually birthing five kids who are learning to speak and helping them learn how to talk. So, if they’re trying to pronounce words accurately, I will have them say cat, cat, cat, CAT five times in a row so that they will. They can pronounce it better. So, five times will help you remember things.

Joel

So, I guess to go over what we’ve been over, there’s some. In the category of improving my memory, I need to repeat things over and over again. Know that there’s something. Let’s see what repeating, counting, and Chunking Categorizing. So, there we have it. We’ve covered four things, 1,2,3,4.

Michelle

Those are right, and we are. I talked about it—names, you know, which goes under the repetition.

Joel

So, I am trying to put this into practice.

Michelle

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And that’s right. By repeating the strategies, it’s helping to remember them.

Joel

Yeah. So, we’ve covered four strategies that fall under memory care. We have repetition and counting. With our chunk together as a numerical, you have categorizing and chunking, which is chunked as

And they’re all in the category of memory care tips.

Michelle

There you go. Bing Bing.

Joel

Nice. Do you have any other tips you want to share with us? Is there a fifth one? What do we want to talk about?

Michelle

Let’s see if I can remember another one. The best thing for your memory is to use a tool to write things down and not rely on your memory, especially if you need to remember. 

So I help seniors with memory strategies like this, but what I help them with is, at the age of 80, when we’re talking about, you know, are they going to remember the five things they, you know, need in their grocery store? OK. OK. So, we’re, you know, going to have a system of writing notes, whether pen or paper. And some sort of system of that. 

So this is going to be your grocery. This will be your list of things you need when you talk to your doctors. This will be your list when you need to go to CVS, or if it is on a phone, tablet, or something like that, so that’s what I do: I have a note section. And each note. It has its title. And so, each time I think, oh my God, I remember asking my doctor, my ophthalmologist, about this. I go to my ophthalmology note because it’s a specific, categorized note for that doctor. So that when I go on that day, I can find it. 

Joel

I remember what I used to do in college and throughout my educational experience. It’s always been like my three ways to try to remember things: always see it, hear it, Write it. 

And I’d never have to like it used to be. I’d never have to go back to it. Nowadays, more and more, I have to write it down. Or I still forget it. Even if I do all three of those things, there’s a lot of, like, really great ways for us to write stuff down. I mean, there’s a list on your phone. You can use your calendar to meet this person on this date.

Michelle

Right. There’s. Yeah, there’s lots and lots. And lots of apps—lots and lots of apps, and so on. The other thing you said…

Joel

See it, hear it. Write it. Yeah.

Michelle

and I’m going to say… Say it.

Joel

Say it, yeah.

Michelle

Yeah, say it. Let’s say it many, many, many times. Right? So, guys, that’s what I would say. I say so when you repeat it, not just because you know it’s one thing to repeat silently in your head, but because I’m saying it out loud because when you say it yourself, you’re hearing yourself. So, there are a lot of different senses.

Joel

Another four things

Michelle

They are trying to help you remember it so you can say it as you write it: milk, eggs, and sour cream. So you’re writing it. You’re saying it. You’re hearing it. You’re thinking about it. You’re picturing it. OK, that could be it. That’s another strategy right there to picture. Take a picture in your head. 

And do that a lot. Try to take a picture in your head. So now I’m picturing a carton of milk. You know, the crate of eggs and the sour cream. They’re all in my shopping cart. I can see them there. OK, I can see Knutson. I can see. You know, I can see the whole thing, you know? And so, it is going to be more likely for me to be able to remember it. I’ve taken a picture in my mind, too. So.

Joel

Now I Imagine if you’re purposefully doing all these things, your brain will start doing them. Who remembers things a little better by automatically doing this grouping? 

Michelle

It does. It does. That’s why I said if you, you know, repeat John’s name five times or ten times, then maybe you only have to do Susan’s name five times.

So you know for and for some, for some or like, might go and try this and go well. I still have to say Susan’s name ten times every time; everybody’s different. Everybody’s brain is different. Everybody’s brain has been formed for all their lives differently. 

OK? But honestly, when I always ask, I need to know people’s backgrounds. When I work with them, if I’m working with an 85-year-old who was an engineer, that is going to be very different than if I’m working with a 92-year-old who has been stalking the grocery store for all his life. And what I’m simply saying is no, I’m not. I’m not judging either one, and I want to clarify that. 

But my therapy, how I’m going to talk and engage with that person, and my expectations of maybe, you know, what one can retain and what I’m going to use in therapy for them to remember, Will be different. I will use grocery items for the guy in the grocery store. I’m going. To use engineering items, which I have to look for. Up for the engineer.

Joel

Dun Dun Dun.

Michelle

Which I…

Joel

Yeah, I have a degree in engineering, I understand.

Michelle

Yeah, where? Which I get to learn more about, which is fabulous, you know? Everybody’s brains have been brought up differently, too, so there’s a possibility that somebody might have used their brains more for memory after all these years than somebody else. So just everybody takes, you know what I’m saying with, you know, there’s rage.

Joel

Sure. What? When should people seek specialized care or therapy, you know, engage with somebody like yourself? Why should somebody think about that or talk to their doctor about it?

Michelle

Yeah. I mean, I kind of mentioned that from the beginning. That is when it seems to be. Impeding functional life, and so that can look different for everybody. And so, somebody might say, you know what? My dad’s just breaking down a little bit, but that is enough for him because he was a professor and a speaker, and now for him to have just a little loss of words is devastating. 

So I want to get help for him, and I’ve got somebody else who goes (sound) You know, waiting. They don’t talk that much. They’re quiet. They watch TV. And, you know, until you know, so again, there’s a range. So, every family is different. So, each family member and each person may be unable to recognize what’s happening. And so, our loved ones need our support.

What do you know? That’s been your way of engaging and interacting with that person. It’s changing so much that it’s frustrating and impeding. It may not. You know, the doctor may say this is not serious enough, and you go, you know, it’s important enough to me that I want to learn some tools that I know. I want to know what to do, so I know that’s kind of a little wishy-washy in a way, but

Joel

No. Again, I think you’re saying that once it starts interfering with your daily, Talk to your doctor about it. I mean, people might be scared to talk to their doctor about it, afraid that they might get some sort of scary diagnosis, like dementia or Alzheimer’s or something like that. But honestly, there are, like, you might not be there and still might benefit from some kind of therapy. And by putting it off, and if you did have something, it was kind of more difficult going on. You’d want to catch it sooner rather than later.

Michelle

I was. I was going to say that I was. I was going to point out that you might go in, and it may be nothing. And that’s what’s happened, you know, with people, and they go well. Mild cognitive impairment—that’s kind of you. You know it’s that. In the early stages of getting older, it’s just being senior, if you will. 

OK, it’s not dementia, but you’re not as sharp as you think. Was it just? You know it’s age that happens. But mild cognitive impairments, kind of like a general, you know. So that might be. Where you fall, but that might. Be enough to bother. You were like, I used to be able to. I read and concentrated, and I loved reading, but now I can’t read, which bothers me. I’d like some tools to be able to do that. You know, that might be enough for a person to just, you know, get that. 

So yes, when it’s interfering with your daily functions, I’m touching on the fear. You might discover something more than just a mild impairment, which is scary. But the earlier, the better, and that’s where my company and baby-blooming moments come from. I work with children, and the earlier you know what’s happening, get help. A lot of people can feel better with that. Some people don’t want that, you know. And they just want to live, and they just want to go. But if you know what resources and where you can get them, which we’ll talk about next, it’s great for you to be open to going down that path.

Joel

Yeah, go ahead and launch into that. What resources are available?

Michelle

So definitely, speech-language pathologists. It sounds like we work on speech and language, but guess what? I do. OK, I work on speech; I work on language. I work on swallowing. I work on voice. So, Parkinson’s patients often have difficulty with their voice and swallowing. 

I work on attention and cognition. So, we talked about it, which includes memory. It includes judgment and problem-solving. I work on reading. I work on many areas that a speech-language pathologist can help with. 

Occupational therapist. They often can help with the mobility of hands, so if somebody is having difficulty grasping things, I can get into a whole bunch of resources. I realized I could talk about a Bunch OT PT, but we’ll focus on memory resources. Otherwise, I’ll go all day. 

At 70/75 and above, everybody should have a neurologist in their back pocket. That’s always good because you don’t want to scramble to find one when needed. You’re very, very good. I have a doctor; those doctors are gerontologists. Everybody kind of likes off-topic a little bit, but I encompass and take care of all my patients, this is an important one.

Joel

Yeah, but be it in one’s practice because finding a new doctor can sometimes take months to get into them. But you can usually get a faster appointment if you’re already an existing client.

Michelle

But also, if you go, oh my gosh, my family member just had a stroke. I don’t even. We’re not even hooked on a neurologist, or we don’t, you know, haven’t had a primary care doctor because we’ve been in between. And we haven’t found anybody. Now, I need to scramble in the moment of this stroke and try to find somebody to help me. I want to have OK; you’ve got some mild. Cognitive impairment—you’ve got this. Let’s have a doctor who knows and follows you if a brain injury occurs. You now have somebody who has known and followed you and can see what’s going on, and you don’t have to scramble. 

So that was a little bit of what I was talking about. Have someone in your life that you’ve established a relationship with, feel comfortable with, and can trust rather than scrambling. There are a few other resources available during an emergency. So, let me go back. So, I think stimulating one’s brain by doing, if you will, brain games is important.

Joel

Right.

Michelle

Everybody is OK, so whether you like word searches, crossword puzzles, or

Joel

There are a lot of apps out there for that kind of stuff. I didn’t realize they did much. I thought it was just kind of like scammy advertising. But they are very helpful.

Michelle

They’re extremely helpful. So there are a lot of apps. That’s where I was going to go. So, if you want to go technology-wise, tons of apps and websites are great for memory luminosity and brainhq both of them are .com… these are two that I like a lot. They may give you free trials, or you may sign up for them and get to pick all the different kinds of activities that you like. I think somebody should spend at least 20 minutes at least once or twice a day sitting down and doing either on technology or with some of the seniors I work with. That’s too challenging for them, so there are paper and pencil, word search books, crossword puzzles, games, and all sorts of brain things that you know—yeah, things like that—that you keep going.

Joel

Sudoku, that kind of

Michelle

I like this so much. You can still flip, and you can do things like that. But yes, there are apps. There is an I. Want to plug it in? Something I’ve recently found, and I’m happy. If anybody wants to hook up with me to learn to hook up with this, it’s called talk-path therapy. It’s a wonderful program that helps with speech, language, and cognition. You hook up with a speech therapist. They, like me, can do it. We can. I can assign it. I knew the right programs to do that were right for your level, so when you go on there, you just do the right things. You don’t have to search for

Joel

Everything then gives you accountability, which would help with, you know, staying on track with stuff.

Michelle

Yeah, it does connect with me so that I can see how you’re doing, and we can see, and we get to see, you know, and I get to bump you up in levels and help follow you through. So on, that’s great. But it’s not something you need a speech therapist for. You can just check it out, and it’s something that you Can do on your own. Virtual connections relate to seniors I recently learned about and want to share. Anybody can join; it’s for base, and it’s for a lot of stroke and aphasia patients. 

So anybody can join. There are hundreds of different groups. It’s all free, and you can go on. You can join if you like sewing; you could go on and just talk about sewing, as other people do worldwide. And you’re connecting with them on whatever level you are in your ability to communicate. I remember things I know we’re talking about memory. That is a fascinating, fabulous, not new, but new to me program that I just wanted to share with people because you find your niche in what it is. You like talking about it, and then you get to practice talking. You get to see if you can remember the person the next time you know them. That’s all. Sorts of things on brain games and memory. For that, those are different resources.

Joel

All right. Well, let’s see how I can remember. Michelle, we had two different categories of stuff. We had. The first category was on different techniques for remembering things. We had repetitions. We had counted, we had to chunk, and we had to categorize.

Michelle

Now, are you reading, or have you remembered?

Joel

I am not reading what I am doing. I’m doing some memory, so those were the four things in that category, and we have four things in the second category, which was how we could actively try to remember things, and we had to see it, hear it, and write it.

Michelle

Make sure it’s OK.

Joel

It says it.

Michelle

Love it.

Joel

We have four things in that category, and then we wanted resources, which we had.

Michelle

I did not count.

Joel

Maybe there were three things we had therapy for that you could go to with your doctor. We had brain games that you could engage with for 20 minutes a day, maybe twice a day. And then you had communities that you could engage with.

Michelle

I did not count. Let’s see what it is.

Joel

Discuss, have accountability, and try to remember what they’re all saying.

Michelle

I love it. Look at that and you. What would be great for your memory is if you tried that again later this afternoon. Or try that again tomorrow.

Joel

Oh my gosh, yes. My wife will watch this and say you can’t remember things.

Michelle

Yeah, that’s right. You better be careful. Yeah, I did that with one of my patients, and he named four things he loved about going to Japan. And then I said, OK, you will remember to tell me that in our next session. So. So the next week, I came and sat down, and he remembered that he needed to Tell me, but I forgot.

So he remembered that he was supposed to tell me, and then he could remember, I think, three out of the four. And so, every week, I added a fifth thing. And so every week, now, that is what we do. And he remembers it. And he’s stunned because he can’t remember anything. So.

Joel

Awesome. I think we had a great conversation here. Is there anything else you want to add at the end about baby blooming moments or anything else you have going on?

Michelle

I would love to thank you so much. So, as much as I love and do love working with my seniors, you can find me for seniors if you want to contact me: Michelle Mintz, 310-902-5008. Or Michelle, at tot@talk.com. It’s T, like Tom. OT is like Tom, the #2TA. L k.com Michelle at tot@talk.com. I know it’s a mouthful, but I work with kids, so I work little by little. Babies. So that’s the other piece of my life. You might be grandparents or great-grandparents. 

And so you might have little ones from birth to five or no people who do. And that’s my other area of specialty, baby-blooming moments. Babybloomingmoments.com, and I help empower parents. Or grandparents or nannies to enrich the very critical birth to five years. During that time, brain connections are forming that haven’t yet formed when babies are born. 

So, I want to take the babies and help them form brain connections. So, while you’re diapering or reading about what you can be doing and how to do those activities to enrich language development and help with brain development, I’m helping the brain.

Joel

Or if grandparents wanted to learn stuff for working with their grandchildren,

Michelle

Well, that’s what I do. I work with grandparents, so I coach virtually or in person. So I work with people all over. My world has grandparents who love learning from me because they know what to do and the songs to sing when their kids grow up. Now, I give them an activity and something they can do while diapering and getting a better connection with that baby. It is just so delightful to try these new things. So that’s what it’s all about. And then you’re remembering different things to do. 

So, I help improve brain development from birth to age five and help with brain stimulation for age 70 and above. So Michelle is at babybloomingmoments.com. And so I’ve got a speech therapy hat for the seniors. If you want to talk to me that way, I have a baby blooming moment hat, for which I am the early development expert.

Joel

This can also be for seniors if they want to learn how to help teach their grandchildren and develop their brains. Alright, well, thank you for coming on. I hope you have—a great day.

Michelle

I appreciate it, and I’m happy. To be here.

Joel

And I’m going to remember this.

Michelle

I’m going to hold on to it.

Joel

Alright, thank you for coming.