Age 63 still in a professional job but unable to cope with tech

My DH has always struggled with tech. We were both teachers and had lots of computer courses etc. He always took longer to learn and although he is quite happy doing our online groceries etc. anything new sends him into a tail spin. My theory is, he gets overly anxious and so cannot take things in. mrsnonsmoker, he is 78 with no sign of dementia so I don’t think you need to worry on that score.

but anyway, I will take reassurance that posters coming back to me think its nothing to worry about!

I agree with Casdon an actual person showing you, then you doing it with them is easier to retain.

Those are only examples, so just saying oh you can fix those 2/3 things isn't reassuring - this is what the Alzheimers society says:

Normal sign of ageing: Taking longer to work out new tasks, such as how to set up and use a new appliance or device.

Possible warning signs of dementia etc: Being unable to learn
new tasks, like setting up and using a new appliance or device.

We are being reviewed for redundancy at work so my asking for 1:1 training will not go down well; also I work in an unusual organisation were there are very few people under 60 and most are late 60s early 70s, and don't have these issues. So there would be zero sympathy!

Do you need to do the IT tasks to continue to do your job competently without being carried by your colleagues mrsnonsmoker, or is it optional? If it’s an integral part of your job, I would initially seek some 1-1 tuition, because it may be a mental block, where your brain is telling you that you can’t do it, when with more tuition on a 1-1 basis you could pick it up.

NB; Dementia is when you can't do something you yourself can normally do. eg my father was very intelligent and was a maths teacher latterly (ie after retraining in mid-life). I knew it was getting to be a problem when he couldnt do something I knew he could normally do without a problem (ie go through sheets of figures and add them up). That was the basic clue - ie that he couldnt do something he could normally do and had been doing for years.

I would say as well that the onus is not on you.

It is going to be easier for younger people - as they've had this around for much/all of their lives and we havent.

The pressure to learn stuff we don't actually need or want of ourselves is something I know I find most unfair. I certainly think "Why do you think you have the right to impose stuff onto me - just because you want it that way?"

I certainly don't think it's Alzheimers or the like - it's just you know you don't need/want whatever-it-is - but there's every chance your mind works better than other peoples does at stuff that other people struggle with or can't do at all.

People really really should stop trying to impose a "one size fits all" take on life - because it really ain't like that. You can probably do stuff the "pushers" can't manage to do. So why should you feel pushed like that?

It is very hard to get through to speak to anyone on the phone these days.
Companies invest a lot of money in systems designed to make work easier and therefore increase their profits. They don't care about what makes life easier for cutomers or indeed users who are working on them.
It is possible to get thought to people on the phone and, although it takes patience and persistence, it is far more effective and productive than trying to deal with robots and unwieldy systems.
If you are expected to use systems at work you should be given the correct effective training- not fobbed off as being useless and blaming yourself.
I would keep asking for more hands on training and not just doing the on-line units you get these days which teach you very little.
No one can learn anything if they aren't taught properly.
It isn't you.
You don't have Alzheimers.
Ask for better training and if you are asked to feedback on any training, be honest- don't be polite!
That's my take on it anyway...

My lovely friend was much the same - she just couldn’t get to grips with technology and at 57 decided her only option was to retire from teaching in a special needs school.

Without wanting to cause alarm, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s before she was 60.