Mobile phone

Does anyone have a simple mobile phone (not a smartphone) with large buttons and with predictive text?

I’m trying to find something for my wife and finding one with predictive text is so far the stumbling block, (it’s no use making it easier to use with large buttons if you have to press the damned things two or three times to achieve what you want when pressing even one button once is a problem)!

hiya

i have a doro 6520-great wee phone!

ellie

Thanks ellie, I didn’t want to get too complicated with an explanation of “simple”, but I suppose I should have.

Most of her calls will have gone to answerphone by the time she’s opened a flip phone.sad

hiya again

i have tried several phones!

i had a brickies phone-am sure i still have it somewhere! it was tested being dropped and in water etc-a extra sturdy phone cos i kept dropping mine!

my doro one is lighter and i can open it with one hand and my mouth-not ideal i know but thats the way it is…

re answering machine-folk cant leave a message on it so it rings until i can answer (there is a setting that can answer on opening the flip-a frirend made sure that was ‘off’)

contact your bill supplier-they were able to switch answer machine off for me-i dunno if u can manage to do it on the phone.

i had an ipad for a month-local charity let me try it as many said it would be easier for me. duh-no! i hated it-i know some love them on here but its not for me!

good luck finding one!

ellie

Thanks again ellie, there’s no supplier, her phone is payg as she really doesn’t use it much, but is currently in hospital and it’s our only means of communication, (besides my almost daily visits), even then she manages to get it wrong.

She sent me a message this morning when I was halfway there to see her:- “will you bring etc etc …” – Too late dear, I’m halfway there already.

I had wondered if the answerphone could be turned off somehow, I’ll investigate that but I’m not sure it’s anything I can do, (I had the same phone for a while and don’t remember any settings for that).

I daren’t give her my smart-phone any more, within about a minute she can open/close two/three apps, delete something else, set an alarm for 4:00 a.m. in three days time and cause all sorts of mayhem, and that 's just showing her a photo!

I agree with everyone on here about the Doro. We bought my mother in law 1 a few months ago when she was in hospital for 3 months. She has severe RA & is 77. She has never used the modern world as she puts it, but she manages this phone very well. Hers is PAYG, I phoned O2 & had all the add ons, bolts etc taken off. She only uses it to receive & make calls. Can’t brag it up enough, brilliant phone. Phone your particular company & request they turn all the things off she doesn’t need, they can do it!! Tracey

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Thanks Tracy, I do have a whole new world of phones to look at now, as you say the voicemail can be turned off, and it can actually be done by text.

for Orange, text - VM OFF to 150

for EE, text - VOICEMAIL DIVERT OFF to 150

My OH has a free app on their phone which automatically answers certain numbers.

There’s no apps on dinosaur phones, and a smart phone is just not an option.

I have successfully turned off the voicemail now, and while that has worked, the call cuts off at the point where the voicemail would cut in.

I still think that’s the best workable option though, if she misses the first call she’ll be ready for the second one, (assuming she’s awake - wonderful things those painkillers).

I’ll talk to her about it again tomorrow, it’s not my decision.

My OH has no use of hands now. In the past we used a Dora phone, not the flip type though so answering was easier and also turned voicemail off. It gets awkward doesn’t it.

I’ll just update this for anyone who’s interested, I bought her a Doro 5030 eventually, she’s pleased with it and finds it much easier to use than her old one…

…although that doesn’t stop her from replying to three day old texts (that she’d already replied to at the time) saying:- “Missed your message as I was in the shower, but no, there’s nothing I need”.

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Awwww, my MIL is the same xx

Hi every one my name is David I have had ms for 4 years now and I have noticed my wife has started behaving indifferent towards me it started with small changes like getting frustrated with me over mintue situations such as I am unable to put my socks on so I naturally asked her to do it for me she would just start arguing and getting angry with me Which resulted in her leaving for hours upon end without any contact what so ever if anyone is suffering from a similar situation please feel free to message me as I am at my witts end thanks

Hi David

You’ve joined onto a thread about something different. You might find you get appropriate responses by stating a New Thread. There’s a button marked with that, you give your new thread a title and then post what you feel.

Meanwhile, I think it’s very hard to be the partner of someone with MS. Probably as bad as to be the one with MS. Clearly, she has changed towards you, that’s probably the result of the changes in you and your altered relationship as a result of the MS.

It’s a crappy situation for all of us who need our partners to be carers as well as husbands and wives. There are times when my husband gets a bit tetchy because I’m asking for help quite a lot of the time. I try to understand his feelings and I think he tries to understand mine. But it’s not easy to retain exactly the relationship you had before MS moved in and took over your lives.

Having said that, if your wife is getting angry and walking out, leaving you alone for hours, that’s a completely different thing. Have you tried talking about your altered relationship with her? Perhaps at a time when you’re both in a good mood and you’ve not had to ask for help for a while.

Alternatively, I don’t know your situation or care needs, but if you require more in the way of personal care, is it possible to have a social services care assessment? You might find that you could be getting some help with personal care from a third party rather than just relying on your wife. Or of course, apply for PIP and maybe having some extra money might enable you to either get more aids and adaptations to help, so you’re not quite so dependent on your wife, or can pay for some personal care?

I do hope you find a way to resolve the difficulties with your relationship, if she understood how you’re feeling about her change towards you, it might make a difference in that behaviour.

Sue