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PuzzledMinds founder Patricia Thompson's father, Daniel Cahill,
was always a vibrant and outspoken person. He read four newspapers
daily, worked as a traveling salesman for over 40 years, retiring
at the age of 70. Despite years of travel for work, he continued
to love to travel. In 1996, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's
disease.
Pat watched her father's mental and physical capacity decline
from the time of his diagnosis until his death in 2003. With
her mother and siblings, she struggled to find ways to keep
her father engaged and stimulated, believing that it might
help stave off some of the ravaging effects of the disease.
Since her father had always enjoyed puzzles, a few years ago,
Pat decided to give her father some puzzles that might be
appropriate for his diminished manual and mental dexterity.
She was stunned to find that her only options were children's
puzzles. 
"I just couldn't bring myself to give my 80 year-old father
puzzles with children's cartoon characters on them," she said.
"And as the disease advanced, he really needed something that
would stand up to a lot of handling. I wanted to find some
nice wooden puzzles, but everything I saw had pictures of
ducks and tow trucks." While these are great for children,
Pat just couldn't believe they did much to help stimulate
her father's cognitive functioning.
As her father's health declined, Pat conceived of PuzzledMinds
as a company committed to developing and marketing activity
products for the Alzheimer's market.
Today Puzzled Minds makes custom photo puzzles, custom photo calendars and placemats, a matching card game for adults, and activities to stimulate the tactile senses. Our products are sold worldwide. See our Product Catalog for descriptions and pictures of these products. And stay informed as PuzzledMinds develops and introduces other new products.
For more information on Alzheimer's Disease, visit the Alzheimer's
Association web site at www.alz.org.
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