1. Alzheimer's Disables Communication
Anyone caring for Alzheimer's sufferers knows that communicating with them is not easy. Each stage of the disease offers its own set of challenges when it comes to speech and language. During the normal aging process, many of us forget words. In the case of Alzheimer's disease, it is more than that. Sufferers' speech patterns get increasingly more difficult to understand, and they often make up words or phrases when they cannot remember the correct or familiar ones. As the disease progresses, dealing with these challenges becomes more frustrating for the patient and the caregiver.
2. Normal Aging or Something More
Alzheimer's sufferers experience more bouts of forgetfulness than normal people over age 60. This forgetfulness, however, profoundly impacts their language, including their ability to speak and communicate. The first sign this is happening is when sufferers have trouble finding the correct word or words. Individuals need more time to process their thoughts, prepare a response and then verbalize it.
3. A Language All Their Own
In the middle and later stages of Alzheimer's disease, there are even greater difficulties in speech and communication with others. Individuals talk in a kind of gibberish or a language all their own. In their mind, however, they are using the right words. Their sentences become short and unclear and their speech resembles more of a babbling, similar to that of a child.
4. What Is a Caregiver to Do?
Caregivers and family members must employ different means of speaking and communicating to the individual. Language is less effective, especially in the later stages of the disease. Eliminate as many distractions as possible when talking to an Alzheimer's sufferer. That includes shutting off radios and televisions. They are better able to focus on you and what you are saying if there is nothing else vying for their attention. Maintain a friendly tone of voice. Talk slowly and deliberately. This helps individuals hear and absorb your words. Face the person when speaking and always maintain eye contact.
5. Frontotemporal Dementia or Alzheimer's
Occasionally, another form of dementia causes speech impairment. An individual's difficulties speaking may be the result of frontotemporal dementia, a rare disorder that preys upon the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Impairments vary from limited speech to completely losing the ability to speak. In extreme cases, individuals become mute. Other symptoms of frontotemporal dementia include mimicking others, stuttering, problems holding their train of thought or participating in a conversation for extended periods of time. The ability to read and write also deteriorates.
