As Alzheimer’s progresses, it diminishes a person’s ability to communicate with others and makes it difficult for caregivers to fully understand a loved ones needs. Alzheimer’s patients not only have a difficult time speaking and expressing their thoughts, feelings and emotions, but also have trouble understanding others and tend to confuse words and general conversation. Learning to communicate with a loved one who has Alzheimer’s is essential because it helps to understand their daily needs.
There are several changes that take place in the communication of a person with Alzheimer’s and you may notice that your loved one has difficulty finding the right words, uses words they’re familiar with over and over and invents words that don’t exist to describe familiar objects. They may easily lose their train of thought, have difficulty organizing words in a sentence and begin speaking in their native language.
When they sense they’re not properly communicating, people with Alzheimer’s tend to become agitated and use curse words and stop speaking all together. Instead of relying on their words, they might begin using gestures and pointing to convey their message. Though the process can be frustrating, for both the Alzheimer’s patient and caregiver, it’s important to familiarize with your loved ones gestures and invented words so they’re able to communicate more efficiently.
Make sure your loved one always knows that you’re listening and trying to understand what they’re saying. Be patient and make eye contact, allowing them to finish what they’re trying to say without prodding, corrections or criticism. If your loved one is having difficulty finding the right word, help them by guessing which word they’re referring to and if you cannot guess, ask them to make a gesture or point to something that relates to what they’re trying to say.
Patience is the key to communicating with a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s and if you focus on their feelings, rather than the facts, you may have a deeper understanding of what they’re really trying to say. Talking slowly, using short sentences and repeating information can help them to process information easier with less confusion and frustration.
Brian Willie is an Elder Law Attorney in California and Texas, and is a frequent author and speaker on the topic. He is the founder of the Alzheimer’s Legal Resource Center. For more information visit: www.alrconline.com
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