Has anyone taken someone with dementia to the eye doctor?

Rain, it may be that your mom's comprehension of what she reads is no longer " there".

Yes, try large print texts. There are also magnifiers that are the size of a page, like 9x11.

I bought my mother an iPad to read books. You can adjust the type size, and she loved being able to read again.

I would believe your mother when she says she's not able to read that well anymore. It could be cataracts, dry eye, or a deterioration in eyesight that's correctable with a different strength eyeglass prescription.

How long has it actually been since she's seen any eye doctor - optometrist or ophthalmologist? Even if it is difficult for her to distinguish between two objects that are seemingly close in size and clarify, she can be checked for eye pressure and any other issues that might not be seen without the special equipment used by ophthalmologists.

My father has low tension glaucoma, has had it for years. We go regularly for checkups, he uses Latanaprost, and thus far there's been no change in pressure. Had we not learned he had this years ago, the current situation might have been different. I would never forgive myself if the glaucoma had developed into something more serious. As it is now, it's very controllable.

Another issue to explore is dry eyes. My father has it, I have it, and sometimes my eyes become sensitive after being in dry areas, especially like heated cars in the winter, homes that are heated above 70 - 75 degrees, and especially hospitals or medical offices. I can usually guess that on my way home from a trip to Dad's, my right eye is going to become sensitive and teary from the dryness, especially during the winter.

Yet another possibility is periodic ophthalmic migraines, which I've had for over 30 years. My ophthalmologist said they're not unusual for people who are nearsighted. They appear like 1/2 of a bear trap, clawed, and multi colored flashing lights. Had I not seen her years ago when these started I would have been scared when they happened. If your mother has these, she would definitely have difficulty reading when they occur. And they could be frightening.

They're also aggravated by computer work; there's a definite correlation in my opinion.

So take your mother to an ophthalmologist, not an optometrist, even if she's not able to tell which of 2 choices of objects are clearer. At least raise the issue of dry eyes or cataracts and what might be shown by the high powered equipment that's available to see what we can't see with normal vision.


As to the magnifiers, I use them sometimes just to read the fine print on contracts and other documents that are difficult to read (such as consumer contracts). I have one I bought years ago to read surveys and title work; the glass is about 4" in diameter and is still very useful.

I've seen the ones you refer to; I don't know how well they would be for reading books because eye flow is a part of comfortable reading, and if the magnifier has to be moved from paragraph to paragraph, it could become a nuisance. But the kind you refer to might be better. And if it magnifies a whole page, that would be much, much better.

Another thought - placement of lighting. I've read it should generally be above the left shoulder. But there should be adequate lighting in the room, more than just a few 60 watt bulbs. And if you use those curlycued bulbs that are supposed to be long lasting energy savers (one lasted less than a year for me) be aware that they dim when first turned on and need to reach peak lighting in a matter of seconds before they're comfortable for reading.

Rainmom not only have I taken mum to the eye hospital she also had cataract surgery. Now in the UK surgery is starting to become age related now she is 93 they won't do any surgery that requires her to have a general anaesthetic unless it is life threatening but cataract surgery doesn't require that so no probe on that front. They didn't do any of the is this one better than that one - absolute waste of time asking Mum a question and expecting an answer.

Example Can you see better with a or b. Yes
Which is better this one or this one....this one
This one? No the other this one

We don't go there!

Mum had cataract surgery on one eye and now wears glasses to counteract the rest. She has tints to minimise headaches and we use daylight bulbs for brightness which are fabulous.

Do get her eye checked ..... things like wet or dry macular degeneration can be treated so get her there one way or another

When I first noticed mom wasnt reading anymore I thought it was probably a comprehension issue. I mean, how frustrating would that be - to pick up your book with the bookmark in the middle, yet you can't remeber what the book is about? As far as iPads and kindles go - mom can't remember how to use the phone these days let alone new technology! But as GardenArtist says - I would never forgive myself if I found out she could be filling her time with her beloved books and a stronger eyeglass rx was all that was needed - but I did nothing to help. Mom did get new glasses two or three years ago as part of trying to get her drivers licence back. I don't think it's "dry eye" - if anything her eyes can be a little weepy at times. Mom does have an excellent reading lamp - coincidently placed over her left shoulder. The lamp was what kind of brought this to a head. My brother went to visit and found mom pretty much sitting in the dark, thumbing through a magazine. My brother turned on the room light, opened the blinds but when he went to turn on the reading lamp the bulb was burned out. So basically mom was sitting in the dark trying to look at a magazine. Did she not notice it was dark? Why no attempt to turn on the room light and open the blinds - which are to a large sliding glass door next to the recliner where she sits? It all strikes me as more than needing new glasses. Mom is physically so fragile and taking her anywhere requires two people... But seems like an ophthalmologist is a good idea to check for other eye issues as well.

Could you try a bit of sleuthing...print out something very simple in very large print on your computer and see if mom can read it to you. My mom still reads, but has no short-term memory. She goes through periods of not reading and I would wonder she's losing her comprehension or ability to read. My brother just sent a letter and I asked her to read it to me (as a test) and she did beautifully. So she can still read. Whether she can remember is another story, but she still loves to read and I still bring her books. I just look for short books now.

When I went to visit her in the evening (I'm usually there in the daytime) she was sitting under her little lamp (with a 3-way bulb) and it was only working on one setting. It broke my heart that my mom was sitting in a very gloomy room at night and didn't know/think to say anything to me. So I know how you feel. I replaced that bulb with a stronger 3-way bulb and I added a timer on a lamp she already had. It comes on automatically when it starts to get dark and it shuts off at 10 PM. It took several different ways of marking the lamp and switch, so that my mom didn't turn it off (not understanding it was on a timer). She kept thwarting my best efforts to keep her in the light. Ha!

I'd try a few simple "tests" before I'd try taking her to the eye doctor. I'd also call the eye doctor to see if he/she has worked with people with dementia, to see if they have ways of handling it.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

OhJude - exactly, lol! "This one or this one..." Mom - "which one what"? Soon I'd be in the fray "no mom, he means which one is easier..." Mom- "stop yelling at me"! Me - " I'm not yelling. Just pick one"! Mom -
"You're always bossing me around!" On and on it would escalate until the doctor has left the room and mom and I are still in there arguing!

We ARE sisters Rainmom!

Oh and don't forget ...whatever the outcome it will be your fault - and if it results in her having her eyes restored? It will still be your fault that you didn't deal with it earlier - I think it's called a lose lose situation!!!!

I think the trick here, if there is one (and it does sound as though she should be seen to rule out other eye diseases like glaucoma, macular degeneration, etc), is to make sure the doctor understands before the fact (send a fax or a letter) that mom has dementia and doesn't always understand what is being asked of her. I would stay out of the fray. Let the doctor ask the questions. Let the doctor do the re-wording.

Back in the day when I was still taking my mom to doctors, the thing I would involve myself in was making sure that I understood what the doctor was telling us. "So you're saying that mom has the good kind of macular degeneration, and she should be seen in 6 months?".

By the time we would have left the office, mom would think she had the bad kind of macular degeneration, that she was going blind and that she had to come back in 6 days. I would have written down what the doctor said, and she would then believe what I was telling her.

That is definitely the best way babalou but in Mums case she won't go in to the doctors at all unless I am there - it seems to be a fear of being admitted into hospital - which is unfounded...but not to her. The trouble is that when the doc asks her a question she looks to me for the answer. Now in the case of her eyes I just don't know, so what I do is repeat the question for her using usually almost identical words but slower and pointing to things that I need to and then she will answer a little better. No choices like this one or this one, but can you see better with this one repeatedly until we get a sort of answer. Which is better this one or.. this one is useless yet the opthalmists just don't seem to get it at all - heaven forbid we get one who happens to be of far eastern origin - they grasp the issues even less and appear quite rude and although I KNOW that is down to their culture and their way of speaking it frightens Mum so we have to make sure of that. Then I deal with the 'racist' issue. No it isn't about race it's about the mode and tone of speech that is normal to them. So because I have said not its not about race we get a doctor with a strong accent and Mum says to me what did he/she say every time they speak (and that's on a good day...on a bad day she has been known to use the 'n' word, at which time I just didn't know where to put myself - luckily the doctor understood)

Hospitals are just a pure pain from start to finish. Oddly enough Mum has an Iranian consultant who smiles a lot at her and she loves him to pieces (but he is pretty special and so are his team or they don't stay on his team long) and despite having a strong accent she has no bother with him at all.

Oh Jude, your life is infinitely harder than mine. I must sound like an ignorant prat here most of the time.

Not at all Babalou - All of us tread a path that is difficult and stressful, mine is same, individual yes but not harder just a pain in the butt now and again

Rainmom, my Mom eventually stopped reading due to macular degeneration, which meant she could no longer see what is straight in front of her, it was a grey cloud. And she could only see out of the corner of her eyes. She use to love to read, and watch TV. Eventually she stopped watching TV, too.

Mom would want to go to the eye doctor office every 6 months, thinking that stronger lenses glasses would help her... but eventually there came a point where no matter what the strength of her glasses, nothing would help.

Then Dad decided to change all the light bulbs to those florescent curly lights and that made it worse for Mom to see. So Mom had to use a flashlight to help her read :P

Going to the eye doctor wasn't easy as Mom was constantly blinking like she was trying to blink away that grey cloud in her eye. The techs would try to take a photo of the inside of her eye but Mom just couldn't stop blinking. And the eye test itself [which is better A or B] wasn't easy as Mom was also hard of hearing. But her long time eye doctor had a lot of patience with her and had a voice that Mom was able to understand most of the time :)

Oh, I went through that as well with my mom with her macular degeneration - the dry kind - the good kind? she didn't think so, with the wet you can get shots that she at least thought would be doing something, even though you get them because it's worse, while you don't with dry because you don't need them, but try getting her to understand that. But, also, dry eye doesn't mean your eyes don't weep; it can mean they do, trying to compensate but turned out seemingly she didn't actually have that as well - or maybe she did as well, but anyway turned out she had other issues as well; well, they did somewhat know some of this, that she had cornea dystrophy, anyway, he put her on Restasis, which was just making her eyes water even more but she didn't want to tell him because she was afraid it would make him mad, which...wonder, because turned out he'd already tried to get her to go to the cornea specialist and she wouldn't because....he was in the same office where she'd been going for....her eye swelling shut, etc., where she'd go and they'd give her lube, ointment, etc. for, but she would only go as a walk-in, emerg when that would happen so she'd never see "her" doctor, only the one on call; they'd make her an appointment with "hers" but then she would never keep it because she'd be ok by then, so all this went on until the day she woke up in excruciating pain in that eye and turned out her eye had been watering so from fluid build-up behind it from her cataract surgery that had caused blisters that had popped but also turned out that one of her implants from her cataract surgery had come out of place, so he sent her to a retinal specialist, the one who'd - yea, get this - had diagnosed her cornea issue, but since he wouldn't come to this eye doc's office for this, where that had been done and his office was 2 hrs. away, switched her "back" to the more local one she had gone to before her cataract surgery, who had diagnosed her with the macular degeneration and turned out she had been supposed to have gone back after the surgery but she didn't realize it and I didn't know it, so....went and, again, the retinal specialist is the one who found the cornea blisters and put her on a bandage contact regimen but he was the first doctor who recognized she had other issues and wanted me there; up to then she basically didn't want me involved.

She also had the issue with dad wanting to keep the house dark - to save money.

And mom was hard of hearing as well - and the bandage contact did heal the blisters but then was still left with the implant issue, which, he did remove, btw, which led to other issues stemming from her not going to the cornea specialist, because in removing the implant - and not sure if anything could have been done differently, anyway - he did something which made fixing the cornea issue a problem, what had happened they had scraped the back of her cornea in doing the implant - but having said all that, she didn't really understand any of that; she just knew she couldn't see and they weren't fixing it

oh but I had managed to get with the eye doc she'd been going to before all this happened and then call while I knew she was there so we could get her consent and get her sent to the local Dept of the Blind and Visually impaired, which might be an option, except that all they basically did for her was bring her a lighted magnifier, which wasn't really big enough to read by, so guess not; we did get her one of those sheet magnifiers that seemed to be more help

There are opthamologists that specialize in people with special needs and developmental disabilities. My sister, who has Down Syndrome has to see this type of specialist. Perhaps, your Mom would benefit from such a specialist, as they understand the needs and have the necessary equipment to provide an exam.

Maybe the eye Dr can tell without any correct answers. My mom just says "Fine" to any well being question. She doesn't read any more, but she can still see OK so far as we know. She doesn't watch TV. Might just be getting close to the end?? She does say that all the people in the facility she's in are a bit nutty.

Reading ur post was like u were talking about my Mom. She too was an advid reader and no longer can enjoy it. She said it was her glasses. Took her to the eye doctor. Since she has had cateract surgery, her eyes will never change. It has to do with the brain being able to process the information. She was able to read the chart. A year later not sure how that will work but he wants to see her yearly to make sure everything is OK.

Rainmom, I just reread your post. You said your mother's medications were changed in December, and if I understood correctly, her reading has declined since then. I would talk with her doctor or pharmacist and find out if there is some relationship between the two. For my mother having her eyes checked in the afternoon is better than in the morning. While she doesn't need magnifiers at this point, I do for my needlework. There is one magnifier that you wear around your neck and it is adjustable for distance. Another magnifier I use is one for just a line of type, which I use for reading patterns. A magnifier my dad really likes fits in his pocket and has a light built in. I got that at an office supply store, and it cost $10. If you look for low vision products online, you will find there is a host of options out there. Or if you can visit a low vision store and let her try out some of the options, then perhaps she will get what she really needs.

Was it just coincidence that I got this the same day I am taking Dad to the eye doctor? We have seen him several times in the last year and today we are going to check Dad's glasses to see if they got the bifocal right. He has moderate dementia, too, and doesn't notice either when he needs to turn the lights on. (He also has a reading lamp.) I'll try the excellent idea of a timer but am sure he will switch it off as he is obsessive about switching things off. I did try the "clapper" but he got confused and turned the light off, then complained about it not working. He reads the newspaper every day but I'm not sure how much. Got him a large print book from the library that he liked but after cataract surgery last year, and two subsequent upgrades to his prescription lenses, he recently said that the lines run together for him on the large print book. (Not sure about the newspaper or magazines.) At least it was that way last week. His eye doctor is very patient with him, giving him time to think between #1 or #2, but of course, we might have gotten it wrong. He is not interested in one of those magnifying machines, as we bought one for his sister who had macular degeneration and I don't think she used it. It has been donated to her nursing home. We do have magnifying glasses all over the house for reading things like thermostats. Hope this helps.

The Kindle Paperwhite is my best friend. It is back lit and that can be adjusted. The font (print) size is also adjustable from very tiny to huge. I download books for free from the Los Angeles County library system through Amazon.

You may have to assist her in choosing books to read and getting them delivered to her device through your own computer.

If you already have a notebook, laptop, or desk top computer, you can open Amazon's webpage (amazon.com) and set up a free reader and she can use the device you already have.

I spend all of my life either reclining or in my power chair, but mostly in the recliner with legs elevated due to poor circulation. Reading is my only activity, since we do not have TV. I am out of the recliner for 2-3 hours after each meal, and generally use my desktop computer to stay abreast of other things and correspondence. My Kindle saved my life, truly.

I think it's a comprehension issue.. But by all means take her for an eye exam..

My Mom has glaucoma and has 4 drops twice a day, she can still read words but doesn't remember what she read..

Even with the glaucoma she also read several books a week but not anymore...

I took my father with dementia to the eye doctor. It was difficult. He kept resisting the doctor and asking who he was every minute or so. However, what you do would depend upon the circumstances. My father needs his eyes checked for glaucoma, so it is medically necessary for him to be checked periodically. I think that if it were not medically necessary, I probably wouldn't take him because he has stopped most activities that required good eyesight. He no longer reads or watches TV because his memory is so bad he cannot remember long enough to follow a story line.
My elderly father has issues with technology, and if your mother is the same, I would not go out and buy a tablet like a Kindle or Ipad, as many seniors cannot figure out how to use them. If you already have one, you could test her on that one. If she can't learn how to use it, like my father, then you have saved the cost of a new tablet. If she does learn how to use it and likes it, then give her your old one (once she is then used to) and, if you need to, get yourself a new one. I personally have a couple of old ones that still work, so I wouldn't have to buy anything new if I were in this situation

I took my mother to the eye doctor so that at the very least he could check her eyes for changes. Especially as she has had cateract surgery in both and that should be kept track of. Now that she is having at home hospice, eye exams are low on the list. But if your Mother is still in a moderate stage of dementia she should have her eyes examined. Just be sure to warn the doctor of her limitations.

I forgot to mention that the eye doctor is well aware of Mom's dementia and he deals with many children so he wears headgear to examine her , since she can't really follow instruction..

I have a kindle myself - love it. I wish that could be a solution for my mom, but these days mom has trouble using the old fashion phone she has had for years. My brother has a medium size tablet that he has downloaded with dozens of pics from my parents old photo albums - he likes to work her memory by asking her to tell the story regarding a photo. Anyhow - he has found just getting mom to swipe the page to forward to the next pic beyond her abilities.
The advice here has been so helpful - making moms appointment later today. I figure at a minimum we will get an idea of the health of her eyes.

I thibk going to the optometrist is worthwhile. It could be any number or reasons. She could have macular degeneration even. At least get a checkup. My dad has vascular dementia and can answer the "this one or that one better" questions. I always go with him to help and also record on my smart phone anything the said by the dr. That is incase my dad forgets what was said about his eyes or has an entirely different perception of what went on. Do that and then go from there.

Most eye doctors have the technology to find the right prescription without the, is this one better technique. It is the same way they get the prescription for babies or small children. The computer basically figures it out for them.

I agree with the others. Call ahead of time and tell them of the dementia, and the inability to do the which one is better test. Make sure they will be able to do the exam and have had experience with people who have dementia. The only thing that they still try to do with my husband is the peripheral vision test where they have to press a button if they see a light flash. He can't remember to press the button so I now ask they not put him through that one.

Hi, Rainmom. Your answer may not be as easy as just going to the Eye Doctor for a test. I have worked with Dementia patients for over 20 years. And the first thing which stands out is what kind of dementia it is.

I'm sure by now you have heard all the information regarding your mom's diagnosis. You seem to be keeping a good tract on everything. So hear is my best answer when looking at most dementia patients. The problem may not be the seeing rather it maybe the ability to retain the reading process. In other words your mom may be reading a paragraph and when she arrives at the end of the paragraph she cannot remember the beginning of it.

What you can do start with is see how well she does with an audiobook. Please help her to set it up, since this maybe a new task for her. If possible begin with a book she really liked.

What we are talking about in general here is quality of life. This may not be the time for cataract surgery. If it is frightening for her or the benefit will not out weigh the procedure. You are the best person to make this decision.

Please let me know if I can of further assistance.