Dad's 87, recently widowed and has deepening dementia (vascular type, I believe), and he's starting to have what I can only call hallucinations. Examples:
- Sometimes he's sure the stereo in the living room is a computer, and how does he pull up financial records on it?
- The microwave in the kitchen is also a computer, or so he tells me.
- How does he operate the air conditioning control box in the kitchen? (There isn't one.)
- What is he supposed to do with the piles of cash on the dining room table?
What really makes this interesting is that a) he has trouble finding the right word to express himself, and b) he's stuttered his whole life, and it gets worse when he can't express himself.
I've given up on trying to explain stuff, so I'll just tell him I'll address this (nonexistent) situation directly, and he's happy with that.
All of this is really disturbing. Is this a part of the dementia process? By comparison, dealing with fleeting memory (to the point where he forgets where the breakfast cereal is) and the almost nonexistent attention span is a picnic.
Thoughts, anyone?
gotta choose your battles . most arent worth upsetting the demented elder over .
re; finding the right word .
generally nouns are lost first . what happened ( vaguely ) isnt so hard to retain but names and places become difficult .
you dont need to be the " fact " patrol . dementia care is easier if you just assume the function of keeping the elder safe .
my 91 yr old aunt hears very little nowdays but we can communicate quite well with just gestures , expressions and body language .