3. They don’t understand how basic objects are used
As we said before, it is common for people who have dementia to not find the right words and to not understand what a conversation is about. You can see that your spouse is desperately trying to say what an object is called, but they can’t seem to manage to do that.
But a lesser-known symptom of dementia is that sometimes those affected by the illness might forget what objects are used for. They not only forget what various things are called, but they also forget how to use them.
For example, a person in the early stages of dementia might look at a fork and be very confused. They look at it, and maybe they feel like the object is somehow familiar, but they can’t tell how to use it or what it is used for.
Thank you for your post on Dementia. My wife and I are in our eighties and we are still travaling by car to vacations here in the states. We have travaled to South America and Europe in group plans. So far I beleive we haven’t had problems but I am interested in staying informed of Dementia.
I’ve been seeing a lot of these signs in my husband for the last 5 years or more, but it’s gotten worse in the last 2 years!
He’s now 70 years old & we’ve been married for over 45 years!