| Essential communication skills such as | | | | |
| speech, reading and writing begin to be lost | | | | Eventually their whole speech often becomes |
| in one of the most upsetting and frustrating | | | | babbling gibberish, and gradually the |
| aspects of the disease. | | | | Alzheimer sufferer withdraws from talking |
| | | | altogether. |
| While an understanding of simple speech | | | | |
| remains intact during the early stages, the | | | | Reading and writing may become affected quite |
| patient can experience growing difficulties | | | | early in the disease, with spelling |
| in finding and using the correct words. | | | | difficulties becoming apparent. |
| | | | |
| However as the effects of the disease | | | | There is also a poor attention span and |
| intensify the patient will have difficultly | | | | associated lack of interest in the task which |
| finishing sentences and will wander onto | | | | is often left uncompleted. |
| another subject and may often repeat the same | | | | |
| words over and over again. | | | | The taking of phone messages can prove |
| | | | particularly difficult and can often be the |
| The ability to find the words needed to | | | | key that reveals the first signs of the |
| complete a sentence or become involved in a | | | | dementia. |
| conversation also decreases, in other words | | | | |
| (paraphrase), are added into the gaps left, | | | | The sufferer will have difficulty following |
| the true meaning of the conversation can be | | | | the conversation and become confused and |
| lost. | | | | frightened, making their problem worse. |
| | | | |
| They will also experience increasing | | | | Communication eventually becomes impossible |
| difficulty in interpreting complex | | | | in advanced stages of the disease as the |
| conversations, proverbs and metaphors and | | | | sufferer is usually unable to communicate |
| lose the ability to use or understand complex | | | | even their basic needs to others. |
| sentences. | | | | |
| | | | While some patients exhibit some automatic |
| This may mean that questions are left | | | | verbal response on occasions, the burden of |
| answered because they are not understood and | | | | communication falls more and more on the |
| keeping a sentence going often proves too | | | | shoulders of relatives, friends and care |
| difficult for the sufferer. | | | | givers. |