Learning to communicate again

Fredthefed

My DW is in her fourth year with Alzhiemers. Lately I find that I have more difficulty understanding what she says. She is unaware thratedat what she says is not always what she means. I get frustrated and that does not help.

fmb

Fred, I have the same problem with my DH. He is now in Stage 7, and can say little more than "yeah" and "no", but has had expressive aphasia for over a year. It started with word finding difficulties after a stroke. Often he says one thing when he means the opposite. This is part of his expressive aphasia. I have to carefully watch for physical clues to understand what he is trying to say. For example, I will ask him if he wants the rest of is juice, and he'll say "no." Then when I go to take the cup away, he reaches for it to drink some more.

ppfrmo

It’s hard to know what I mean to say , so trying to figure out what someone else means is really difficult. Hang in there and know that you are not alone.

Biggles

my DH has had aphasia for about 3 years after a stroke he now has VD. Understanding what he says is quite an art sometimes he is quite clear but he used to love to talk and now if he tries to say a complicated sentence he looses it completely. I am almost the only one in the family who can understand him it’s like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. Not many have the patience to sit and try with him. I think it’s quite lonely for him as well as for me I miss our conversations. It’s certainly socially isolating and I feel very protective towards him. I can no longer give him instructions to hold something, to turn off a light, to lock a door. I have to be very aware of what he is doing every minute it’s sad, exhausting and I love him.

​fesk

My mother has this issue more and more. If I cannot understand at all what she is saying, it's enough to just be reassuring, agree with her and be upbeat. I think she can understand more than she can communicate, so I continue to talk to her like I always did.

Arrowhead

My wife talks a lot, but it's mostly just sounds. She also whispers most of the time, often so softly that I can't hear her, which makes it even worse.

cdgbdr

We had a speech therapy eval yesterday. I don't know if it will work but she'd like to trial a speech generating device for DH to trial. He's in the moderate stage. He's always been very talkative and maybe this can help.