I have to thank Elizabeth Dunbar
for this wonderful topic. Some times as my own body changes due to the
Parkinson’s and/or dementia the changes in my senses become second nature and I
don’t think of the changes as events and often times I adapt to them without
realizing it. Unlike a sudden sly of hand card trick, changes with any of the
five senses when it comes to dementia tend to be subtle. For example, when I
lost my sense of smell I didn’t realize I was losing the ability to smell the
subtle aromas in the kitchen as I cooked. I’m 40 and I’ve been cooking since I
was a teenager. I needed my sense of smell. I’d been in the kitchen and
restaurant business for twenty years. My taste buds were changing as well.
Dementia can affect any of the
five senses in two different ways; physically which is how they body literally
physically transmits signals to interpret a sense and/or how each sense is interpreted
by the brain and mind also known as sensory processing. If there some form of deficient
behavior going on then it’s known as Sensory Processing Disorder(SPD). Take
vision for example. A person can have sight problems in one of two areas,
either the eyes itself could be damages (physical) or the brain (SPD). They
eyes may be perfectly healthy. Maybe it’s the brain misinterpreting signals. I’ll
explain vision more later but the possibility of either cause is the point.
Vision
Since my dementia has progressed
I’ve noticed with the last 6 months my eyesight worsen for reading. My normal
eyesight is fine. I have no problem with farsightedness. I even have no problem
with night vision. I’ve always had very sight at night. Since childhood I’ve
spent many countless sleepless night nights awake in the dark helping my eyes
able to see better in the dark. But once I try to read I need reading glasses
which I didn’t up until I was 37 which was right before I was diagnosed with
dementia.
People with dementia may
experience a number of changes in visual abilities. For example, they may lose
their ability to comprehend visual images. That is they may see fine, but they
may lose their ability to comprehend visual images. Although there is nothing
physically wrong with their eyes, people with dementia may no longer be able to
interpret accurately what they see because of changes in their brain. Also,
their sense of perception and depth may be altered. This is one of the reasons
I longer drive. Here are few safety concerns:
