Thanks and a hat tip to Kathryn.
When we listen to the language of people with dementia, we often hear ‘empty speech’ which lacks nouns and specific names, and over time becomes more repetitive with less content and more jargon. People with dementia often retain reading, writing, and some pragmatic skills at later stages of the disease. We can monopolize on these intact skills with AAC strategies. The goals of treatment are to increase language production and comprehension for daily conversation, and to reduce memory-related problem behaviors (such as perseveration, irritability or hallucinations). AAC for dementia is often referred to as external memory strategies. So here are some ideas for treatment.