When dementia reaches the moderate or severe stages, language can shift in ways that make speech seem completely nonsensical to caregivers. This happens because dementia damages the brain regions responsible for understanding and producing language. A sentence like “The chair went singing down the water yesterday with the blue smile” may have no logical meaning to you, but to the person with dementia, it can feel important and worth sharing. In these moments, focus less on the exact words and mo

Did you know dementia can cause a person to start speaking their first language again, even after decades of using another language? The earliest learned language is stored deep in the brain, across many areas, and is often the last to fade. In the moderate and severe stages of dementia, the brain often prioritizes the language that is easiest to process, which is usually the first one learned. At this point, the person may or may not realize they are speaking a different language than you. If t