As someone who has lived with PCA for some years now, I have developed a number of strategies to help me in various circumstances; however I would be grateful if anyone can suggest tips for things I cannot cope with at the moment. For example:
I cannot read my own handwriting (or anyone else's for that matter) and find reading text in newspapers or on television near impossible. Although I can read some print very slowly - when it comes to reading words to church hymns (especially if it is necessary to move about the page looking for a repeating chorus/refrain) I am completely unable to keep up with the pace of everyone else.
Fortunately I have access (via our local church as well as social services) to readers on a weekly basis but it would be good if there were ways to cope with some of these problems by myself.
Dressing myself is often a problem - i.e. putting things on inside out or upside down, which sleeve is which etc: I have found that little pieces of coloured fabric attached to specific parts of garments can help with orientation but unless there is a great deal of light available it can be very hard to even distinguish which articles of clothing are which.
Recognising faces is difficult. So far I have been in the habit of saying who I am whenever I meet up with someone and as soon as they start talking I am likely to recognise a voice if it is known to me.
Modern signage causes great trouble - especially when looking for public toilets: the typefaces that tend to be used nowadays may be very pretty but are indecipherable for someone like me.
Generally I have found that joining groups of people who are blind/partially sighted (e.g. at the library) can be useful for swapping experiences and strategies - though as I'm sure people reading these forum pages can appreciate, visual problems associated with dementia are not the same as problems with one's eyesight per se; I would very much welcome any comments or advice from this community.
I cannot read my own handwriting (or anyone else's for that matter) and find reading text in newspapers or on television near impossible. Although I can read some print very slowly - when it comes to reading words to church hymns (especially if it is necessary to move about the page looking for a repeating chorus/refrain) I am completely unable to keep up with the pace of everyone else.
Fortunately I have access (via our local church as well as social services) to readers on a weekly basis but it would be good if there were ways to cope with some of these problems by myself.
Dressing myself is often a problem - i.e. putting things on inside out or upside down, which sleeve is which etc: I have found that little pieces of coloured fabric attached to specific parts of garments can help with orientation but unless there is a great deal of light available it can be very hard to even distinguish which articles of clothing are which.
Recognising faces is difficult. So far I have been in the habit of saying who I am whenever I meet up with someone and as soon as they start talking I am likely to recognise a voice if it is known to me.
Modern signage causes great trouble - especially when looking for public toilets: the typefaces that tend to be used nowadays may be very pretty but are indecipherable for someone like me.
Generally I have found that joining groups of people who are blind/partially sighted (e.g. at the library) can be useful for swapping experiences and strategies - though as I'm sure people reading these forum pages can appreciate, visual problems associated with dementia are not the same as problems with one's eyesight per se; I would very much welcome any comments or advice from this community.