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Resources & Downloads
These resources provide you with information that can help navigate many of the questions you may have about your family member and their aging, including possible dementia.
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Videos
These videos can help you figure out how dementia affects people and how you can communicate with them.
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What is Normal Brain Aging?
Learn about the mild brain changes that are a part of normal aging and what changes might be cause for concern.
Understanding & Supporting Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia — This video provides some quick tips on how to communicate with and support someone with an intellectual disability and dementia.
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What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia? A great video that helps understand what is meant by Alzheimer’s Disease versus Dementia.
Frequently Asked Questions
The short answer is that normal aging changes don’t affect a person’s cognitive or physical ability to engage in all their usual activities, they may just need to make some adjustments. Diseases of aging can make it very difficult or impossible to continue to engage in some of those regular activities. It’s important to know the difference so that there isn’t an assumption that changes of concern are just normal aging.
You will find it helpful to take a look at the NTG-EDSD tool and to start completing it for your family member. There are many health related issues such as medications, depression or vitamin deficiencies that present with symptoms similar to dementia but that are treatable so a thorough physical assessment is an important first step when you see signs of concern.
Not everyone is at risk but we do know that adults with Down syndrome, especially those over the age of 40, are at greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease at a younger age. There is emerging research that indicates that some other adults with an intellectual disability may also be at a somewhat greater risk of dementia as well.