Sign 5: Visual and Spatial Difficulties – An Overlooked Indicator of Dementia
Dementia’s impact isn’t confined to memory and cognitive skills; it can also cause visual and spatial difficulties. This is not about needing glasses due to age-related vision changes, but more about having consistent troubles with visual perception that cannot be corrected with lenses.
This might show up as difficulties in reading. This isn’t about needing reading glasses or struggling with small fonts; it’s about having a persistent problem with recognizing and processing letters and words, even when they’re clearly visible and legible.
Problems with spatial judgement, like determining distance or depth, can also occur. This isn’t about the occasional misjudgment causing a stumble; it’s about consistent issues with spatial judgement, leading to troubles with tasks that require depth perception like parking a car or climbing stairs.
Another possible manifestation could be troubles with color or contrast differentiation. This isn’t about being unable to find a pair of matching socks; it’s about consistently struggling to identify colors or distinguish between different shades of the same color.
These visual and spatial difficulties aren’t about natural changes in vision that come with age, but rather about a more deep-seated issue with visual perception. Recognizing these visual and spatial difficulties could be crucial in identifying the early signs of dementia. (5)
