First of all, let’s get this straight: it’s totally normal for your seniors to call you by the wrong name once in a while. However, if this event occurs so often that it seems like your name is not even your name anymore, it’s time to do something about it.

Misnaming is a common cognitive slip-up that can happen to anyone, regardless of their age, and take place most frequently between family members and close friends. The cause of this phenomenon is unclear at the moment, but a study from Duke University suggested that this could be due to the phonetic similarities between names, like one who named Andy might get called Mandy; or it could be because all those names belong to the same semantic category e.g. friends are misnamed with another friend’s name, not with another family member’s name.

As stated before, it’s safe to say that irregular misnaming is nothing you should be worried about. However, if it happens too frequently, it could be a sign of dementia, more specifically semantic dementia.

In this type of dementia, the anterior temporal lobe, which stores our semantic knowledge (knowledge about facts, places, things, and names), will be affected the most. And guess what the earliest symptom of this type of dementia is? It’s forgetting names and having difficulties in naming things correctly.

Other early symptoms of semantic dementia includes:

• Difficulty finding the right word
• Can’t understand meaning of words
• Can’t talk about things in a specific approach
• Experience difficulties understand what other people are saying
• Problems with spelling and/or reading

As this disease progresses, the senior will find it more and more difficult to recognise and naming people.

So is it just a slip of mind or onset dementia? Unfortunately there’s no way to say for sure if you don’t take your senior to the hospital for a complete check-up. If your senior is indeed suffering from dementia, early diagnosis can help both you and them to prepare better and more carefully for the hard times ahead.

Home Instead Senior Care Outer East can offer some help and assistance to families with people living with dementia. Home Instead Senior Care Outer East is specialized in providing support for families of seniors living with dementia, including Alzheimer’s. HISCOE’s wide range of services, from home helper services to personal assistance, are available 24/7, even on public holidays.

Thanks for reading through this Blog, I hope you have found it useful. If you require any further assistance please feel free to contact the office.

Kind regards,

Suzanne McLoughlin
Owner of Home Instead Senior Care Outer East

P.S. We provide free Care Consultations and resource guides to support and guide families. Download your free copies from our Aged Care Resources page or Request a Free Information Pack to receive a hard copy.