Like some of my fellow classmates, I too enjoyed our Neurogenics class last semester. Studying how a person can go from having completely normal communication to having severe disorders was really interesting to me. Also, the brain is really an amazing thing! Another area that I'm really interested in is the elderly population. I worked for two years as a volunteer at the hospital in my town on the Nursing Care Facility Ward. I worked with elderly patients with a number of health problems and disorders. As one would imagine, there were many patients on the ward with Alzheimer's disease and it was really sad, but at the same time interesting to interact with these people. I've always wondered if there were some way that people with Alzheimer's could be taught strategies that would make them more functional and independent. It's sad to see them stuck in a nursing home just because of this disease. They might be healthy as a horse physically, but they're mind is going so they stick them in a home.

My essential question is...What can I do in my therapy to help patients with Alzheimer's have more functional language and communication?