ABSTRACT
The capacity to communicate is the result of the ability to receive, retain, interpret, formulate, encode and express an idea; therefore cognition, sensory, neurosensory, neurophysiological and neuromotor systems are tested to the full in just this one activity. There is no single assessment of speech and language that can describe, identify and discriminate the verbal and comprehension deficits associated with the different dementing conditions. The efficacy of speech and language therapy techniques with specific disorders associated with language dysfunction of people with dementia is still unclear. There has been an increasing recognition that people with dementia bring to the illness their own experiences and histories in the form of a personal biography. Many districts have support groups for the relatives of individuals with dementia, and the speech and language therapist can be very valuable in these groups. The value of specific treatment of speech and language disorders in dementia remains a hotly debated issue.
