Signature

 

 At an early stage of her Alzheimer’s disease, my mother had become unable to write her own signature. In most cases, Alzheimer’s patients can still write their signature at the later stages because such a skill is part of crystallized intelligence, as people do it many times in their life. Repeated practice protects some intelligence from the disease, but in my mother’s case, she had already lost her signature-writing ability early on. She had two signatures: her real name and her business name. The pronunciations are the same but the spellings are different.

Whenever she tried to write her signature, she needed to know if it was a private situation or a business situation. Then she would get confused and would stop writing.

Signing one’s name is a very important ability for Alzheimer’s disease patients. Banks or public offices ask for their own handwritten signature. In most cases, they refuse to accept someone else’s signature on behalf of the patients. For example, if a patient wants to sign a will, their signature can validate a will that was written by their lawyer. A will could be a tool that aging people can use; if a patient doesn’t have control over their will, it could be disadvantageous for both the patient and their caregivers.

Some people change their name when they marry. Some people use pen names. Most of my theater friends use stage names. If these people, including myself, had Alzheimer’s disease, we could encounter serious problems.

Are there any good solutions to this?

Picture by sashkin7