Self Awareness, Courage and Cognitive Impairment

The Washington Post recently had a good article titled Facing Financial Reality When Early Dementia is Diagnosed.  It begins with Chuck McClatchey’s realization that something was wrong: 

He moved to Fort Worth at age 61 with his partner Bobbie Duncan, and they spent $25,000 in savings on a fixer-upper house. His plan was to work until he was 70. But then things got strange. “I was having trouble understanding new technologies and things that I should have known off the top of my head” and having trouble using Word and Excel and PowerPoint, “things I had known for years.”

 

He left that job but had problems in another, simpler job at Lowe’s.

 

Then one day, amid growing confusion, came clarity.

 

“I brought home a little desk for me to put together,” he said. “I love to put things together, the more complicated the better.” It should have taken about half an hour. Instead, two hours later, “the pieces just weren’t going together like I thought they should.”

 

Duncan finally said what they both knew. He needed to see a doctor about what was going on in his brain. The diagnosis was Alzheimer’s. . . . 

McClatchey’s early diagnosis allowed him to get help while he was still well able to participate in planning.  He applied for Social Security disability at age 61 and also became an “early stage advisor” for the the Alzheimer’s Association.  

Reading this article reminded me of a good friend who also received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s at an early stage.  Betty has often inspired me by how she has approached this fact. She quietly told friends of her diagnosis, but she did not retreat from life. Betty stays engaged and has a full social life. She has made critical accommodations — she keeps a daily journal to help with tasks and memory —  and her children have rallied to support and help her, while still giving her as much autonomy as possible. Indeed, her family was instrumental in these changes as they insisted on that first evaluation, rather than brushing away early warning signs as merely due to stress.  Thus, “self awareness” of both Betty and her family has been essential in creating a short and long range plan for the future.

The Post article also suggests that not every financial professional is skilled at recognizing how to help individuals with cognitive impairments, whether diagnosed or undiagnosed.  I think this is true for attorneys and other professionals as well. Good intentions alone are not enough.  From the article: 

Being good with money isn’t the only skill required to help dementia sufferers. Corey Purkat, an Oakdale, Minn., financial planner, found himself unable to help a couple in their 80s who hired him to help sort things out in the early stages of the wife’s dementia. She had been a financial professional whose memory issues rapidly worsened. As they did, “she got defensive that someone would have to help her with something she had done for a living.” That put more stress on her husband, who decided “he wasn’t up to making the hard decisions.”

 

“I did what I could, and I did the best I could,” he said of their amicable parting. But if a similar case comes up in the future, he said, “my goal is to refer them to someone with more experience” with dementia.

It takes courage to get a diagnosis when early, subtle warning signs appear.  It takes courage to help a family member get that diagnosis. Our thanks to George Washington Law Professor Naomi Cahn for sharing the link to this and other timely Washington Post articles.