Loss of Abstraction

    "Optimal aging can...be viewed in terms of our successful adaptation and continued participation in life..." (Padilla, p. 33, 2012). So says our text book and I happen to like this loose definition of aging well. This past semester has been a wonderful opportunity to witness first hand exactly what we have been reading about in a book--the normal affects of aging. What surprised me the most about aging in normal ways and what I saw evidence of was the loss of abstract thinking. I naively assumed that the loss of something cognitive such as abstract thinking would come to equal dementia on some level. This is not necessarily the case. In fact, skills or tasks that require abstraction are one which naturally become difficult for seniors.
     One of the residents that I spent time talking with--I will refer to him as JG--was kind enough to allow me to perform a cognitive assessment on him. The cognitive screening tool I chose to use is called the FROMAJE which was created specifically with the geriatric population in mind. While this tool asks concrete questions about orientation to time and place, or math questions, or even memory questions, it contains a question which discusses proverbs and is meant to consider abstract reasoning. When questioning JG I found him to score well on all of the concrete questions, with maybe a little trouble on the math. But the proverbs discussion took us off into an explanation that didn't make sense. This semester has also pointed out to me that concepts such as selection and compensation are natural ways for the aging individual to adapt and at times, attempt to 'cover up' a deficit they may be experiencing.
     At first I considered it a possibility that JG suffered from a mild form of dementia, but after studying our chapter on the aging process out of Occupational Therapy with Elders, I can see that this may have been a perfectly normal blunder for him. It is important as a student but especially as a practitioner that I come to understand the difference in the changes which aging brings on as some of them are natural (primary) and some abnormal(secondary). Differentiating between the two will allow me to create appropriate treatment plans and get down to the "just right challenge" for each client.