I don't think mom can tell time anymore. Anyone else with experience with this?

Question

I don't think mom can tell time anymore. Anyone else with experience with this?

Follow

Share

Mom is in stage 5/6 Alz and recently had a mini stroke. Sort of out of the blue, mom asked me to buy her a watch the other week, so I bought her an analog watch similar to what she had several years ago. When I brought it to her, she said the hands were too small. So I returned it for a digital that was much larger. But although she didn't outright admit it, it appeared she couldn't tell the time with this watch either, even though she could see the numbers and read them to me one by one. It hit me as a surprise. Is this a normal progression for ALZ?

Alzheimer's & Dementia Cognitive Decline Stroke

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.

31 Answers

Most
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First

1 2

My mom liked to look at her watch which had no meaning. She preferred a large analog dial because of her age.

Most people with dementia loose the meaning of time. You can give her the classic test and see...ask her to draw a clock with the 12 numbers. Ask her to draw a big hand and small hand with the time something like 2:40 and see if she is capable.

Helpful Answer (2)

Report

This may have been mentioned before but I purchased a large desk clock. It has the day of the week spelled out, the time and if it was morning, afternoon, evening or night spelled out. Mom could not read a clock but she caught on to it being spelled out very well. I noticed that she had no concept of passage of time but the desk clock helped her stay grounded. She was at an ALF. I actually bought two...one for her bedroom and one for the living room. She stopped asking me what time it was and referenced the clock often. Not a perfect solution for you since it sounds like she wanted to reference time with a wrist watch but certainly an option to consider.

Helpful Answer (0)

Report

Yes, my step-mother cannot either. With dementia a downward change can happen overnight.

Helpful Answer (0)

Report

yes

Helpful Answer (0)

Report

My DH has Parkinson’s and he often cannot tell if it is morning or night. He gets up at 2 or 3 in the morning and gets dressed thinking it is afternoon. If he has an appointment, he will ask me repeatedly if it is time to go. He will go get his shoes and jacket at 8:00am for a 2:30pm appt. He often puts on my shoes or sweaters instead of his and doesn’t understand why that’s a problem. I tell him he looks better in my clothes and it makes me jealous. He laughs and takes off my things. He sometimes stares at the clock then asks me what time it is, saying he can’t see the clock. He messes up the remote, cannot understand his laptop, and has ruined his iPhone by just pushing buttons randomly and deleting files or apps. I just take the phone and clean up the mess and give it back. It’s like a game.
Now he refuses to admit he has Parkinson’s at all. He says I’m just trying to put him away.
So I hired a care giver four hours/two days a week to give me a break. He is having good days lately. Only fell twice this week.
Every day is something new to deal with.
Time really doesn’t matter to them, so just go with it. As long as you keep up with important times that’s all that is necessary. Take care of you first.

Helpful Answer (3)

Report

For the iPhone problem, you might want to look into the new program that Apple introduced iOS 17. It replaces all the small icons with just the larger ones that you choose and locks the user into that app.
https://frankseasytechcorner.substack.com/p/how-to-setup-a-senior-friendly-iphone

(0)

Report

See 1 more reply

My 87 year old mom had a stroke almost 2 years ago and it left her with vision impairment (you’d never know she had a stroke if you didn’t know her) She blames everything on not being able to see well but I also know she’s hiding the fact that she doesn’t understand a lot of things anymore. She shuffles paperwork from one place to another and can’t make sense of a lot of things but won’t admit there’s anything wrong. She also suffered a lot of hospital delirium the last few times she was admitted…. Each time has set her back further. For the most part she can still take care of herself day to day but she can’t mange finances or a calendar any longer.

Helpful Answer (0)

Report

My daddy could not tell day from night or night from day. He wore his watch out of habit, he watched the tv out of habit. He didn't watch the news anymore and he went to bed and got up when he wanted. If I was not up he would turn the tv on but no volume, he could still manage that.

Helpful Answer (2)

Report

Is it really necessary to know what time it is? My sleep doctor says no clock in the bedroom. I get up when I wake up and go to bed when I’m tired. Time has no meaning for me some I do not work.

Helpful Answer (0)

Report

I found that instead of putting on my glasses to read the clock, I use the Alexa Skill My Clock on my Echo Show to tell me if I should go back to sleep

https://www.techenhancedlife.com/solutions/time-day-dementia-patient-alexa-skill

(0)

Report

One aspect of the dementia tests is to draw a face clock with a specific time on it....you might want to try that with your mom to fully understand how she can no longer understand such things.
My Mom ended up having a very casual relationship with time. Rather like living in the USA and knowing that Africa exists but nothing about Africa is really relevant to her life. She new that "time" existed but that it was my issue to deal with. She couldn't understand that it being dark outside at 12 meant it was night time. lol

Helpful Answer (2)

Report

My mom lost the ability to tell time earlier in the process than yours. She still wanted to wear a watch (she had three), but whichever one was on her wrist had a problem. We went through 2-3 more watches that I bought for her but none were working to suit her. Finally, instead of continuing to buy watches for her, I started rotating the ones we already had.

At about the same time she lost the ability to tell time, she also lost the ability to read or operate a remote control, and trying to operate a computer or a tablet was completely out of the question. I nearly made myself crazy trying to find something, anything she could manage that could keep her somewhat in touch with the world, but I finally just had to admit that it is what it is and those skills are gone.

Helpful Answer (3)

Report

What a wonderful idea to rotate the watches. Those of us who love our parents or loved ones will do whatever we have to bring them a little peace to their broken minds. Thank you for sharing.

(1)

Report

It may also very well be related to stroke.

Helpful Answer (1)

Report

Forsuchatime: Perhaps she has low vision. OR she has lost the capacity for logical thought processes.

Helpful Answer (0)

Report

I'm glad you wrote this, because I thought my mom was the only one who couldn't tell time, when she got Alzheimer's. In fact, that was the first sign that my husband and I had that something was amiss with my mom. I was going to pick her up for a medical appointment when she lived independently, when we didn't know anything was wrong, and I told her I'd call her at 8 in the morning, when I'd leave my house to get her, but she called me at 8 the night before, asking if I was ready to leave. I mention this anecdote in a book I wrote about taking care of my mom during this time called, "My Mother Has Alzheimer's and My Dog Has Tapeoworms: A Caregiver's Tale.(They were both diagnosed with their respective problems around the same time.) My mom also couldn't draw a clock with hands indicating a certain time, when the doctor gave her that "test." As others have mentioned, that can also happen after a stroke, and a scan showed that my mom had an undiagnosed stroke from years before. She never had classic stroke symptoms, but I found out (after the fact) that sometimes vertigo is the mis-diagnosis for a stroke, and she had 2 episodes that were diagnosed as vertigo. Best of luck with your mom. We bought my mom a clock that said am and pm, and I explained to her what that meant, but I'nm not sure if that sunk in, and she moved in with us shortly thereafter.

Helpful Answer (1)

Report

One test for ALZ is to draw a clock with hands set at a certain time. They can’t do it. My husband always wanted to wear his watch when he was in moderate stage, but it was upside down and not working. And he asks almost daily where his truck is, and the keys. And his wallet and money. I just reassure him that everything is in place and fine. He also likes to have his business cards (he was a brilliant attorney!) ready to give out. It’s heartbreaking ! I tell him he is retired, but he still wants to be useful and earn money at 97.

Helpful Answer (3)

Report

My FIL is currently still considered "mild" cognitive impairment, "early" stage dementia. And he has macular degeneration in both eyes. So we got him this digital clock that what we call "big enough to see from space". I want to say the display numbers are about 6 inches tall. And it sits probably about 5 feet away from his bed in the nursing home, since we couldn't sit it on his bedside table (too much other stuff on it) so we sat in on a nearby shelf.

He has what we call time dilation. Meaning he can look at the clock and tell the time - let's say 5:52 and he will note that time in his head when he pushes the call button. And of course the nurses/CNAs don't come immediately. And his thing is to tell us it has been 2 hours or 4 hours since he pushed the button for help and no one is coming. Now the nearest we can figure - he does one of two things.
1. He either never actually pushes the button - which we know is possible because he had a recent hospital stay and the nurse quite literally would hear him yelling for them - and find him with the call button in his hand...but he never pushed it.
OR
2. He zeroes in on ONE of the numbers and transposes that in his head and that becomes the time he started. So let's say he started at that 5:52 and he gets that 2 stuck in his head and he looks at the clock again and it's 6:04 - he THINKS he's been waiting for help...NOT since 5:52...but since 2pm. So instead of 12 minutes he thinks he's been waiting for 4 hours.

So sometimes while they may actually be able to tell what the numbers themselves mean in order, they don't really mean anything in actual context - if that makes sense?

Helpful Answer (8)

Report

It’s possible.. I gave this digital clock … very large letters and numbers..

maybe it’s her vision,?

there does come a time when they will stop talking… don’t argue with her, don’t say anything negative.. it won’t be good..

Helpful Answer (1)

Report

Depending on the area of her brain, she may very well not be able to process the information she is seeing. Time or math skills can be lost with a stroke.

Helpful Answer (3)

Report

My Mom can tell time, however, she cannot interpret what the time means.

For instance, she knows that it is 10:15 am, however, to her it might as well be 11:15, 2:30 pm or any other time that is not close to breakfast, lunch, dinner, or bathtime.

Routine is important, however, the relationship of the tasks to one another is how my Mom tells time. For instance, she knows that after dinner, she uses the toilet, then waits in the hallway in her wheelchair for me. When I am done, I return her back to the hallway, where she waits for her bath. Then after bath, she goes to bed.

She doesn't look at it as, 5:15 pm, I am finished with dinner, 5:30 I go to the toilet, 5:45 I'm in the hallway, 6:30 I'm back in the hallway waiting for my bath, etc.

It is comforting to have a watch. It is comforting to have a clock in the room. However, the precise time is not important. The fact that time moves, is important. The clock in my Mom's room is usually 5-10 minutes behind the real time. One time, it was completely stopped and she did notice, but didn't really care.

Helpful Answer (9)

Report

This is a very insightful post to me. Thank you

(2)

Report

Might be dementia, might be the stroke. Inability to comprehend time and space are right brain skills that don't affect speech, and are easily missed in a mild stroke.

Helpful Answer (2)

Report

My guess is the digital watch confuses her; her experience is with analog; try to get a watch with bigger hands and numbers since a 'face clock' is what she learned to tell time on in her day. If a wearable watch still doesn't work try giving her a big wall clock if there's space; make it easy on her, something familiar. I would not think it all that unusual for advancing dementia of any kind would make telling time not only difficult but eventually almost meaningless, except folks are used to marking their days by time periods. Again, it's the familiarity, the routines, the semblance of 'normal' that may be the urge to know the time. I think a brain altering condition makes one feel 'lost' in general and time is a way to make sense of things, 'time to eat', 'time to get up', 'time to go to bed', etc.
Maybe answer her that way instead of actual 'time o'clock' since numbers likely lose meaning over time as well.

Helpful Answer (3)

Report

My FIL insisted on a new IPhone He couldn’t use the old one. He insisted it was broken . DH got him another one , FIL can’t use it . He still can call using the landline , 6-7 times a day , telling us he needs a bottle of Tylenol, which he isn’t allowed to have in his room.🙄😭

Helpful Answer (1)

Report

Ha! Mom had an iPhone 8 Plus which she insisted was broken (it wasn’t) so she traded for an iPhone 11 which is smaller. She couldn’t see the screen well and complained about it and said it was broken also so I got her an iPhone 14 Plus which she says is “too big.” She complains bitterly about Apple so she got her caregiver to take her to get a cheap Android phone and she never used it even once. She still has the iPhone 14 Plus and she tells anyone who will listen (including a random police officer) what a POS it is, how it is all my fault, and how she needs a new phone. She has had iPhone since they first came out so it is sad she is struggling with it now. She can still make calls using her iPad, though, which begs the question why she thinks she needs a new phone anyway.

(3)

Report

See 1 more reply

My mom had a completely unused laptop computer that someone got her. She never once learned how to log in and just look at Facebook, much less, look up information or text someone.

She refused to ask for help, tho occasionally someone would step up and then we'd have this whole 'what's the password' business going on.

That laptop, the case it came in and the users manual sat on a table in the kitchen for 10 years. Drove me crazy b/c she didn't HAVE extra space anywhere for this or anything else.

One of the grands could have put that laptop to use, but sadly, by the time she passed, it was totally out of date.

Still--she balanced her checkbook the week before she died, to the penny, as always.

Helpful Answer (4)

Report

My mother refused to have anything to do with a computer. When her Tracfone flip phone was no longer supported, we got her the simplest smart phone, but it was so beyond her. She dropped it on the floor and the battery came out. I don't know what happened to it. She probably threw it away. Now she can no longer dial or answer her land line. She picks up the remote and messes up her TV when the phone rings. There of course is no wifi at her house and now the therapists and repairmen who come can't do their record keeping, etc because their laptops/tablets can't get a signal.

(2)

Report

Contact your local Alzheimer Association.
They likely have on-line seminars/webinars also.

Gena / Touch Matters

Helpful Answer (1)

Report

Yes, inability to tell time is normal and as was said drawing a clock is part of the test for dementia.

So are questions about time mixed with math like:

”Your appointment is at 8am. It is 7:45am now. It takes about 30 minutes to drive there. Will you make it on time?”

or even more broadly

”It is summer now. Next month the season will change. What season will it be then?”

People with early stages of dementia can’t figure this out.

Seniors with dementia often ask what time it is even when they are wearing a watch or carrying a cell phone.

So, yes, sounds totally typical.

Helpful Answer (5)

Report

It is part of the decline that things that she once knew will be lost.
If possible to use one Alexa would be able to tell her what time it is. All she would have to do is ask what time is it.
Another option might be to have a large clock and next to it have written on a white board what time she has to do something.
If you get a large analog clock draw a picture of the clock and the placement of the hands for breakfast, do the same for lunch and dinner.
If you get a digital write the numbers on the white board.

Helpful Answer (4)

Report

Thank you for your suggestions. Unfortunately, Mom lost the ability to learn new things several years ago, so Alexa or any other new technology would most likely not be an option. I did buy her a large digital calendar/clock on the wall several years ago and both dad and mom seem to still understand it, and they have even "cheated" on cognitive tests that physical therapists have tried to give them. Lol!! It's so strange to me that Mom can still use that clock, but yesterday her watch was on backwards and she didn't even know it.

(1)

Report

See 1 more reply

Had to get my Dad a digital watch. He always needs to know what time it is!! They make them with pretty large numbers.

Helpful Answer (1)

Report

I too bought mom one of those digital calendar clocks that displays the day, time of day, date and exact time, in big neon characters. It worked for a short time while she was in Memory Care Assisted Living, then stopped as she lost the meaning of time entirely. That's what happens. She wore her wristwatch too, bc she liked it, but it never displayed the correct time.

Helpful Answer (3)

Report

My Mom lost the ability to tell time just about the time your Mom did. My DD had an alarm clock with 2 in numbers and green lighted and Mom used that. She had trouble with my red lighted one. Mom lost the ability to add and subtract early on.

Helpful Answer (3)

Report

There are talking watches and clocks for the visually impaired, maybe one of those would work for her.

Helpful Answer (1)

Report

Thank you for that suggestion, although unfortunately she would never remember how to use it. She can't learn new gadgets very well.

(1)

Report

Being asked to draw a clock face and then put the numbers on it and then the hands at a time that the doctor tells you is a basic cognitive exam.

My Mom is 94 with just very mild cognitive impairment. She functions pretty well in her home (next to mine so she is semi-independent) but she has lost her ability to sense time or be aware of it. I have to go get her in advance for appointments because, even though she has many clocks in her home, she just loses herself in time and space now and often now cannot be ready on time on her own. She used to be a very punctual person.

At last year's cognitive exam she could draw the clock face and put the numbers on it but couldn't put the hands at 10:50. If your Mom is in stage 5/6 and just now not being able to read time, she's doing pretty good IMO.

My MIL is 89 in LTC also with mild/mod dementia. Two years ago I brought her a birthday card to sign. She couldn't. I asked her to just draw and X, she couldn't. I told her to watch me draw the X and then do it, but she still couldn't. She reads perfectly well, still. It's so weird.

Helpful Answer (5)

Report

It's interesting and perplexing to me how everyone is so different, even at the same stage, in what they can do. My mom can still sign her name, but is completely unaware that she is incontinent. She doesn't think she has a memory problem, even though she doesn't remember sometimes from one minute to the next and can't find her way around the assisted living facility.

(4)

Report

1 2

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.

I don't think mom can tell time anymore. Anyone else with experience with this?

31 Answers

Recent Questions

Popular Questions

Related Questions