• Gets lost when driving or walking in unfamiliar areas
• Gets lost when driving or walking in familiar areas
• Does not remember or cannot give directions to familiar places
• Does not recognize familiar landmarks or routes
• Has difficulty finding their way around in stores, malls or parking lots (e.g. cannot find the canned goods aisle, checkout, etc.)
• Gets mixed up or lost trying to find rooms in familiar homes or buildings
• Does not remember the proper location of items in their home (e.g. looks for teacups in the bedroom)
• Does not recognize current dwelling as home (e.g. asks to go home, packs to go home). This can also be an example of a delusion Delusion
  A false idea typically originating from a misinterpretation but firmly believed and strongly maintained in spite of contradictory proof or evidence. Common delusions in dementia are " Where I am living now is not my home, I need to go home" or "I don't know who you people are. I want to be back with my parents" or "People are stealing from me".

To be oriented is to know the year, date and time of day, as well as where you are. Even though we take it for granted, it is a complex ability because it requires a large number of brain processes which must work together. Unfortunately, many of these processes are affected by Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease
A neurological disease that affects memory and behaviour. It is characterized by beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. There is no known cause but genetics and lifestyle are thought to play a role.. Orientation also involves being able to tell where objects are in your environment and being able to compare objects or spaces to one another. If they cannot do this, the person you care for may no longer be able to find their way from one room to another in their own house. Also, they may not know which room is behind a commonly used door. Even in a very familiar setting such as their home, the person you care for may be unable to find objects which they use frequently. They also may not be able to identify the source of sounds they hear daily, such as the phone ringing or a doorbell. At earlier stages Stages
Course of disease progression defined by levels or periods of severity: early, mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe of the disease, the person you care for may be able to orient themselves in a more familiar setting, but they may become disoriented when they leave their home. This could cause them to get lost while driving or when trying to enter buildings such as a church or mall. It might be possible for the person you care for to maintain their orientation in certain places or circumstances, especially if the person travels the same route every day. However, when out of this comfort zone, they may become lost and unable to orient themselves.

Sometimes, people with Frontotemporal dementia Frontotemporal dementia
A type of dementia that mainly affects the frontal lobe causing a problem in executive function tasks. can retain orientation and often can negotiate and locate their surroundings accurately. In Lewy body dementia, and in some types of vascular Vascular
Relating to blood vessels that carry blood throughout the body. dementia, problems with disorientation Disorientation
A lack of awareness or confusion about time, place, or personal information. to place - and getting lost - can be more severe than in Alzheimer's disease.

In today's busy world, keeping track of symptoms can be a challenge to say the least. That's why we've developed SymptomGuide^TM. By taking a more active role, you can better understand how a symptom is affecting everyday life and you can communicate this knowledge with others involved.

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