Life stories of people with Alzheimer’s disease - Language and the presence of the subject

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by impairment of cognition (specially memory), confusion, spatiotemporal disorganization, disorganized and socially inappropriate behavior. We analyzed the oral narrative discourse - life story - of an elderly person with Alzheimer’s disease in the intermediate phase. The oral production was video recorded and transcribed. It is a qualitative study in which the results showed that the subject’s narrative is characterized by specificities and the need for intervention on the part of the partner. The discursive-linguistic and socio-interactional aspects expressed were interpreted as evidence of how and when to intervene; they were interpreted as indicative processes of “the presence of the subject” and, therefore, open to therapeutic intervention.