The purpose of the present study is to reflect on the challenges, perspectives and ethical dilemmas that are present when we assess language of people with dementia. This thought followed two perspectives: an epistemological and ontological one, addressed to study the concept of language disorder and its relation with aging. The other perspective, methodological, related to the analysis of the linguistic assessment techniques used in the diagnosis of the linguistic deficits of this population. Based on these perspectives, we propose useful alternatives, such as to review the concept of disorder, to redefine the objective of language evaluation and to deepen the knowledge of the linguistic functioning of healthy elderly people as a previous step for the use of the discourse analysis as a valid tool to evaluate the linguistic efficiency and to plan the intervention for people with dementia. These actions might guarantee an attention both ethic and adjusted to the actual linguistic needs of this population and their families.
Alzheimer Disease; Evaluation; Language; Bioethics