Having difficulty signing her name?

DollyMe, I remember my own Mom's decline in handwriting. For her it was now due to poor eyesight, and a shaky hand being she was 97. I know my Mom was hesitate when signing because she was of the generation where women had perfect penmanship.

For myself, I find one day I could print like a draftsman, another day more like a 4 year old. I figure it all comes with age, and what the weather is doing at that time.

My mom has Lewy Body Dementia. I’m NOT saying your Mom has this, but mom’s handwriting difficulty was one of the earliest things that happened to her. it was a brain to hand/coordination issue. She could still read just fine. How this dementia thing works can be so crazy!

It can be part of dementia. This past Christmas I was shocked to realize that my MIL (in LTC facility with short-term memory and mobility issues) could not sign her own name, print it, copy it or even make an X. She could still read, converse with us as usual, watch and comprehend what was on tv. She had no medical events since the last time I had her sign a card, which was the prior Christmas. So, in 1 year this ability disappeared. The worse part was I think she realized she couldn't do it and didn't know why.

My Mom needed to get an ID. I explained that she had a hard time understanding and writing. They said an X was OK. It took a while for her to sign. Our problem was she couldn't remember how to spell her name.

Yes, Dementia causes these problems. The stages are actually the brain dying in parts of the brain.

This could be several things not related to dementia. My mom experienced pretty severe peripheral neuropathy due to her chemo treatment, but neuropathy is also frequently seen in diabetics. People do tend to lose fine-motor skills with dementia. Whatever the cause, if your stepmom is still of sound mind and wants to sign her name then try having her print it. That's what my mom ultimately did. Took her a bit longer, but she got her name signed. Or... just have her make a squiggle. How many prescriptions have you seen with just a squiggle as the signature that looked exactly like any other squiggle. ;-)