All these references to dementia and “senility” throughout this conversation, not just by one person, show as much ignorance of normal mental aging as too many others show with regard to a stutter. Neurological issues are all complicated. Just as a stutter involves more than difficulty in word fluency, not all memory lapses are due to dementia, much less to some inevitable mental unraveling called “senility.” Memory, like reflexes, tends to slow with age, and most noticeably in old age, but an 80 year old who’s aging normally doesn’t act like an 80 year old with dementia, be it due to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or some other neurological condition. Dementia involves more than trouble recalling words or forgetting names, problems people of all ages may occasionally encounter, just more so in old age. True dementias involve the whole person, mind and cognition, will and judgment, including subtle or pronounced changes in personality, occasional or prolonged disorientation, and confusion. Various illnesses and/or other abnormal deficits can also result in temporary dementia-like behavior that may be treated successfully with medication. My point is normal aging does not look like dementia. When an older person begins speaking or acting as if he has dementia, he needs to be examined by a medical professional to determine the cause because it’s not normal. Old age does not equate with becoming senile. Joe Biden is old. He has been coping successfully with a stutter since childhood, to which the normal course of aging has undoubtedly added challenges. And according to his medical records, he also suffers from arthritis and peripheral neuropathy in both feet, conditions which can affect mobility, and yet he appears to walk normally if stiffly. Communicating in a way that fosters trust and loyalty as required of the leader of the free world may have become too much for him. That’s a matter of judgment for him and the American people. The problem is too many are talking about him in an ageist, biased and plain out ignorant manner that reflects badly on how society thinks about and consequently treats its old, which is ironic, really, given how many old people are, in fact, still running the world.