There are many different ways to describe the stages of dementia. Some doctors keep it simple with early, middle, and late-stage dementia, while others use models like Teepa Snow’s GEMS® or the Allen Cognitive Levels. The scale I use as a speech-language pathologist—and the one I’ll be using in these videos—is called the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS). It divides dementia progression into seven stages, from no cognitive decline to very severe dementia. Understanding these stages can help you k