[cmiles74]

My grandmother (96) suffers from dementia but consistently recognizes me. My visual appearance has changed but it seems like if it's slow and gradual enough, it would be okay.

In my opinion, the ability to learn is one of the skills that is hit hard by dementia. The inability to string moments together and view them as a whole makes learning something new a real challenge and the longer it takes to do the thing, the more likely it is that it will simply be un-learnable.