Though there is a lot of overlap in cognitively impaired symptoms, they certainly are not all alike and we have to individualize our approach, often based on trial and error to find what works best (or causes the least resistance or agitation). While learning new skills is difficult (or impossible) for the cognitively impaired, long learned activities (like driving or playing a musical instrument) may be retained long after short term memory loss manifests. My wife still drives safely in a familiar path from home to beauty salon and a nearby Walmart. While I would not allow her to drive at night or to an unfamiliar location or to get on the interstate highway, I'm okay with her short trips where her maximum speed is 35-40 mph. I believe she would voluntarily give up driving if she had a significant accident or got lost.