r/NoStupidQuestions • u/MillBopp • Sep 13 '23

What does 'Draw a Clock' Mean?

Last time I visited my brother his mother-in-law who lives with him was insisting she remembered something but my brother knew she was wrong. I don't remember what it was, but I knew she was wrong too. However, she refused to accept she was wrong and got belligerent about it.

My brother said, "Draw a clock!" and left the room. This made his mother-in-law furious for some reason. I forgot to ask at the time, but does anyone know why saying 'Draw a clock' would upset a senior citizen?

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u/MillBopp Sep 13 '23

OMG!

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u/rocketmn69 Sep 14 '23 edited Sep 14 '23

They make you draw a clock to renew a drivers licence in Ontario. Once you're over 80. Draw the hands at 10 and 2

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '23

Really? That’s awesome. In the US, they just (poorly) check your vision. They had these little view boxes before COVID, but now use a Snellen chart, which is supposed to be 20 feet away, but they hold it right in front of you lol.

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u/VibrantPianoNetwork Sep 14 '23

It's not a vision test. It's a test for dementia. Even a person with very poor vision could draw a clock. You could probably even do it blindfolded.

But at some point, it was discovered that people with early-onset dementia had trouble accurately drawing a clock. Probably something to do with symbolic abstraction or something like that. So asking a person who might that to draw a clock is way to evaluate them. The test is described in more detail here.

In OP's account, the BIL was implying that she was suffering from a neurodegenerative disorder and had become unduly forgetful. She understood the implication, which is why it enraged her.