Alziemers

Had a thought today - how well do Alziemers sufferers respond to chat-based communication using old pictures of people they know as the visual communication indicator? I have heard that people with Alziemers can remember things from their past but have trouble with new memories. I have also heard of some places that put display cases of memorabelia in front of sufferer's rooms and they seem to be able to remember their stuff and therfore remember where their room is... So this got me thinking, I can see how an older person who has trouble making new memories could begin to not recognize (ie. remember) their kids, because as kids grow up they change shape, appearance, mannerisms, etc. So what if you remove everything from this equation with the only visible queues being an unchanging and known picture of the person they are typing messages to... Anyone know about this stuff? Could this work?