Words matter, but actions speak the truth
No, I am not just over-tired or feeling a bit burnt out, but I am getting very annoyed at having to continually ask why, yet another group organising an event has published a list of speakers (yes, again), the topic of Consumer Directed Care, and yet, did not bother to invite a speaker with dementia, the very cohort…
“The Last Laugh”: seeing dementia differently
It never ceases to amaze me what I end up getting involved in! After asking Dr Mark Cross not to use one word on a Facebook page he had set up, we have connected, met over dinner, and are involved with a wonderful producer Alison Black in filming a documentary called “The Last Laugh”. Here is…
Dementia Enablement Guide: A New Post Diagnostic Pathway
My ability to blog every day has been thwarted lately for many reasons, none of which I have the capacity to write about at the moment! However, I want to invite you to attend the next Dementia Alliance International (DAI) “A Meeting of The Minds” Webinar on 23/24 March 2016. Our guest speaker is a supporter of…
Who am I?
Well, my name is Kate Swaffer I am not very tall My hair is short and slightly greying Very fine hair that I prefer is blow dried every day to give it some shape. My husband and two sons are my best friends And I am lucky, I have other special friends Many new ones…
World Dementia Council goes global
This week my position as the second person living with a dementia on the World Dementia Council was formally ratified on the morning of February 25, during my first meeting as a member with the Council in London. I feel honoured and proud to have been invited, and to be able to represent the members of…
Alzheimer’s Australia National Consumer Survey
You may have already completed the Alzheimer’s Australia National Consumer Survey – but if not, there is still time. Take the survey by clicking the following link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/consumers2016 Your views are important and Alzheimer’s Australia would like to invite as many people living with dementia and their carers to complete their National Consumer Survey. With an…
Still just doing my best…
Sometimes I get it wrong Sometimes I get it right Sometimes things I do or say upset people Sometimes I am misunderstood Sometimes I misunderstand Sometimes I am struggling more with dementia than on other days Sometimes I am unwell with other health issues Sometimes I am happy Sometimes I am crying or sad But always…
To the family and friends of people with dementia
I cannot claim this is what most or even many people with dementia would want their families and friends who no longer support them or visit them or spend time with them since being diagnosed with dementia to hear… A great many of us with dementia no longer have ‘active’ relationships with them, although we…
In search of perfect language
Umberto Eco wrote a book La ricerca della lingua perfetta nella cultura europea (English: The Search for the Perfect Language in the European Culture; trans. James Fentress) in 1993, and is a book on a relatively marginal theme in the history of ideas. Whilst I have not read it since it first came out, I thought of it after…
Planning Ahead – Living with Younger Onset Dementia
“Planning Ahead is about taking control of your future. It is about putting things in place. It means that your choices will be known and acted on if you cannot express them yourself at some time in the future. This may happen if you have a sudden accident, become very ill or develop a condition that…
Finding calm in the midst of a storm
Living with dementia is like always being in the middle of a storm, or a potential storm, with someone or something. Either we are struggling to know how to make a cup of coffee or get dressed, and wondering if we have taken our tablets or even what to do in the shower is what…
The storms of change
Onwards and upwards through the fog
This is for all my friends living with dementia, who have good day, bad days, and downright shitty days. Otis Clay: “The only way is up”
How to be a nice person
I continue to strive to achieve this every single day… Sometimes I fail, on others I succeed.
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