Thanks to Ita Buttrose, AO, OBE, an Australian journalist, businesswoman, television personality and author, and who was also Australia Of The Year in 2013 for inviting me to be interviewed on The Studio. Ita is a true media Icon, an inspiration for all women of all ages, and a woman who I feel lucky enough to call a…
Dementia / disAbility Rights / Discrimination / Human Rights / Living beyond dementia™ / Prescribed Disengagement ® / Stigma
It was a privilege to be interviewed on ABC Breakfast by Paul Kelly and Ali More, on 10 January 2017 in Melbourne. Almost better than that, was a family friend Jo Sullivan, a sports journalist who works there, who surprised me by escorting me to the studio (I had forgotten he worked there!!)! This is the interview:…
Daily Blog / Dementia / Poetry
The loneliness of my grief is sometimes like my private torment, only visible to my heart and soul… I try desperately to hide my tears, to live inside my ‘denial bubble’, but every now and then the pain escapes. It is then that I realise that my eyes are filled with tears, and the indescribable sadness,…
This is a slightly revised and updated list of tips from the one I published here last week with 17 tips. The day after that I also wrote one called My dementia Trumpet call, explaining a little why I’d put together a list in the first place. Of course, there was some angst from a…
In a blog comment this week about me handing things over to my BUB, I responded with this; ‘I have had to give up a couple of things this week, and hand the responsibility over to Pete.’ I felt physically SICK doing this, and incompetent, and guilty having to do so… even though I know he…
The Australian Commonwealth Government has announced plans to commence a Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. The Royal Commission will focus on what governments, institutions and the community should do to prevent, and respond to, violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability. The Commonwealth Government is seeking…
Image source: Kate Swaffer 2019 For me, exceptional food is almost as good for my soul as being with my best friends. I recently had the chance to spend time with two people whom I love dearly, and are truly special and loyal adopted family; I was also able to share a meal with one…
I’m sure this seems a bit unusual, but today, I want to acknowledge and recognise three women who have positively impacted my life, as well as two men! After all, without women and men, no-one would exist… We are on this planet together, after all, and although there are many women and men who have…
The quest for a more positive public narrative about those of us diagnosed with dementia, and on attitudes about the way a person and their family might choose (and be able) to live with dementia continues. Currently, living too positively with dementia, being remotely functional, and even having fun with it too often gets those…
Oh my. This one is definitely a mini rant!!!! What a load of bollocks to label tiredness a person with dementia might experience mid to late afternoon as ‘sundowning’. A supposed ‘clinical’ symptom of BPSD and dementia. From my experience, I know that most people feel tired mid to late afternoon, especially if they’ve been…
Image source: Kate Swaffer Recently, there has been an online discussion somewhere on Facebook (I can’t find it to refer to it) about what needs to go into what in Australia, we call “Advance Care Directives” (updated from Advanced since being indirectly corrected via twitter). I have had a legal will, and both a legal…
The following is a comment posted with a re-blog of Dr Peter Gordon’s blog, which I’m also reblogging here: “Dr Peter Gordon’s saga with the Royal College of Psychiatry UK is shocking. His treatment at the hands of these ghouls is disgraceful. These emails from the Royal College display their complete and utter contempt for…
