Social inequality is characterised by the existence of unequal opportunities or rewards for different social positions or statuses within a group or society. There are two main ways to measure social inequality: inequality of conditions, and inequality of opportunities. Inequality of conditions refers to the unequal distribution of income, wealth and material goods. For example,…
Recently Richard Taylor wrote to the following message to a person with younger onset dementia living in Queensland who had connected with him via his website; “Thank you for taking the time to write. Have you met Kate Swaffer? She is a kindred spirit, who also lives in Australia, of ours who hears the same…
As always, there are still a few things to do when someones life ends, a few loose ends, a few things you’d wished you’d always done, a few things you wished you’d never done, a few people who wished they had seen you more often, a few people who you wish you had seen more…
November is the month for National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo and I bravely (stupidly??!!) signed up to give it another go this year. I am way behind the 1600 words per day they suggest you write to keep up, but if I get all my other writing finished by the middle of next week, I’ll…
Appearing as if you are LUCKY virtually always comes through effort and so I usually spell lucky like this: HARD WORK! I heard recently that I have been called lucky because the symptoms of my dementia do not seem to be progressing as quickly as the initial prognosis predicted, or as some others who’ve been diagnosed. This…
There are lists written on this site, and on many sites outlining the challenges of a diagnosis of younger onset dementia. Having to give up paid employment is near the top of the list and I’ve not found much written up about how difficult it is for a person with dementia. It is in effect, a…
Yesterday was World Alzheimer’s Day, and a number of countries and organisations published reports and Press Releases to acknowledge its significance. Dementia stigma to blame was published by DPS News yesterday, as was the Alzheimer’s Disease International World Alzheimer Report 2012: Overcoming the stigma of dementia. Here is the whole report. The brief Summary in…
An online friend has given me some topics to write about, and today I thought I’d try a NaNoWriMo style writing of this one; “How do you feel about what the future holds for you – the future in 1 year, in 2 years and in 5 years? How does it make you feel? What…
The real price of a diagnosis of dementia is endemic and systemic DISCRIMINATION, caused by IGNORANCE and STIGMA. In every area, people with dementia are being denied the right to contribute. People with dementia are being discriminated against, and their rights are being violated by the very people who claim to be working for us.…
This is a short essay about my experience with the words disability and disabled, in relation to my progression of illness and its disabling impact on my life. These words feel insulting, patronising and humiliating, and even more so as my disease develops because they undermine who I am, and appear to be defining me as a…
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