The Face of Alzheimer’s

24 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Ann Napoletan in Advocacy and Awareness, Children and ALZ, Early Onset, Face of Alzheimer's, Inspiration

Tags

alzheimers story, alzheimers video, dementia, early onset alzheimers, eoad, younger onset alzheimers

In this lovely 7-minute long video, Ashley Bornancin shares her journey through Alzheimer’s. Imagine being a carefree 17-year-old, full of joy and excitement about what life holds in store for you.

And then, your mother is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. In an instant, your world is turned upside down.

Watch and listen as Ashley tells her poignant story, and please share with others – let’s help the world understand that the face of Alzheimer’s isn’t always what we might expect.

Thank you, Ashley, for so beautifully and courageously sharing your story…

World Alzheimer’s Month: Free Streaming of Critically Acclaimed Documentary

23 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Ann Napoletan in Advocacy and Awareness, Events, Films, Mom, Smiles

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

alzheimers, dementia

If you haven’t watched this incredible documentary yet, you still have two days – streaming free through 9/25 –> http://video.pbs.org/video/2216780249/
I watched this evening, and I must say, there’s a lot of my mom in Lee… what a spunky, beautiful woman.

The Long and Winding Road...

In recognition of World Alzheimer’s Month, Independent Lens|PBS will offer free streaming of the documentary You’re Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don’t from 9/15 through 9/25!

Told exclusively from the perspective of Lee Gorewitz, a woman living with Alzheimer’s, all of the filming took place in an Alzheimer’s care unit. The film originally aired on PBS’ Independent Lens series and has received rave reviews from the Alzheimer’s community as well as film critics far and wide.

This riveting film grabbed my attention immediately and held it through the final scene. When it ended I felt sad — not because of the subject matter but because I wanted to spend more time with this unique and endearing woman with whom I’d fallen in love. I missed her, so I turned around and watched the entire movie again.– Marie Marley, Huffington Post

I must say that…

View original post 217 more words

Book Giveaway

22 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by Ann Napoletan in Advocacy and Awareness, Books, Children and ALZ, Giveaways, World ALZ Month

≈ 15 Comments

And the winners are…….. Cyndy and Becky. Congratulations!! Please send me an email and include your full name and mailing address. anapoletan(at)gmail(dot)com

Max contacted me and generously donated a copy of the book (in addition to the book I had planned to give away), thus two winners were randomly chosen.

winners

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Why_Did_Grandma_Put As World Alzheimer’s Month draws to a close, I thought it would be fun to do a book giveaway.

Many of you know I’m a huge fan of 17-year-old Max Wallack, an incredibly gifted third year neuroscience major at Boston University. Max is a tireless advocate and researcher in the Molecular Psychiatry and Aging Laboratory at BU’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center and was recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Winner of too many awards and honors to list, he founded Puzzles to Remember at age 12. Together with the Springbok, Max created a unique line of puzzles specifically for Alzheimer’s patients – fewer large, easy to handle pieces and with pleasing visual designs rather than childlike images. To date, PTR has distributed over 25,000 puzzles free of charge.

Most recently, this passionate future geriatric psychiatrist authored a children’s book with Carolyn Given. In Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in the Refrigerator, Max draws on his own experience as a young caregiver to his great grams. The beautifully illustrated book explains Alzheimer’s through the eyes of a child – to children who are facing the frightening disease firsthand. One of the things that struck me when I read the book is that he covered so much material – while the book is intended for kids, I believe we can all garner something from it.

If you would like a chance to win this wonderful book, simply leave a comment on this post.

I’ll choose a (random) winner at 11pm (eastern) on Sunday, September 29th. If you don’t have a young person who would enjoy the book in your life, think about donating it to a local nursing home, Alzheimer’s facility, or library.