What do you think?
Rate this book
Speaking Our Minds: Personal Reflections from Individuals with Alzheimer's
Four million people have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in this country, yet most live in silent shadows, their stories untold.
In Speaking Our Minds , seven diagnosed individuals of various ages and backgrounds express their thoughts and feelings about what it is like to have Alzheimer's disease, to live with it day to day, and to cope with its impact on their lives. Although afflicted with the same disease, each person's experience is unique. Told with honesty and insight, their stories cover personal history, diagnosis, family and social interactions, philosophical and religious perspectives, and the many neurological and pychological dimensions of the disease that permeate their lives.
Transcribed from taped, in-home interviews, the seven narratives are interspersed with the author's own thoughts and observations about the different lives unfolding before her and of the disease whose common themes bind them all together. What emerges is a powerful and compassionate portrait of people forced to define themselves in new ways, not just by what has been lost, but also by what endures.
A unique and illuminating exploration of the subjective experience of Alzheimer's disease, Speaking Our Minds offers hope and understanding to anyone whose life has been irrevocably touched by it.
In Speaking Our Minds , seven diagnosed individuals of various ages and backgrounds express their thoughts and feelings about what it is like to have Alzheimer's disease, to live with it day to day, and to cope with its impact on their lives. Although afflicted with the same disease, each person's experience is unique. Told with honesty and insight, their stories cover personal history, diagnosis, family and social interactions, philosophical and religious perspectives, and the many neurological and pychological dimensions of the disease that permeate their lives.
Transcribed from taped, in-home interviews, the seven narratives are interspersed with the author's own thoughts and observations about the different lives unfolding before her and of the disease whose common themes bind them all together. What emerges is a powerful and compassionate portrait of people forced to define themselves in new ways, not just by what has been lost, but also by what endures.
A unique and illuminating exploration of the subjective experience of Alzheimer's disease, Speaking Our Minds offers hope and understanding to anyone whose life has been irrevocably touched by it.
176 pages, Paperback
First published June 24, 1999
4 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 9, 2012
After years of thinking, reading, writing, and speaking about Alzheimer's, I'm convinced that the best way to understand what it feels like to have Alzheimer's disease is to listen to the true experts people with Alzheimer's. In Speaking Our Minds . . . their stories are moving, insightful, inspiring, and above all, memorable.--Lisa Genova
July 30, 2022
This isn't my book cover, Grrr! There isn't one like mine.
My husband was recently diagnosed with early on-set dementia. He is only 57! We went to the library, upon his request to seek out a book or two from the view point of the person with dementia. What a fantastic idea! Can you imagine to our surprise and the librarian's who was helping us, that it was so difficult to find?! There are so many books about the disease and for the caregiver, so why not for the person who has been diagnosed with it?! There is a need for this! The person who has been diagnosed wants to know how others feel, what they are going through, what's to come from others like them. Upon coming up with nothing for him, the librarian told us she'll look more into it.
Later that afternoon she sent me an email about a book, this book, Speaking Our Minds (plus a whole bunch of different websites etc to educate and help me/us - what a wonderful person!). We picked up the book. Now, my husband isn't a reader, never has been. I was reading another library book about being a caregiver. Speaking Our Minds is kinda not what we were thinking it would be. The author interviewed 7 people. Each person has a chapter of their own. There is a little quote at the top of each chapter. That is what my husband read thinking he was done. It wasn't until I picked up the book for myself that I told him, the person's words are in the bold throughout the chapters. I've now read the book, got a lot out of it, and suggested he try picking it up again.
As I said, each person's words are in the bold, then the author writes about it. I would had liked to have seen more of the person talking than the author. Other from that, I liked how he interview 7 different people with different types of dementia and at different stages.
It's definitely a book to be read for both the person diagnosed with dementia, for the caregiver and for the person who knows someone with dementia.
My husband was recently diagnosed with early on-set dementia. He is only 57! We went to the library, upon his request to seek out a book or two from the view point of the person with dementia. What a fantastic idea! Can you imagine to our surprise and the librarian's who was helping us, that it was so difficult to find?! There are so many books about the disease and for the caregiver, so why not for the person who has been diagnosed with it?! There is a need for this! The person who has been diagnosed wants to know how others feel, what they are going through, what's to come from others like them. Upon coming up with nothing for him, the librarian told us she'll look more into it.
Later that afternoon she sent me an email about a book, this book, Speaking Our Minds (plus a whole bunch of different websites etc to educate and help me/us - what a wonderful person!). We picked up the book. Now, my husband isn't a reader, never has been. I was reading another library book about being a caregiver. Speaking Our Minds is kinda not what we were thinking it would be. The author interviewed 7 people. Each person has a chapter of their own. There is a little quote at the top of each chapter. That is what my husband read thinking he was done. It wasn't until I picked up the book for myself that I told him, the person's words are in the bold throughout the chapters. I've now read the book, got a lot out of it, and suggested he try picking it up again.
As I said, each person's words are in the bold, then the author writes about it. I would had liked to have seen more of the person talking than the author. Other from that, I liked how he interview 7 different people with different types of dementia and at different stages.
It's definitely a book to be read for both the person diagnosed with dementia, for the caregiver and for the person who knows someone with dementia.
January 1, 2016
Could have had less of the author's POV and more from the person diagnosed but regardless, a very interesting take on the disease/a side not usually shown. Not my typical type of book but was more than readable.
November 2, 2018
This book offers a wonderful introduction to the diversity of ways that dementia can alter life and perception. It helped me tune in to the aspects of my Dad's personality that persisted despite the curious habits and blank spaces that dementia had created for him.
May 22, 2013
Great read that helps you to understand how different people are affected by this disease. Also, makes you see them as people not the disease.
July 16, 2013
Very informative book about a very misunderstood disease. I would only recommend reading this if you know or are close to some one with this horrible disease.
Read
September 6, 2014insightful quick read. learned a lot about how to be most respectful of the needs of persons with Alzheimer's
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews