Congratulations to Rich Bozanich and Jay Smith, co-chairs of the Early Memory Loss Forum held in L. A. this past Saturday! The sold-out conference was their brainchild, and as far as I know, was the first to be planned by people with dementia for people with dementia.
I'll post pictures and information from the conference in a few days. In the meantime, you can read Gabrielle Strobel's excellent summary at the Alzheimer Research Forum.
How incredibly, brilliantly awesome.
Posted by: Patty McNally Doherty | October 30, 2007 at 10:33 AM
By all accounts the LA conference was a breakthrough event and special thanks are due to Rich Bozanich and Jay Smith for this. This major breakthrough comes on the heels of smaller steps over the last several years. Shortly after he started work as the new CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, Harry Johns got a petition signed by many persons living with AD asking that they be more involved in the work of the association. He responded quickly and formed an Early Stage Advisory Group which first met a few months later. Harry was surprised that the members of this group were young. He responded to that also and the association has focused much on early onset AD. Thanks to the work of Harry and the association, AD awareness in the media has increased greatly. Now the LA conference has made the point - reported widely - that those of us who live AD can and do speak and act for ourselves. Many have helped to get us here. Now we who live it should all jump on this bandwagon quickly and loudly and finally take ownership of AD.
Posted by: DON MOYER | October 31, 2007 at 10:07 AM