Dysphagia Resource CenterServing the Dysphagia professional since 1995.
Resources for swallowing and swallowing disorders.

[Date Prev][Date Next] [Chronological] [Thread] [Top]

[Dysphagia] Dementing elders



I agree with Irene totally.  People who suffer from dementing illnesses need 
to be thought of as adults who need special supports in order to function, 
not as people reliving infancy.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie Speech" <speechhuffman@nc.rr.com>
To: <Dysphagia@b9.com>; "Irene Campbell-Taylor" <eripley@yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2006 5:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Dysphagia] Dementing elders


> Thank you, well said!  I always make a point of finding out what the 
> patient did for a living.  Whether a homemaker, physician, or whatever, it 
> always gives me some perspective as to what I might learn from them... 
> Julie
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Irene Campbell-Taylor" <eripley@yahoo.com>
> To: <dysphagia@b9.com>
> Sent: Friday, September 01, 2006 7:32 PM
> Subject: [Dysphagia] Dementing elders
>
>
>>I must protest most strongly to the recent opinions expressed vis-a-vis 
>>regression to childhood in elders with dementing processes.  To those of 
>>us who have worked extensively with such patients, it is objectionable in 
>>the extreme to contemplate that professionals are regarding elder 
>>individuals who have lived, worked, raised families, paid taxes, supported 
>>the current economy regarded as, in the way one elderly gentleman once 
>>told me about himself, "something unthinking attached to a diaper."  He 
>>was diagnosed as having SDAT!
>>  We owe our patients better than this. They are not infants, they are not 
>> to be infantilized, they are not to be regarded as unaware because, 
>> believe me, they are far more aware than anyone realizes.
>>  I have spent many years teaching nurses NOT to speak to dementing elders 
>> as though they were infants. I teach medical students, and demonstrate to 
>> them that their patients with dementing illnesses are seniors worthy of 
>> respect and consideration. The agism that is rampant in society and, 
>> therefore, in medicine is deplorable and not to be supported in any way 
>> by those who purport to care for them. Think for a moment.  What if it 
>> were your father or mother?
>>
>>
>> Dr I Campbell-Taylor
>> Clinical Neuroscientist
>> Exclusive Distributor:
>> www.interactivetherapy.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> Dysphagia mailing list
>> Dysphagia@b9.com
>> http://lists.b9.com/mailman/listinfo/dysphagia
>
> _______________________________________________
> Dysphagia mailing list
> Dysphagia@b9.com
> http://lists.b9.com/mailman/listinfo/dysphagia
> 




Please send sugestions and comments to ppalmer@dysphagia.com."This site blew me away, I nearly choked!"
© 1996-2006 Phyllis M. Palmer, Ph.D.