Listening to Dementia Advocating for Dignity and Autonomy

"Emily K. Abel's strategic use of memoir is a tour de force allowing those with dementia to reclaim the social narrative about them. When dementia is seen as a disability, not listening to those living with it is a human rights violation. A much-needed counter narrative to the narrow biomedical framing - the book disrupts misconceptions that a life with dementia is not worth living. In fact, a picture of meaningful life with dementia enters our cultural imagination. A must read for anyone newly diagnosed, those who love someone recently diagnosed, and all of us as we ourselves age." - Renée L. Beard, author of Living with Alzheimer's: Managing Memory Loss, Identity and Illness

"Abel provides a clear-eyed, unflinching analysis of topics that are too often shrouded in sentimental euphemism. This book should be required reading for anyone concerned with dementia and dementia care." - Jesse Ballenger, author of Self, Senility and Alzheimer's Disease in Modern America: A History