We would like to dedicate this page to young people who are concerned about someone who has Alzheimer's disease or a serious memory problem. As a start, we encourage you to learn about books, resources and the various initiatives that bring young people together to raise awareness and support for this serious problem.
Helpful Guides & Books
The attached Parents' Guide on Helping Children and Teens Understand Alzheimer's Disease published by the Alzheimer's Association [1] is a great guide to understanding memory loss for young readers.
Here are other books that we found via a search on the Internet. The listing of these reading materials on this website does not imply that the Massachusetts ADRC endorses any of the books, their authors or publishers:
A Beautiful Pearl by Nancy Whitelaw & Judith Friedman, 1991
Allie Learns About Alzheimer's Disease: A Family Story About Love, Patience & Acceptance by Kim Gosselin & Tom Dineen, 2001
Always My Grandpa: A Story for Children About Alzheimer's Disease by Linda Scacco & Nicole E. Wong, 2005
Flowers for Grandpa Dan: A Story to Help Children Understand Alzheimer's Disease by Connie McIntyre & Louise McIntryre, 2005
Grandfather's Story Cloth by Linda Gerdner, 2008
Green Kitty by Alexandra Faer Bryan, 2010
Old Timers by Noa Shwartz, 1997
Remember Me? Te Acuerdas De Mi? by Sue Glass, 2002
Singing with Momma Lou by Linda Jacobs Altman & Larry Johnson, 2002
Still My Grandma by Veronique van den Abeele & Claude K. Dubouis, 2007
Striped Shirts and Flowered Pants: A Story About Alzheimer's Disease for Young Children by Barbara Schnurbush & Cary Pillo, 2006
The Magic Tape Recorder by Grandma Joyce, Joyce Simard & Inka Delevova, 2007
The Memory Box by Mary Bahr & David Cunningham, 1995
Through Tara's Eyes: Helping Children Cope with Alzheimer's Disease by Kathy Baumann, 1995
What's Happening to Grandpa? by Maria Shriver & Sandra Speidel, 2004
Wordsworth Dances the Waltz by Frances H. Kakugawa & Melissa Desica, 2007
More information regarding age-appropriate resources for young children and teenagers may be found at http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/alzheimers-disease-information-children-and-teens-resource-list [2].
Also, check out the 'Helping Children' [3] website of the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan, Canada, for a "Words Scramble" exercise and suggestions for "lists of things to do" to help cope with seeing a loved one affected by Alzheimer's.
A helpful guide for children and teens in Chinese from the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia is attached. A helpful guide for kids in French may be found at www.alzheimer.ca/fr/Living-with-dementia/Staying-connected/Helping-children [4]
A Resource Specially for Teenagers
The AFA Teens for Alzheimer's Awareness [5] is the official teenage branch of the non-profit organization Alzheimer's Foundation of America [6] in New York. Founded by a teenager, the information-rich site includes a "Memories" site where young visitors can "Light Candles of Care," share their feelings on a "Book of Remembrance", "Submit a Quilt", or display their poems, artwork and essays on a "Creative Contribution" page The site will soon include a Blog Spot where teens can share their thoughts, photos, etc... regarding Alzheimer's disease with other teenagers.
Teens who visit the AFA Teens site can also log in to "Speak to a Social Worker", find out more information about the AFA Teens for Alzheimer's Awareness College Scholarship, or search for a local AFA Teens Chapter [7]for additional support.
Activities on AFA Teens can be "followed" on Twitter [8], Facebook [9], YouTube [10], and Fickr [11].
A helpful guide for teens in French may be found at www.alzheimer.ca/fr/Living-with-dementia/Staying-connected/Helping-teens [12]
Remembering Alzheimer's -- A Youth Movement
A youth-led initiative in the state of Connecticut to raise awareness and support for their loved ones. Please check out www.alz.org/ct/in_my_community_17990.asp [13] or "follow" their important causes on Facebook [9].
The TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project
Check out this fascinating project, [14] which was founded by Dr. Anne Basting [15] of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. It is an improvisational story-telling method that was originally designed to stimulate the imagination for people with dementia and their caregivers. You can read stories posted by others around the world, write/publish stories, invite friends to tell stories with you, and email published stories to friends. It is a 'lab' where people who have difficulty with communication can experiment with sounds, gestures, word fragments and whole sentences, create meaning, and have fun at the same time!
The Human Nervous System
Want to know more about the brain, spinal cord and neurons? Check out the "Neuroscience for Kids [16]" website for experiments, activities and games to help you learn more about the nervous system. You can also keep yourself updated on new discoveries in brain research and events with the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter [17], watch BrainWorks [18], a 30-minute TV show on the brain, interact with online activities and demonstrations on a variety of neuroscience concepts, or send free neuroscience-related postcards [19] by email.
More information on the website may be found at www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/328/5986/1648 [20]
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| AlzAssoBrochure_ChildrenTeens.pdf [21] | 5.66 MB |
| Children-Teens-and-Dementia---Chinese-(May-2012).pdf [22] | 546.84 KB |