APA Citation for Ted Talk Video:
Luciani, T. (2018, May). Tony Luciani: A mother and son's photographic journey through dementia. [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/tony_luciani_a_mother_and_son_s_photographic_journey_through_dementia
I chose to do my first Neuro Note on Dementia, as it's an illness that runs very close to me and my family. My dad, who was an avid basketball player from the time he was a small child to when I was around 7 or 8 years old, is also a huge University of Tennessee Volunteers fan. He was especially a fan of Pat Summitt, who was the coach for the women's basketball team, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2011, shortly afterwards retiring from coaching before passing away in June 2016. My parents and I also have a family friend who has had Dementia now for the past few years, someone who I've known since I was roughly 5 years old. I have a huge interest in neuro and just how much the brain can affect the entire body with just a few cut circuits or messed up neurotransmitter release. Learning more about what Dementia and Alzheimer's can do to a person, and their family, is extremely important and valuable to me, especially as a future occupational therapist.
In the Ted talk I decided to watch for this Neuro Note, the speaker was Tony Luciani, who spoke about his mother who was both aging and diagnosed with Dementia. As the title of the Ted talk explains, Tony used the art form of photography to capture moments with his mother while she was living with him, listening to her tell stories and share memories that she was able to remember. Through sharing these moments with his mother, who continued to lose memory and function and eventually had to go living in a nursing home, Tony realized it gained more from being with her than he had first imagined. He explained how his mother became alive again through being a model for his photography; she felt she had a purpose once again in her life. He goes on to explain that many of those he had cared about passed away suddenly, and wanted to make sure that the goodbye he had with his mother would be long and memorable. He ends the talk with taking a picture of the audience to eventually show his mother, along with the phrase, "Life, it's about wanting to live, and not waiting to die."
Through this Ted talk, I learned about the frustrations that can come along with a family member who is suffering from Dementia/Alzheimer's. It can be frustrating when they forget simple things, and it can be heartbreaking when they can look you in the face and not even remember who you are or how you're related to them. It can also be frustrating to the person who has the illness, for many of them want to say and remember things, but as soon as they want to express them, their brain makes them forget. And what is even more frustrating is that it is a progressive illness, with no current treatment to stop it or terminate it. From this video, I learned how important it is to be patient and understanding of the person's condition, work with what they can do and work around what they can't. Watching this video has humbled me into realizing what could happen to me in the future, and how important it is to be there for those who have it, so as to make sure that they are not alone in that difficult journey.
