The Magic Came….And Kept On Coming

After such an amazing first day of the national Dementia conference, I thought today would probably be ‘middle of the road’.

Man, was I wrong….?

I had the most amazing session with Naomi Feil who almost needed an ‘Adults Only ‘ rating on her session as she let rip with some very colourful language ( totally appropriately of course) to demonstrate and role play what life is like for someone with Dementia.

Naomi also connected with her audience like no-one I have seen. I was totally magnetised by her and could not write my notes quick enough.

Naomi teaches validation techniques and I totally connected with this method. When she finished I had to meet her and give her my card and have a photo taken together. I felt she had an ‘aura’ and I asked for a hug from her hoping to gain some of her magic.

I then met an amazing advocate called Susan Ryan who really connected with me and we shared incredible personal stories. We ran out of time to chat so this dialogue will continue.

Next was a 5 minute free shoulder massage from the ladies in the purple shirts. How refreshing!… I certainly needed it. Thanks…

I chatted with Prof Richard Fleming who is involved at UTAS ( University of Tasmania) , Dementia publications, plus a whole other host of initiatives.I found him really accommodating and I am sure to learn more from him in the future.

I was a bit tired from the seminars and too many words on the PowerPoint presentations so decided to try some virtuality reality(vr) programs at Hammond Care. They had a fabulous VR program to demonstrate what aged care environments look like from the person with Dementia’s perspective. Eg what white toilet seats look like in a white bathroom.
I learnt so much about why people react the way they do and often is caused by their environment. This info from Tim was invaluable.

I then went to an info booth selling Souvenaid, a nutritional product. The amazing thing was that the guy on the stand was Rod Fanner who almost had the carbon copy experiences as me with his dad who had Dementia. He followed his passion with his advocacy, and I am very excited to be continuing our discussions to see what we can do when we compare notes.

While chatting with Rod he then calls over a lady for me to meet, who is one of the most reputable geriatricians in South Australia – Jane Hecker. This was an invaluable chat and Adelaide is certainly a small world.

So there you have it, another action packed and informative day.

Last day tomorrow!