I didn't find anything new in it.
Most of the time, John was and is contented, but as I've frequently said, we were lucky in the form his dementia has taken.
What really annoys me is the idea that those caring for people who are nor contented are somehow failing.
But there may be 'newcomers' to dementia who will find a lot 'new' in it. That's the whole point - it is intended to help, not those who know it all already, but those who are, by comparison, 'new to dementia' and who may still be wanting and willing to learn.
I really did not find anywhere in the book that suggested that those caring for people who are not contented are somehow failing. Nor does it suggest that those who are caring for someone who is contented has found the magic answer, the solution to dementia - because there isn't one. All the book and SPECAL is suggesting is that it MAY work for SOME people SOME of the time. Hence, Penny Garner's own declared need for evaluation of SPECAL.
There is no reason to suggest that the next newcomer-to-dementia will not be helped by it. Those dealing with late-stage dementia may not, nor may be those who are 10, 15 years into the dementia of their relative. Depending on the nature of the dementia, and the way it works its way through in any one individual. And we're all different.
It is perhaps unfair to condemn a book published last year that may be of use to some people who are coming to terms with their early-stage-of-dementia relatives, who read it only a few months into their own dementia-experience. They may well learn lots of techniques and useful information from the book.
I would recommend it to anyone - not because there's anything 'new' in it to those who know it all already, because of their own particular dementia path that they have walked, but like Penny Garner - the next person 'new to dementia' may discover something to help them that nobody else has found before now. Not in the book, necessarily - but by their own experience. Then, they too can let the world know about it.
Reading some of the threads on TP makes it clear that not one single person has the same experience; not one. So that's good enough for one little book which perhaps may help someone, or more than one.
As they say, it's never too late to learn.
I post this only for those people who read TP anonymously. Not one single person here knows it all, in spite of their own sad experiences. My experience of dementia is totally different from that of ... some others .. but very similar to that of ... some others. And there's no getting away from that.
So get the book out of the library; go on a SPECAL course if the book interests you and you wish to follow it through; and don't be disheartened by anything that doesn't fit your day today.
We are all different. Our dementia routes are all different.
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