Overview

The First Picture Storybook for Memory-Challenged Adults to Read Out Loud with Their Family and Friends! This simple book for aging adults with dementia is the first of its kind. It addresses two of the major challenges that caregivers face: communicating with the person with Alzheimer's and finding meaningful ways to fill the time. The author has termed it ""A Two-Lap Book"" because it's designed to be read aloud by two people sitting close together; a person with Alzheimer's and his or her caregiver or loved one. Like a children's picture book, it uses straightforward language and cheerful, engaging illustrations. Unlike a children's book, the topics relate to adult life experiences and the illustrations are of older people. The Sunshine on My Face encourages conversations by evoking thoughts of past experiences and current pleasures. In her introduction, the author explains that it can be read to the person with Alzheimer's, by the person with Alzheimer's, or in an alternating fashion. The author also recommends that the caregiver ask questions related to the text and illustrations to elicit responses from the person with dementia. This book is an inexpensive and easy-to-use tool for facilitating meaningful communication between adults with dementia and their caregivers/loved ones. It can be used as frequently or infrequently as the caregiver desires.

Full Product Details

9781932529098

Table of Contents

Reviews

This is a lovely concept and should be a valued resource for caregivers of memory-impaired persons. It is well done and the reader can improvise additional scenarios following the model pioneered by the book.

I strongly endorse The Sunshine on My Face. [The author's] desire to stimulate the senses of seeing, touching, hearing, feeling and tasting in dealing with her mother's declining memory is reflected throughout the book. We have been working with this special population for many years; we believe Burdick has met a great need. --Alice Watkins, Executive Director Eastern North Carolina Alzheimer's Association (01/01/2001)

A charming and delightful tool to help family caregivers engage a loved one, who suffers with dementia, and create an intimate bonding experience for both. --Jacqueline Marcell, Host and Author of Elder Rage Coping with Caregiving Internet Radio Program (01/01/2001) Alzheimer's patients require special kinds of activities. This book appears to be exactly the kind of reading material which is likely to be useful and appreciated by Alzheimer's patients in the moderate and severe stages. --Barry Reisberg, M.D., Professor, Dept of Psychiatry, and Clinical Director Silberstein Aging and Dementia Research Center, New York University School of Medicine (01/01/2001) I strongly endorse The Sunshine on My Face. [The author's] desire to stimulate the senses of seeing, touching, hearing, feeling and tasting in dealing with her mother's declining memory is reflected throughout the book. We have been working with this special population for many years; we believe Burdick has met a great need. --Alice Watkins, Executive Director Eastern North Carolina Alzheimer's Association (01/01/2001) I used to buy children's books with big pictures, big words, about animals for my mother, who has advanced dementia. Now to be able to have a book with pictures and words with somebody her age sitting on a chair enjoying the sunset -- it's a really inspired idea. --Jill Eikenberry, a New York-based actress (01/01/2001) Lydia Burdick offers caregivers a little ray of sunshine . . . Her book, The Sunshine on My Face, is a treasure born of personal experience. The words are simple, to the point and eminently readable. The illustrations are clear, recognizable and pretty to look at. --Jitka Zgola, OT (C), President Giverny Consultants (01/01/2001) This is a lovely concept and should be a valued resource for caregivers of memory-impaired persons. It is well done and the reader can improvise additional scenarios following the model pioneered by this book. --Carl Eisdorfer, M.D., Ph.D., Knight Professor and Director University of Miami Center on Aging (01/01/2001) This is a special book. I wish we didn't need it, but we desperately do. This book will help husbands, wives, sons and daughters connect with that special someone who is increasingly hard to reach. --David Shenk, Author of The Forgetting: Alzheimer's: Portrait of an Epidemic (01/01/2001) This simple book should be a very effective way to promote communication and closeness between a persons with dementia and a conversation partner... The format is great--large enough to fit over two laps. --Michelle Bourgeois, Ph.D. Department of Communication Disorders, Florida State University (01/01/2001) Unique... I love the concept of a shared reading source. Caregivers are hungry for a source of connection. The physical closeness required for the nature of the product is a plus. --Lou Eaves, MS, CCC-SP Eaves Solutions, Inc. (01/01/2001) This is a lovely concept and should be a valued resource for caregivers of memory-impaired persons. It is well done and the reader can improvise additional scenarios following the model pioneered by the book.

Author Information

Lydia Burdick works as a marketing and product development consultant in New York City. She created and used this book while caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease.

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