News

By Harry Cayton, Sue Quinn and Sue Westell.
Living Archive Press
£4.99
ISBN 0 9048747 31 4

Listen to Me is an honest, sensitive portrayal of Alzheimer's disease in the words of four people at the younger end of the spectrum. Their narratives are edited from tape recordings made by Sue Westell for The Living Archive in Milton Keynes.

Three of the four individuals reflect on dementia and its effects on their own and others' lives.

Evelyn says: "It does frighten me, because I have, I know this sounds terribly arrogant, but I've always been in control of myself..."

Hyacinth reflects on communication in the day centre that she attends: "I sit and look at people. Sometimes I'm sitting here looking and I'm thinking, 'I wonder if they think anything?', because they sit there for hours and don't say a word."

Harry, too, sees interaction as the central problem: "Sometimes I flounder and if people say the word, it's the only way I can actually talk to somebody is by - lost it again."

Jane shows less awareness than the others, but the dialogue demonstrates her restlessness and fluctuations of attention.

Listen to Me is important for the way it sets these accounts of the experience of dementia in the context of people's whole lives.

John Killick is research fellow in communication through the arts, Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling.