{"id":23286,"date":"2018-11-14T09:01:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T17:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/?p=23286"},"modified":"2018-11-09T12:36:17","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T20:36:17","slug":"there-are-more-than-5-million-u-s-teachers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/all-mfn\/there-are-more-than-5-million-u-s-teachers\/","title":{"rendered":"There Are More Than 5 Million U.S. Teachers…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"You are having dinner with a friend and notice a softball-sized\u00a0protrusion on the left side of your friend\u2019s head. Do you inquire\u00a0about your observation? Maybe you make jokes? Or, perhaps you choose to\u00a0remain silent.<\/p>\n

When we experience or witness cognitive declines, we meet them with\u00a0resistance and say: \u201cDang it. Where the heck are my keys?\u201d Or,\u00a0\u201cIdiot. I hate when I can\u2019t remember.\u201d Or, \u201cGeez, how many times do we have to have this conversation?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, we say nothing.<\/p>\n

Silence speaks unkindly.<\/p>\n

Despite popular beliefs about cognitive decline being a natural\u00a0concomitant of the aging process, the National Institute of Health on\u00a0Aging reminds us that \u201cage-related changes in cognition are not\u00a0uniform across all cognitive domains or even across all [people ages 65\u00a0and greater.]\u201d There is tremendous variability in cognitive\u00a0functioning among people who comprise this heterogenous group\u00a0\u2013 humans\u00a0who’s ages are 65 and greater.<\/p>\n

And when cognitive shifts do present, often as an inability to remember\u00a0recently learned information, important dates or repeating questions \u2013\u00a0we, yet again, opt for silence.<\/p>\n

Or, we ignore, deny, hide and humor.<\/p>\n

It is estimated that 60% of female and 70% of male Americans will live\u00a0dementia free lives.<\/p>\n

In a fear-based culture, one that favors an us vs. them mindset, these\u00a0sorts of comforting statistics do not readily capture our attention.\u00a0Instead, we glom onto facts such as: \u201cThere are 5.4 million\u00a0Alzheimer\u2019s patients in the United States.\u201d\u00a0For these millions of Americans, their existence is described as\u00a0\u201cterrible,\u201d \u201cthey\u2019ve been robbed of their memories,\u201d and\u00a0\u201cthis is just devastating.\u201d These stories are of loss, wrapped in\u00a0loss, and suspended by more loss.<\/p>\n

Yes. It has been suggested that in the brains of people affected by\u00a0Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a> (as determined by autopsy), there is evidence of diminished\u00a0neural connections, brain atrophy or surface area decreases,\u00a0neurofibrillary tangles and cellular death. This is just to name a few\u00a0of the potential losses evidenced in the brain.<\/p>\n

However, these changes are often foreshadowed by present-day behaviors\u00a0and interactions presented by people affected by Alzheimer\u2019s. When we\u00a0talk about how terrible Alzheimer\u2019s is, this has the potential to\u00a0inform and shape people\u2019s experiences. How different would our\u00a0experiences be if we used language of strength and resilience and\u00a0<\/strong>gratitude to frame the story of cognitive transformations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What if we begin the story from a different vantage point? A story that\u00a0begins by us listening rather than narrating. One that holds as the hero\u00a0of the story the one who is directly affected by Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

When I read statistics on the number of people in the U.S. affected by\u00a0Alzheimer’s, I interpret this as the number of possible teachers waiting\u00a0for class to begin<\/strong>. Yes. People affected by Alzheimer’s have much to teach.<\/p>\n

We have much to learn. We know so very little. We could equate our\u00a0knowledge with the measurement of animals from largest to smallest. Our\u00a0knowledge is equivalent to that of a tiny crustacean, a Stygotantulus,\u00a0that measures a tenth of a millimeter in length.<\/p>\n

When we stop fearing them and start seeing them as us, maybe then we will be\u00a0ready for class to begin. Maybe then we will begin to learn.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

These teachers hold valuable gifts in the realm of practicing present\u00a0moment awareness. We could only hope to be so lucky to be chosen to be a\u00a0teacher.<\/p>\n

When we show up for class, with a mindset of not-knowing, perhaps then\u00a0we can begin to meet cognitive transformations with curiosity, rather\u00a0than resistance, and begin saying: \u201cDeep breath in, my keys are\u00a0temporarily out of sight?\u201d Or \u201cGosh, I wonder how long this will\u00a0last?\u201d Or \u201cCurious. It appears to me that for you this is the first\u00a0time we are having this conversation?\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not ready for class to begin, this is perfectly fine.<\/p>\n

Please though, say something to your friend when you notice a\u00a0softball-sized protrusion that presents as forgetting important dates.<\/p>\n

Be brave.<\/p>\n

Choose to speak kinder than silence. These are gifts.<\/p>\n

\n

Adrienne Ione is a dynamic, mindful, high-fiving, cognitive behavioral therapist, certified dementia specialist and senior personal trainer. Founder of\u00a0Silver Linings Integrative Health<\/a>, a company with an aim of promoting health, fitness and wellbeing opportunities for people to thrive across the lifespan.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You are having dinner with a friend and notice a softball-sized\u00a0protrusion on the left side of your friend\u2019s head. Do you inquire\u00a0about your observation? Maybe you make jokes? Or, perhaps you choose to\u00a0remain silent. When we experience or witness cognitive declines, we meet them with\u00a0resistance and say: \u201cDang it. Where the heck are my keys?\u201d Or,\u00a0\u201cIdiot. I hate when I can\u2019t remember.\u201d Or, \u201cGeez, how many times do we have to have this conversation?\u201d Sometimes, we say nothing. Silence speaks unkindly. Despite popular beliefs about cognitive decline being a natural\u00a0concomitant of the aging process, the National Institute of Health on\u00a0Aging reminds us that \u201cage-related changes in cognition are not\u00a0uniform across all cognitive domains or even across all [people ages 65\u00a0and greater.]\u201d There is tremendous variability in cognitive\u00a0functioning among people who comprise this heterogenous group\u00a0\u2013 humans\u00a0who’s ages are 65 and greater. And when cognitive shifts do present, often as an inability to remember\u00a0recently learned information, important dates or repeating questions \u2013\u00a0we, yet again, opt for silence. Or, we ignore, deny, hide and humor. It is estimated that 60% of female and 70% of male Americans will live\u00a0dementia free lives. In a fear-based culture, one that favors an us vs. them mindset, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":23291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[125],"class_list":["post-23286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-mfn","tag-alzheimers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}