Today, for the first time, I spoke to the Mansion residents about the reading2connect books I have brought into the Mansion to help revive and strengthen memory and voice for the elderly. The books are intended to give the residents the tools and opportunity of connecting with one another, reading independently, and also reviving memory that appears to be lost or fading.

The one-on-one projects I’ve begun have been remarkably successful.Today, as a winter storm raged outside, I brought the idea to the group as a whole,  and challenged them to read with me, and to me, and then to one another, using these new tools I’ve found.

I admit I was amazed at the response, it was much greater than I anticipated,  any wariness or skepticism I had evaporated quickly, as you can see for yourself in the video below.

The residents came to life, they pitched in with answers to the workshop questions, rushed to the support of one another, and almost everyone in the room said with great enthusiasm they wished to continue the reading program. They  wished to do the exercises with me, and also with one another and with no staff or teacher.

In fact, they were hungry for it.

This is precisely what the programs founders, Susan Ostrowski and Peter Dixon, hoped their books would achieve, and it was a thrilling moment for me to witness. At first, the residents were tentative, then with each question more and more joined in. I talked about the opportunity to strengthen memory, and reminded them of the many benefits of reading, no one need persuaded, their hands shop up to join.

I said I would stick with them and follow this through.

The picture above is of Allan, a resident I have never photographed and who I rarely spoke with. In many of the gatherings where I was present, he has been silent or distracted. I just assumed he wasn’t interested.

Today, he eagerly jumped into our shared reading, he answered every single question, and he answered every single question correctly.

I did not see him in this way, and I realize I have neglected him, perhaps he is generally silent and I just assumed he wasn’t interested. I was wrong, and these books brought him sharply into focus for me, he could be an influential and effective spur for reading and memory work at the Mansion.

He got the program instantly and when I asked if I could take his picture, he said “sure,” almost as if he had been waiting for me.

In this piece, I’m posting two of the videos I took today with my Iphone, I wanted to share what I was seeing with you.

In the first video, about a third of the Mansion residents listen eagerly to the workshop questions, are also eager to finish the phrases left blank,. They interact with one another, offering help, interpretations, pronunciations. I said I thought this was like exercising our memories, the more we did it, the better the outcome. Think of it as mental jogging, I said.

 

Joan is a precious spirit, and last week, and I have come to love her. She could not even focus on lifting a pencil in art class last week. She has been unable to engage in sequential conversations.

These reading2connect workshop books brought her right into the moment, and while our dialogue is usually indirect and circular, something familiar  to those who work with the memory impaired, Joan seems to change when doing these exercises. In this work follows conversation, offers relevant and increasingly responsive comments and we are all surprised at what she can remember.

Joan  cannot remember her room or where it is much of the time, she must always ask someone to help her when it’s time to go there. Yet working with these books, she is pulling more and more of her memory out, and is visibly empowered by her success, rather than frustrated or brought down by her confusion.

I see that many of the residents have simply given up on memory, and reading as well. The idea that they might reclaim even a piece of either is thrilling for them. They want to be stimulated, they all say they spent too much time doing nothing.

Joan asked me if I can work with her tomorrow, and I will. And I noticed that she came looking for me at 2:30, I told her yesterday I would be at the Mansion then to do my poetry workshop. She clearly remembered I was coming, where I would be, and at what time. This was very surprising to me.

As I left tonight, a woman I won’t name came up to me and clutched my arm and kissed me on the cheek. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me, I have forgotten all about reading and I miss it so much. Please come back and find me, I want to do this with you.”

I will come back and find  her for sure. I always keep in mind that this is not a miracle cure, I have seen no evidence that people with memory loss can reclaim all their memory with a book, or by reading, or by any other single means. But perhaps they can advance in small steps and get to a better place with both.

But there is something powerful and even spiritual happening here, I can see it and so can  you. I am eager to see just how far this can go, and I want to be patient and cautious about it.

There are many obstacles to reading at the Mansion – age, health problems, vision problems, memory loss, medications. I know some of the residents just can’t read, but they do love being read to, and for some, reading can be reclaimed.

It is something they can do with one another, they don’t need anyone other approval or program. It is free, they need no subsidies. We have pushed the elderly to the edges of our consciousness, they often feel abandoned and grieve for the loss of almost everything they love. Reading and memory can help them find the lost parts of themselves and give them dignity and pride. Just look at the faces in these videos.

I told the residents I will buy more books and I will begin leaving them with people who want them. We will work hard to revive memory and voice. As always, I will share this with my readers, I believe in being open. More later.