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.D T OIT- The fourth le d­
cue of de th mon
a It i lzhelmer ' Of ease,
atd Dian il ins, director of
teAl he i rne r ' A ociation
.t . t erve ayne, 0 I nd,
acomb nd St. CI ir Coun­
tie .
In etropolitlan Detroit
Ui'ere are 60,000 Al h 1m r '
v,cUm , 100,000 plu In the
state and at lea.t four million
In' the United State, II In '
ai , The dl ea e affe t.
p . ople of all racial roup •.
. • Alzheimer's primarily af­
fect people SS ye.r. old and
up. And accord n to the
llterature, no racl I roup I
e empt.
• Alzheimer '. 01 elle (AD)
i a pro resslve, de eneratlve
di.ease that attack. the braIn
and re ult In Impaired
me mor y, thin In and be­
havior. It la the moat common
f rm of dementin illness.
Ttie person wHh AD m y ex­
perience co ntu Io n, per-
onality and behavior
changes, impaired judgement,
aqd difficulty findin words,
fini hing thought or follow­
ing direction," i how the
II terature explain the charac­
teri tics of Alzheimer's Di -
ease.
ANOTHER INTEREST­
ING characteristic of thi
"progres iv e , irrever ible
neurological disorder (is)
from onset of symptom , the
life span of an Alzheimer'
victim 'can range anywhere
from three' to 20 more year ,"
further state the
association's literature.
Because Alzheimer's is a
debilitating disease that in its
final stage leads victims to
become lethargic, it exacts a
hc;avy toll on family and
loved ones .
. It is a fami-ly disease but
t .� c orn p lex i t y of ,it )�ads
many family member into
d9nial and thereby the burden
o( care falls on an individual
or family members.
.Judy "Naaslra" Boisson's
mother, Gladys Harrl , 76,
has Alzheimet's. The disea e
wa diagnosed three years
ago.
According to Boi on, her
mother'S symptions tndlcate
the second of the three stages
a person who bas the disease
goes through.
The second st ge, which is
the "longest stage" has,
among othor characteristics,
the symptoms: difficulty
reco izing family and/or
friends, wandering, re tless-
mlly
o 0
and three livln brother.
. i t e youn e t of hat
one 1 children. he h
to alter, adapt, ch n e her
life tyle nd in orne y be­
come a different per on Ince
her mother became afflicted
Ith Alzheim r ' .
All of Boi on'
brother, "e cept to," re
ol n throu h deni I, he
Slid, she expl ined ho the
lzheimer' s o c i rlon '
"Home Re pile Care" (a er­
vice th t provide tr i ned i n­
d i v idua l to relieve f mily
member 0 they c n recoup
from the ordeal of continous
care), nd thi other ervice
the ociation provides nd
the underst ndlng 0 her 15-
ye r-old on Victor nd ten­
year-old daughter Santonia,
re heltered during her
on laught of pin.
"They' (my lsters and
brothers) deny the f ct that
omethlng I wrong ith
Mother," Bo i son ald. "I
have accepted the fact that
there i no cure for thi di­
ea e nd I've gone through
the cryi ng tage."
Denial and e capi m seem
to be common coping
mechani m for many whose
loved one have Alzheimer' .
They are unable (or unwill­
ing) to accept the loved one'
demini hing mental
capabilitie and they either
place the loved one in a nurs­
ing home or le ve the burdon
of caring for the loved one to .
one family member,
ALTHOUGH BOISSON
says he could "never" place
her mot er in a nur in home,
"fifty percent of all nur ing
home patients are victim of
Alzheimer's ·Disea e ," the
Alzheimer's A sociation
says. "(But) approximately
70 percent of the care given
Alzheimer's victims is
provided by families."
According to Wilkins, who
did not addres the myth that
Black are some how immune
to Alzheimer's Disea e, man
Detrdi t area Blacks do take
• advantage of the services the
as ociation offer but
"probably not as many as
could, or bould)."
The Alzheimer's socia-
tion doe .not use the term
, Wil in
Id, -rr
I RIG
recommend
"D ytrip ," such literature a
the 30-Hour D y nd cont ct­
in the Alzheimer's Associa­
tion if you wi h to le rn more
bout Alzheimer' which,"If
cure or mean of prevention
are not found, will affect 12
to 14 million American by
the ye r 2040."
Boi son explain her agony
in thi manner: "Many night
I have lept on the floor in my
mother's room becau e he
get up during the middle of
the n' ght and try go out ide.
There has been d ys when I
WOUldn't leave thi hou e ,"
Bolon aid.
"I rely on the Creator; I've
ed the Cre tor to give me
the trength to accept my
mother' di e e.",
Boi on id Alzheimer'
ha been "burden" in all
rea of her life but he h
not'gotten to the point of
a ying, "The hell wi th it all."
She is thankful for lovi ng,
under t nding children, fami­
ly members who help and the
Alzheimer' A ociation
which has been there when
she needed a helping hand.
what the Alzheimer's A -
ociation i 11 about. Tbe
third Tue d y of the month
from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
and the third Thur day of the
month from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30
p.m. the as ociation bold
free Alzheimer' orientation
meeting,
The me e tin g are he I d at
the a oci tion' office,
t:7251 W. Twelve Mile Road,
Suite 109 in Southfield. To
regi te r, pie e c 11 (313)
557-82,77.
p r on h no in ur nee e
ill try to help them find
y to e t te ted."
Ho ever, Jo-C ron,
pi y ri ht, ho e play
"Day trips i ppe ri n t the
Detroit epertory The ter
throu h M Y 6, d d r e es
what he preceive to be
inility in one of her ch rae-
t e r nd Alzheimer' in
nether.
"D yrrlps," d ughter
with 'O'lily of her own,
c re for her mother who ha
Alzheimer's nd a
grandmother who i "sent Ie. It,
The dau bter suffer much
verbal abuse and in one cene
narro ily e cape death when
the grandmother trie to hoot
her.
In another ce ne he talk
bout the agony and the ,di -
A HELPING H D i
\
Gr nt to fund W yn
Wayne County Executive
Edw rd H. McNamara an­
nounced today that the
County's Department of
Health nd Community Ser­
vices h received a grant of
$38,000 from the Skillman
Foundation which will be
dedicated to the funding of
ix Youth As i t nee
Program for one year.
Tbese additional ix
programs, which were trans­
ferred from the Wayne County
Juvenile Court, bring to 19
y·outh progr m
the number of Youth As i -
tance Program operated
within Wayne County. They,
will be the only ones operated
by Wayne County's 'Depart­
ment of Health and Com-
munity Services. The
remaining thirteen are
operated by individual cities.
The County' programs are
designed for youth from the
ages of e l ven to 16 who have
either' Iready gotten into
some legal. trouble or are con­
sidered at risk of doing o.
Through the u e of mentor
figure working with kid,
early intervention, coun eling
and activitie , Mc.Namara
said the program help steer
youths, w ho may be the
product of a negative en­
vironment, away from delin­
quency ..
"NOT' ONLY IS the better
for the child and society as a
whole," McNamara said, "but
it Iso impose much less of a
fin nc i a l strain on the
juvenile j u tice y tem:"
McNam ra aid he is ur­
ging nyone willing to act a.
a mentor for youths, to cen­
t ct Deputy Director of outh
Service Ron Lockett at 494-
3041.
"There can never be too
many good role models for
our kids," said McNamara.
"And there will always be
need -for therrr,"
"
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, 6th J\tv1ua
I
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"YOU CAN BEGIN YOUR OWN
LITE.RACY PROGRAMI" way Sp k r to
Lit racy Nowl Cia 8
, By Verona W. Morton, Ph.D .
. , LITERACY NOW! Proaram Dlredo�
�aturday, March, 1991, the students
" in the Li teracy Now! classes (EDD' 10
8 n d ED 0 111 ) we r e e n c'o u rag e d to
I.begin their own literacy programs in
"their chu.rches, homes, community
'centers, etc. says M . Jan Matier,
t Literacy Program Director at the "Li:ro.Wi?-
UNITY Missionary ApoltoliC Fai th in
, Detroi t.
�. The Reach One Teach One' program
was begun by Ms. Malier o'ver three years ago a a dream
come true, She and her pastor decided that the children
.i n the neighborhood were despera tely in need of the
tutorial assistance in every aspect of their scho01 work,
and for every age. On Saturdays, from 10 a.m.-noon,
!.groups were encouraged to come, a long wi th thei r
. parents,.to be tutored by those who had qualified to teach
. other. By the following year, Ms. 'Malier had become a
trained Literacy Volunteer of America tutor, herself. She
then started to tutor th{)se in the area who were. adults, but
'could not read or were marginally illitcrate. When the
. program a t Highland Park Commu,ni ty College began,
which trained college tudent to teach reading, these
"', tutors were brought in.
� The "Reach One, Teach One' program has "snowballed"
'from ten or twelve students to over 60 on any Saturday.
"As a matter of fact, "Ms. Matier told the clas at the
College "We re going to purchase the building next to
i the ch�rch and 9pen separate facilities for these
;. programs".
� By the time M . Matier had completed he,r talk, the
, que tion were coming from the tudents ltke bullet.
She wa . able to as ist them with budgetary and location
· question staffing and documentati�n, Afterward, we
had fello� hlp and everyone went home with their head
.. full of dream .
. La t Tuesday, during their tutorial. es ions with
clients, both Ms. Charlie Mae Jone and M . Lillie Mae
: Jack on aid that thi had been ten year idea of thei r -
: . they wanted to o.pen tutorial center in Highland Park.
: GO ONII AND REACH MANY TEACH MANY!
Do you know of someone who gives their time
and talents to help others? If so I they may be ellg,lble
to receive a KaDL Achiever Award ..
Established in 1986. the KaDL Achiever Awards
honor outstanding adults working to improve the
quality of life In urban America, especially those who
don't receive recognition for their efforts. .
In 1991, the Detroit reclp ent will receive $5.CXXl
from Brown & Williamson Toba�co Corporation to
donate to the qualifying urban community service
of his or her choice.
Across the nation, more than $100,0CX> will be
contributed to non-profit community services
through the Awards this year.
� ..... .",."
Ecorromc Deveotopmen' ActIVISt
I99ORecIf)lfK1'
ChICago IInod
ACHIEVER,­
AWARDS'
Building Prid
Detroit
In
IIotttJItIl �
a..n.ss Eo..cotOf
1983 Recpent
S' LOUIS soun
IcDoJtJtw
N1s EClJeO'Of
�Recpent
New brIr New YOt1r
The search for nominations Is now under way
through community organizations and businesses '"
your area. We hope that you'll join us in the effort to
Identify these extraordinary achievers. .
-.......... Deadll for Nominations: May 31. 1991
For Mor Information, C 1-800-341-5211
SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking
By Pragnant Woman May R lult in Fatal
Injury, Pram tura Sinh, And Low Sinh Wight.