“you don’t look like you have dementia.”
on the couch of his orléans home between his wife of 15 years, robin meyers, and bernese mountain dog, brooklyn, keith barrett is the picture of a life well lived.
at 59, he works full time at the company he co-founded more than 20 years ago to support people with disabilities, delights in a growing blended family of six sons and five grandchildren and is looking forward to some florida sunshine.
but he’s also a new voice of an alzheimer society of canada campaign relaunched on monday to fight old attitudes about what the more than half a million canadians with dementia look like.
keith barrett poses for a photo at his home in ottawa thursday jan 3, 2019. keith barrett, who lives with young onset dementia diagnosed at 57. the ottawa couple want to reframe the conversation around this disease.
tony caldwell
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postmedia
he’s frank that he once believed what people now thoughtlessly say to him.
“i don’t want people to experience what i experienced,” said barrett, who was diagnosed two years ago with rare young onset dementia, alzheimer’s type, which is still in its early stages.
“i was part of the stigma.”
the disease’s name conjured up in his mind the image of an octogenarian, confined to a nursing home bed or a locked ward so they wouldn’t wander.
“that’s the picture that came to my mind and that’s wrong,” barrett said. “through my own experiences, you can be diagnosed in your 30s, 40s, 50s. i think the more people that can share their story, the more we can have conversations and the more that our society will be accepting.”