About Brightreads

Laura’s personal mission is to create conversations that transcend differences and spark change. She created the In My World books so that people living in the mid to later stages of dementia could enjoy reading, feel a sense of success, and spark conversations about the stories with care partners. Laura created the first In My World book for her mother, who lived with vascular dementia and found most forms of text too complicated to read.

As a facilitator and trainer at To Whom I May Concern® working with people living with dementia, Laura combines principles of participatory management with theatre to connect people and promote dialogue.

Laura has been a location-independent communications consultant, doing the “digital nomad” thing long before it was fashionable! She has a Bachelor of Business Management and is a 2015 Fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs. Laura completed ICA Associates’ Professional Facilitator Program with a focus on Group Facilitation Methods, Meeting Design, Transformational Strategies and the Art & Science of Participation.

The Story of In My World Books

At age 85, my mother Betty had a stroke that resulted in significant loss of her cognitive abilities. She had vascular dementia, and even prior to the major stroke, her memory had been deteriorating for some time.

When I first came up with the idea for the In My World books, Betty could hold abbreviated conver- sations. She could not reminisce, but remembered the names of her immediate family when prompted, and smiled and greeted people in the hallways of her nursing home. Betty could count and spell, and although she could read in a limited manner, she would never pick up a magazine. In addition to apathy, Betty was easily bored by text that was too long or that she could not understand or relate to.

One afternoon, in desperation for something to keep us both entertained during a visit, I searched around my mother’s room and picked up a coffee table book. It was a big, heavy book full of photos of people and places in her town, but with little meaningful text. I leafed through the book with my mother, making up the story as I went. “Oh look, here’s a picture of the mayor and his wife. They have a new baby. Isn’t he cute? And here’s a picture of the fair. There is a ferris wheel and a merry-go-round and lots of people having fun.”
When we reached the end of the book, my mother said, “AGAIN!” and back we went to page one. By the time we had finished, not only had an hour gone by without me noticing, but most importantly my mother was interested, engaged, learning, and remembering new details, and we had connected over an activity that we could both enjoy.

Based on this experience, and upon realizing that there were at the time few books written especially for people with dementia, I decided to create one for my mother. I had previously bought preschool flashcards and puzzles for her, but didn’t think that she would find books for small children interesting. However, I knew that the book needed to be colourful, easy to read, and engaging. I knew that the illustra- tions needed to be colour photos of real people in real places, so that she could relate to the pictures and wasn’t forced to make sense of someone else’s artful interpretative drawing of the world.

We were able to enjoy some happy hours over the book before she passed away on June 7, 2008, and it is in her memory that I now make available the In My World books. Thank you for sharing them with us.

– Laura