Twin Cities Teen Author Aims to Help Children Connect With Dementia

Edie Weinstein, a 16-year-old Minnesota native, has written a children's book about dementia. Titled Grandpa and Lucy , it aims to help young people learn about the disease and connect with persons living with dementia like grandparents, older relatives, and neighbors, reports MPR News . She says she began writing the book after working with the volunteer advocacy group ACT on Alzheimer's. "What I learned primarily is that dementia can rob a person of their community and I'm a person that really believes in the power of community," Weinstein notes. "I started learning that I need to do something to fix that." Weinstein says many young people may feel uncomfortable around people with dementia due to the stigma associated with the disorder. It is her hope that the book will help spur greater understanding for those with dementia. "They are struggling with a disease as much as you are struggling with interacting with this disease," Weinstein says.