Love In A Time of Illness – Diane Ackerman

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Description:

Ms. Ackerman will be speaking about love in a time of illness, something she has lived with for many years, and has written about in her most recent book, One Hundred Names for Love. One day, Ackerman’s 74-year-old husband, a gifted author and professor, suffered a savage stroke. When he regained awareness he was afflicted with “global aphasia”—total loss of language—and could utter only a single syllable: “mem.” The standard therapies yielded only frustration. Diane soon found, however, that by harnessing their deep knowledge of each other, and her understanding of language and the brain, she could guide Paul back to the world of words. In the process, she learned unexpected lessons about herself, their marriage, the underappreciated art of care-giving, and the brain’s ability to heal itself. By necessity, the couples’ lives changed dramatically. The challenge was to regain what could be found, reimagine what couldn’t, and, by using unusual tools and methods, create a new love story.

Educational Objectives:

1. Develop a better understanding of how illness can transform a marriage by skewing roles, dislodging routines, spawning unexpected new behaviors, and ultimately revising a sense of self.
2. Learn how a ravaged brain can rewire itself with the help of healing relationships and a creative game-plan tailored to the individual (however eccentric he may be).