Summary: Part A:Every year, about 450,000 Americans are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Each diagnosis creates a ripple effect, as millions of family members are thrown into a terribly sad, confusing and time-consuming situation. Filmmaker David Shenk believes the best resource, by far, is experienced Alzheimer’s families, caregivers who have already spent years learning to navigate this harrowing terrain. Shenk emphasizes that while no one is glossing over the difficulty of the disease, he did ask the filmmakers to focus on solutions, tools and strategies families employ to carve out a comfortable and meaningful life in a new series of short films.Part B:For 22 years, Katherine Bouton had a secret that grew harder to keep every day. Bouton, an editor at the New York Times, couldn't hear what her colleagues were saying at daily editorial meetings. She had gone profoundly deaf in her left ear; her right was getting worse. In her book Shouting Won't Help, Bouton explores "Why I — and 50 Million Other Americans — Can't Hear You." AARP Radio host Mike Cuthbert talks to the author, who describes herself as "the kind of person who might have used an ear trumpet in the 19th century."
