Dennis a Profile

Dennis was born in country NSW in the mid 1950’s in a town named after the resting place of the Black Swans and now live in town named after the Black Cockatoo. He is old enough to have witnessed the Luna Landing in 1969 but young enough to have avoided conscription. After graduating from University in the Late 70’s He has had a variety of careers. Working in education from remote Central Schools to local High Schools and TAFE. He also worked in Petroleum Geophysics, IT support and Training and had run his own IT support business for over 20 years. Even years after diagnosis he provides IT support to many of his friends, many of whom are former clients.

He was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia – at age 59. His experience of diagnosis was a long and frustrating path until he was referred to the Frontier/NeuRA group in 2013.  After a year of increasing social isolation, he had an opportunity to become involved in the Dementia Friendly Kiama pilot program and was elected chair of the Dementia Advisory Group (a body comprised entirely of people diagnosed with Dementia and their immediate carers) and a member of the broader Alliance group. This has awoken the sleeper within.

Since that time, he has co-authored a paper on the findings of the Kiama Dementia Friendly project and co-authored many other journal articles. He continues to be involved in many research projects not only as a participant but often as a co-designer and advisor. He is an active advocate for all with a dementia and has addressed several international conferences.

Recently he was part of “To Whom I Concern” a collaboration with the Australia Chamber Orchestra, Group Homes Australia, The UNSW and Dementia Australia, with people living with Dementia.