[svenskagrandy]

Thanks Bob Dawson for your posting! This morning I have been feeling very misunderstood and your hilarious response to the article about face bias lightened the mood. I recently heard one of my offspring complain "Mom always looks so grumpy in pictures!" It seems that those closet to me haven't been interested enough to do some reading about the disease that is robbing me of expression. Do you have any clever responses I could use for complaints and patronizing comments about my tiny signature?

Svenskagrandy

[vlhperry]

Hey Kids, their is nothing wrong with my writing. Why don't you buy yourselves a pair of reading glasses??

[Bob Dawson]

Svenska,
(That's Sweden, right?). The best humour and the best smacks on the side of the head come from the person who is living the situation and so knows it best. Comedians are only funny when they know the situation or people they are making jokes about. So the best lines will definitely be the ones you make up yourself, relating directly to your own situation.
When I can't think of anything to reply, it is always useful to say, "That's how we do it in the CIA."
If they want to know more, I use the old line, "Well, I could tell you more, but then I would have to kill you."
But those lines are not specifically Parkinson's oriented. Carl Hernz at "I Has the Parkinson's" has always been the best at mixing PD with humour, and I would call on him to take up this challenge, but he had an accident before Christmas and may be too busy, what with his Bad Kitty situations. Carl's site: http://www.ihastheparkinsons.com/

When children complain, I tend to tell them that we don't reveal everything to our adopted children, in case their real parents come and take them back.
For handwriting, I tell people that intelligence and hand-writing are inversely related. Those who write well understand little.
As for those close to you not learning about Parkinson's, not reading about it; that would be a good thread of discussion. Some relatives may be in denial; some may find it better to know you but ignore the disease; one close relative told me "let's not join the Sickness Club; let's pay as little attention to it as possible."
For off-spring in particular, it can be emotionally difficult to face the details of an illness, especially if it is Mom or Dad. They are supposed to live for ever, Mom and Dad are always supposed to be there and always supposed to be as they were when the children were born. The off-spring especially don't want to hear about a disease that can't be cured. They want to pretend that this is not really happening.
But to get them reading about PD, I recommend starting with something not too medical, for example, Carl's site http://www.ihastheparkinsons.com/ because he puts a lot of information in with the humour, and then they might graduate to this Neuro Talk; and there is also Kate Kelsall's Shake Rattle and Roll; http://katekelsall.typepad.com/
she is den mother to us all, and in addition to her own writing, her site has a tremendous list of links. So for your offspring who say you look grumpy in the photos, I would require that they read "More about Parkinson's Mask" from Kate's site: http://katekelsall.typepad.com/my_we...sons-mask.html

Peter Dunlap-Shohl is a cartoonist with PD and sometimes there are cartoons about PD (and hard-hitting information) on his site from Alaska: http://offandonakpdrag.blogspot.com/
But for the humour and one-liners; look at each situation closely and you will come up with some real zingers of your own.

[Jomar]

Do these family & friends have email addresses?
I would send them some of your favorite links to websites with good info about PD & I would suggest to them that they learn a bit about it.
It is going to be a part of all of your lives so they need to understand at least some of it.

I find it hard to imagine that they haven't done this on their own already....

[violet green]

We noticed my lack of smile at my daughter's college graduation. My son one month later graduated from high school and by then and ever since, my family makes a habit of reminding me to exaggerate my attempt to smile. They joke with me and get me to specifically think about moving my face. Now it's a group effort. And it works.

katherine

[marciaj]

My family hasn't read anything about PD. They will help if I ask for help but otherwise don't offer thinking I can do whatever because I've always been independant. So I've started asking for help so they realize I am having problems. This seems to work the best for me.

P.S. For the signature I'd probably say, "What? Looks fine to me."