Dementia Advocacy and Support Network International, known as DASNI a twelve-year-old nonprofit group formed by and for people with early dementia and their care partners. DASNI provides social support, education and information to people with dementia and incidentally to caregivers who wish to understand us better. We also advocate for better treatment of people with dementia in a variety of ways. Members publish books, present at conferences, serve on committees, and raise funds for Alzheimer’s service organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association. Most importantly, we provide our services to people who are isolated in their own homes all over the world by using the Internet. We have a message board with an archive of 33,787 and 500 members.  Also we hold daily chats online for people with dementia. Our chats are held through the Fischer Foundation’s online services.   Our services help people with dementia feel part of a social group while sitting in their own homes. We help them feel understood. Helping them to feel they can advocate for others gives them a sense of purpose at a time all of their other purposes such as working and supporting the family have been lost. We encourage people to stay actively involved in their communities. And we keep them actively learning.  We’ve known for 12 years what researchers have only recently been confirming – that surfing and learning preserves the brain.  Our education function is very important. You see physicians are expert in diagnosis and prescriptions. However, they don’t have the time or the specialized knowledge to teach up about what is happening to our own mental processes. 

Here is the DASNI Website http://www.dasninternational.org/