About this course
The Impact of AGEISM on Physical & Emotional Well-Being:a Book Study with Online Circles for Connectionwith Lisa Kendall, CSW-GFeaturing the book, This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageismby Ashton Applewhite |
Join us for a 10-week online conversation and book study, exploring the issues of aging and ageism as they affect our clients and ourselves.
TEN live "Connection Circles" are offered to go deeper into the material and are included in the registration.
~ Registration is open now ~
We start the week of January 24th and go through April 1st, 2022
Live Discussions will be every Friday at 11 a.m. eastern time, starting on 1/28/22
Author, activist, and TED speaker Ashton Applewhite has written a rousing manifesto calling for an end to discrimination and prejudice on the basis of age.In our youth obsessed culture, we’re bombarded by media images and messages about the despairs and declines of our later years. Beauty and pharmaceutical companies work overtime to convince people to purchase products that will retain their youthful appearance and vitality. Wrinkles are embarrassing. Gray hair should be colored and bald heads covered with implants. Older minds and bodies are too frail to keep up with the pace of the modern working world and olders should just step aside for the new generation.Applewhite once held these beliefs too until she realized where this prejudice comes from and the damage it does. Lively, funny, and deeply researched, This Chair Rocks traces her journey from apprehensive boomer to pro-aging radical, and in the process debunks myth after myth about late life. Explaining the roots of ageism in history and how it divides and debases, Applewhite examines how ageist stereotypes cripple the way our brains and bodies function, looks at ageism in the workplace and the bedroom, exposes the cost of the all-American myth of independence, critiques the portrayal of elders as burdens to society, describes what an all-age-friendly world would look like, and offers a rousing call to action.It’s time to create a world of age equality by making discrimination on the basis of age as unacceptable as any other kind of bias. Whether you’re older or hoping to get there, this book will shake you by the shoulders, cheer you up, make you mad, and change the way you see the rest of your life. Age pride!Buy the book here. |
Chapters will be rolled out weekly and the series includes weekly live gatherings for a deeper dive into the material and how we can integrate it into our personal lives and professional practice. (These Connection Circles will be recorded for the group so you can tune in even if you miss one). Here is the full schedule:
What to Expect:
As soon as you register - Welcome! Get your bearings and become familiar with the community conversation board, links, etc.
Week #1 - Introduction (Jan. 24th)
Week #2 - Chapter 1: The Problem with Ageism
Week #3 - Chapter 2: Our Ages, Ourselves - Identity
Week #4 - Chapter 3: Forget Memory - the Older Brain
Week #5 - Chapter 4: Health, Not Youth - the Older Body
Week #6 - Chapter 5: No Expiration Date - Sex and Intimacy
Week #7 - Chapter 6: Not Done Yet - the Workplace
Week #8 - Chapter 7: Long Life is a Team Sport - the Independence Trap
Week #9 - Chapter 8: The Bull Looks Different - the End of Life
Week #10 - Chapter 9: Occupy Age! Beyond Ageism
Please note: we are offering three price points for this series.Students and Retirees may register for a special rate, and people with the means to do so are gratefully invited to support our work and allow someone to attend by registering at the "Benefactor" level. Of course, there is a price in the middle!Click on the registration button at the top of the page for complete information, or below:
Please contact Lisa at lkendall58@gmail.com with any questions. Thank you! |
What they are saying about the book...
“One of the 100 best books to read at any age.”
—WASHINGTON POST
“10 Books to Help You Foster a More Diverse and Inclusive Workplace.”
―FORBES
Praise for Ashton Applewhite
A compelling case for how we can combat our ageist beliefs.
FORBES
Wow. This book totally rocks. It arrived on a day when I was in deep confusion and sadness about my age. Everything about it, from my invisibility to my neck. Within four or five wise, passionate pages, I had found insight, illumination, and inspiration. I never use the word empower, but this book has empowered me.”
ANNE LAMOTT, New York Times bestselling author
A smart and stirring call to add ageism to the list of 'isms' that divide us, and to mobilize against it. An important wake-up call for any baby boomer who's apprehensive about growing old.
PEPPER SCHWARTZ, AARP Ambassador
Sometimes a writer does us all a great favor and switches on a light. Snap! The darkness vanishes, and in its place we find an electric vision of new ways of living...This Chair Rocks illuminates the path.
DR. BILL THOMAS, Founder of ChangingAging
About Ashton ApplewhiteAshton Applewhite is a visionary whose time has come, tackling one of the most persistent biases of our day with originality, verve, and humor. Her magic formula of naming and shaming may just shake all of us out of complacency and into action. Whether you relate through being older now or recognize that aging is in your future, this is one of the most important books you’ll ever read.MARC FREEDMAN, CEO of Encore.org and author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Life Stage Before MidlifeAshton Applewhite, photo by Adrian Buckmaster Author and activist Ashton Applewhite has been recognized by the New York Times, The New Yorker, National Public Radio, and the American Society on Aging as an expert on ageism. She blogs at This Chair Rocks, speaks widely around the world, has written for Harper's and Playboy, and is the voice of Yo, Is This Ageist? In 2016, she joined the PBS site Next Avenue’s annual list of 50 Influencers in Aging as their Influencer of the Year. At the beginning of her career, she was an Editorial Assistant at St. Martin's Press.Descriptions & Reviews adapted from "This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism" |
About Lisa Kendall
Lisa has 40 years' experience working with older people and their care partner teams, including 15 years managing her own private social work psychotherapy & clinical gerontology practice.
Lisa was honored in 2017 for her work teaching the nationally recognized Fieldwork class for the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute and has been closely involved in the movement to eliminate ageism and promote person-directed care through her service as an Educator & Mentor for The Eden Alternative(R).
She speaks internationally on aging issues, bereavement, and trauma-informed Eldercare and is passionate about supporting other helping professionals in their work through education, training, coaching, and mentoring.
About the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute
Ithaca College established the Gerontology Institute in 1992 to serve as a campus and community resource that promotes and supports aging-related research, curriculum development, community education, and community service activities.
The Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center is a component of the institute - a federally-funded center for gerontology/geriatrics education and research with outreach to Ithaca College and 25 neighboring counties in rural New York State. The training focus of the center is health literacy and cultural competence, palliative care, and trauma-informed elder care, especially for long-term care and end-of-life.
Join us now using the registration button at the top of this page!Hope to see you soon. |