Steve's Story
Through a collaborative process with his co-authors, Steve shares his story of how he, at age 60, experiences life with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Both audiotaped self-narration and an interview were used to elicit Steve's story, which was transcribed by his wife, Gincy. After an introduction presenting the authors' approach to this chapter and Steve's background, he shares his story in his own voice, as audiotaped. A subsequent interview elicited Steve's feelings about sensitive topics such as depression and anger to explore the full range of his thoughts and feelings about his situation. In the discussion, the third author places Steve's story into a contextual framework by addressing the unique aspects of diagnosis at a young age and comparing his experience to the larger literature on identity, coping, and awareness in MCI and early dementia.