Laurie Waters
Patient & Advocate
Laurie’s Story
Laurie is a globally recognized dementia advocate and co-founder of Walking the Talk for Dementia (WTD), a movement that unites people living with dementia, care partners, researchers, and healthcare professionals around inclusion, dignity, and lived-experience leadership. She facilitates peer-to-peer support groups across the United States, provides one-on-one support to newly diagnosed individuals and families, and co-hosts the podcast T&L WTD: Let's Talk About It.
Her advocacy has taken her to international conference stages — including Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) in Warsaw and Lyon and The Brain Congress in Rio de Janeiro — as well as policy meetings in Washington, D.C. and the South Carolina State House. She has served on the Alzheimer's Disease International Global Dementia Expert Panel, the Alzheimer's Association National Early-Stage Advisory Group, and Teepa Snow's PAC Core Team.
Laurie speaks and advocates from lived experience: she was originally diagnosed with Younger Onset Alzheimer's and has since received additional diagnoses of FTD, Vascular Dementia, and PPA.
In the News
Laurie: Living with Younger Onset Alzheimer's — Keeping the Holidays Magical
Alzheimer's Association Selects South Carolinians for National Early-Stage Advisory Group
Lesson from a Fading Mind: From A Neighbor with Early-Onset Alzheimer's
What People with Early-Onset Dementia Want You to Know
6 Things People Living with Early-Stage Dementia Want You to Know
Six Things People Living with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementia Want You to Know
Alzheimer’s patients finally get hope, but can’t afford it after Medicare denies coverage
SC woman advocates for people with Alzheimer’s, dementia. She’s 55 and one of them.
Walking the Talk for Dementia Documentary Trailer: "Five to Midnight"
Walking the Talk for Dementia along the Camino, Spain
Walking the Talk for Dementia 2023
Introducing Laurie Waters, National Early Stage Advisor
Social Isolation and Loneliness - ISTAART Research Perspectives Special
Courageous Conversations: I Have Dementia and I am Still Here...Talk to Me!