3 weeks Ago
A woman with a rare form of dementia is set to appear on a Channel 4 show with a Grammy-award winning judge. Helen Moffatt, 64, from Haywards Heath, was surprised to be contacted by the producers of the Channel 4 series The Piano, asking about her life and the importance of music and the piano to her. Her daughter Hannah had put the application in for her.
Clinical academic speech and language therapist, Dr Anna Volkmer (left), with Rare Dementia Support member Helen Moffatt (Image: Marie Mangan) Helen took part in the Brighton episode of the show, which is presented by Claudia Winkleman and judged by singer/songwriter Mika and Grammy Award-winning pianist/composer Jon Batiste. It was recorded at Brighton station in July 2024 and will air on Easter Sunday. Helen said: "The judges were so brilliant.
"Claudia was amazing with pupils who came to the filming day. "She is brilliant with conversation, listens, and laughed when distracted by the train announcements." In 2018, at the age of 58, primary school music teacher Helen was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a rare form of dementia that affects a person’s speech and language.
Helen Moffatt recording Out of the Box at Curtis Shwartz studio (Image: The Piano) Helen loved her job and had won an award for being a music specialist in primary schools in Haywards Heath. She said: "I was teaching in a classroom situation and mid-sentence I just stopped. "I couldn’t find the words.
"It was like an invisible barrier had been erected: something was deliberately stopping me from saying a word I knew locked in my head." After a year in that ongoing situation, Helen went to the GP, who referred her to a consultant clinical psychologist, Dr Angela Reason, who specialises in neuropsychology and dementia. After many cognitive tests, a diagnosis of PPA was made.
This was a shock for Helen and all the family. Helen wanted to know more about PPA and how it would affect her. She came across Rare Dementia Support, a service funded by The National Brain Appeal charity.
She saw that they had a PPA support group and phoned the number, getting through to consultant speech and language therapist, Dr Anna Volkmer, who specialises in language-led dementias. Helen said: "Anna and I spoke for 40 minutes. "She finally helped me to understand what PPA was and what was happening to me.
"She and her colleague, Dr Chris Hardy, were amazing." They directed Helen to the cognitive disorders clinic, where she is now a patient. Helen and her husband Simon have had amazing support with speech and conversation therapy.
They joined their local Rare Dementia Support group in Haywards Heath and had support from Dyscover, a local specialist charity providing support for people with PPA. In her contribution to The Piano, Helen is featured as a music teacher and a granny - she has four grandchildren. Going forward, Helen is hoping to raise the importance of speech therapy for people living with PPA.
She composed a piece of music specially for the programme entitled ‘Out of the Box’, that she has dedicated to Dr Anna Volkmer and all the professionals who have helped her with their kindness and expertise. Helen said: "In my teaching of music, I always want children to be who they are and build up their individual strengths. "Don’t limit people by boxes - all are unique with our own stories, and this also applies to people living with rare dementias.
" Helen has recorded the piece ‘Out of the Box’ on a Steinway piano at Curtis Schwartz Studio in Ardingly, West Sussex. The music will be available to download from The National Brain Appeal’s website shop.nationalbrainappeal.
org following the broadcast. Helen appears in the Brighton episode of The Piano on April 20, 9pm, Channel 4..
