Leisure education typically involves a one-way, top-down process where the leisure professional educates the client on how leisure and meaningful activities can enhance their well-being and quality of life. This traditional and limited conception of the leisure education process fails to recognize the important contributions that clients can make to the leisure education process and the various ways in which leisure education can take place. For the past four years, the Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program at the University of Waterloo has partnered with persons with early stage dementia and family partners in care in the development and implementation of A Changing Melody – a learning and sharing forum designed specifically by and for persons with early stage dementia and their families. Adopting a more radical adult education approach (Scott, Spence, & Thomas, 1998), leisure education was incorporated into these forums in a number of different ways, including: (1) having persons with dementia directly involved in the planning of the forum and in leading workshops and presentations on topics related to leisure; (2) showcasing the continued abilities and accomplishments of persons with dementia; and (3) providing a safe place to experience leisure. The purpose of this presentation is to present the findings from two systematic evaluations conducted to examine the impact of this type of forum on those who attended the event. The findings suggest that including all partners in the social learning process increases the impact of learning and enables participants to transform meanings and images of dementia through gaining new knowledge and insights, connecting and identifying with others, triggering new awakenings and hope, enabling and empowering persons, and producing strong dementia advocates. These types of forums have important implications for breaking the silence and reducing the stigma associated with dementia. They also expand traditional understandings of leisure education by illustrating how educational events can serve as an effective form of leisure education and demonstrating how persons with dementia can not only participate in these initiatives but take the lead in facilitating the social learning process if given adequate support.