Help for Family Caregivers of Teenagers & Adults with Down Syndrome
Help for Family Caregivers of Teenagers & Adults with Down Syndrome
Help for Family Caregivers of Teenagers & Adults with Down Syndrome
I never asked for this. I am a sibling who over time became the primary caregiver for my younger sister who has Down Syndrome. I have no children of my own and I am not married. So, one would think that I should be, as the song goes, “free, single and disengaged”. I should be …
I have been feeling really down for the past couple of weeks and life just always seems to send in the idiots when you are already down to provoke the crap out of you. I am trying my best to remain calm and maintain my sanity during a time that is just plain crazy. As …
It’s a new year. It is said that nothing changes if nothing changes, so do I really want to bring my old habits with me as I explore a new chapter in my life? As caregivers, we can be pretty hard on ourselves. In fact, a common thing that we all struggle with is self-forgiveness. …
I have fantasized about running away. Just packing it all up and moving to some corner of the world, away from all my family. Why? Because I want no one else’s responsibilities but my own. My personal responsibilities are enough. On days when some dramatic scene unfolds, I fantasize about knowing what it feels like …
In a matter of weeks, my sister and I will be moving in together…and so it will be just us two. Sigh. I am so not ready to live with my sister. In all of my adult life, probably three out of those many years I got to live by myself and thus had a …
So today I went to my first counselling session…to deal with the issues that I am having because I am a caregiver. All along I have been trying to hold everything inside and “deal with it”, which honestly meant just ignoring and pretending my issues don’t exist because who has time to think about me…it’s …
It’s the end of another year and of course this is a time that many of us reflect and think on the things that we did or did not do and determine our next step forward. So, I found myself looking back over my life and I found that from the perspective of being a …
“I resent my sister”. “I resent my brother”. You might be thinking to yourself how could anyone ever think or say that about their sibling with DS, but it’s quite easy to get to such a place…quite easy. The truth is, if you are not careful, you will end up saying these words. Picture This… …
Having kids of my own…should I or shouldn’t I? Does your sibling impact your decision to have children? You want to know the truth? Having a sibling with Down Syndrome does in fact impact the route that one takes in relation to having kids. Different siblings make different choices. Take for example my older sister…she …
Yep, I said it. Sometimes, Down Syndrome (DS) just plain sucks. It sucks that your sibling has to deal with all the things that come with being someone with a disability and it sucks that you, as a sibling, have to deal with all the things that come with being the sibling of someone with …