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 …
October is Down Syndrome (DS) Awareness Month…a time when families with loved ones who have DS shout it from the mountain tops and let everyone know that persons with Down Syndrome are to be treated with respect and accepted by society, just like everyone else. This is true…we are all human beings and should be …
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. …
Caregiving…it’s my humble opinion that persons who are not caregivers seldom understand what it truly means to be one. We, as caregivers, are somewhat responsible for this ignorance, as we walk around pretending that all is well and that we’re okay, when the truth is that, most of the times, our lives are in shambles. …
Patients with Down syndrome may have difficulties going to the dentist. It can be an overwhelming experience, causing them to become too anxious to receive the dental care that they need. In these cases, dental sedation may be beneficial. As a dentist working with families for over 17 years, I’ve used sedation methods in my …
Whenever I see other Sibs, especially young children I feel sad. I worry about their future. I worry if their parent(s) is/are doing all they can to give that child, the one without the disability, a fighting chance in this world. Are they getting to live their own life? Are they getting the chance to …
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 …
What can I say? Shit happens…literally. Bathroom woes are an all too common occurrence for a caregiver. I know this is not a topic that anybody really wants to address, but as caregivers, this is a constant battle for us. How do we get our loved ones to wipe their butts properly after they use …
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 …