Hello and Welcome to my sixth attempt at the AtoZ blogging challenge.
My theme this year is Caring for the Caregiver. My posts are based on my experience and are not meant to be a comprehensive guide on the subject. I would love to hear your experiences..
You can catch up with my previous posts here.
With each post, I am sharing a sketch that I have done as a means for stress busting.
While all my posts will be focused on care givers for the elderly, I think I must focus on parents who take care of their very sick or disabled children. During my work with differently able kids, I have seen first hand the trauma the parents (especially mothers) have to face, the uncertainty about the future, social ostracisation, and so on.
I will never forget the comment of a young mother of child with cerebral palsy. They lived in a remote village and had come to our centre when the boy was about a year old. He used to cry continuously and she would stay awake in a bid to allow the rest of the household to sleep. . After evaluation, I had prescribed a preliminary home program. At her second visit at an interval of a month, she told me, “I have slept for the first time in a year’.
That’s when I realised that my physiotherapy that was aimed to help the child ended up benefiting his mother as well. A most satisfying thought!
In the same town, some of the mothers of the differently abled children, would go out only at night as neighbours or with their faces covered. I dont need to elaborate on this aspect of ostracisation.
All the points applicable to care givers of elderly apply to such parents as well.
Care giving actually doesnt differentiate between the age of the ‘ward’. The mental and physical demands on the care giver remain the same.
There is no one size fits all solution.
Every family has to find something that suits them best. At best, posts such as mine will inspire a family to come up with their unique workable plan.
Here is my sketch for today:
My theme this year is Caring for the Caregiver. My posts are based on my experience and are not meant to be a comprehensive guide on the subject. I would love to hear your experiences..
You can catch up with my previous posts here.
With each post, I am sharing a sketch that I have done as a means for stress busting.
While all my posts will be focused on care givers for the elderly, I think I must focus on parents who take care of their very sick or disabled children. During my work with differently able kids, I have seen first hand the trauma the parents (especially mothers) have to face, the uncertainty about the future, social ostracisation, and so on.
I will never forget the comment of a young mother of child with cerebral palsy. They lived in a remote village and had come to our centre when the boy was about a year old. He used to cry continuously and she would stay awake in a bid to allow the rest of the household to sleep. . After evaluation, I had prescribed a preliminary home program. At her second visit at an interval of a month, she told me, “I have slept for the first time in a year’.
That’s when I realised that my physiotherapy that was aimed to help the child ended up benefiting his mother as well. A most satisfying thought!
In the same town, some of the mothers of the differently abled children, would go out only at night as neighbours or with their faces covered. I dont need to elaborate on this aspect of ostracisation.
All the points applicable to care givers of elderly apply to such parents as well.
Care giving actually doesnt differentiate between the age of the ‘ward’. The mental and physical demands on the care giver remain the same.
There is no one size fits all solution.
Every family has to find something that suits them best. At best, posts such as mine will inspire a family to come up with their unique workable plan.
Here is my sketch for today:
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| Inspired by images I found via Google search. |
See you tomorrow folks with my D post.
Till then, stay happy!
