On the first day of walking the Camino De Santiago in Spain, I fell and switched roles from caregiver to patient. I lay in the dark hospital room listening to the moans and breathing of the other people in in the ward. It was 3 […]
Blog
Taking A Break
This week is a time of saying goodbye to my Dad, celebrating his long and wonderful life and reuniting with my family….Mom, siblings, nieces and nephews, spouses of family and the newest small children members. Dear Readers, I have taken a break for a couple […]
Creative Caregiving: Simple Pleasures
Something as simple as putting his chair or the couch, in direct sunlight was a great start. The sun’s warmth and light on his face and body was a life affirming experience. Andy’s Parkinson’s symptoms were severe and relentless. We discovered small wins with simple […]
Demonstration Combined With Words
Our teachers are the brave folk who venture out with their visible disabilities every day and crush the opposition. Disability is a condition the world needs to open its collective arms to. I don’t have a disability but I live with one who deals on […]
Teaching About Parkinson’s
Teaching by demonstration was by far the most effective way. During Andy’s most disabled years, people looked to us to show them what they didn’t know about how to be with Andy. Andy and I were not always able to teach people as effortlessly as […]
Disability Education
I see now that it could not have been easy to be a handsome young man with only one leg. Bill often made it look easy because he chose to immediately embrace his pioneering role and become a teacher When something happens that sets a […]
And Then Came Marco Polo
Andy cannot talk in a voice but through Marco Polo technology it is like magic that he can be understood again. Marco Polo is an app that can be downloaded onto an I Phone or I Pad or computer. My sister in law, who lives […]
Conscious Breathing
Inhale through left nostril, exhale through right nostril then inhale through right nostril and exhale through left nostril making a full circle. Something happens after receiving a hard blow in life and Andy no longer being able to talk was a hard blow. In the […]
Exercise For Communication
Years have passed and we have grieved and now his silence has become another adventure to explore and we have experienced some success in our explorations. What changes in your life have you struggled with? There are tools to help people with voice challenges caused […]
Communication With Parkinson’s
The patient can and must tap into their own reserves of persistence, certainty and confidence that their words are valuable and worth fighting for. Talking often becomes harder with Parkinson’s disease. It takes an intrepid confidence not to submit to the isolation inherent in no […]