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Caring for disabled seniors or seniors with special needs is a double whammy of sorts. The reason being, first, they are disabled. Second, age is not on their side anymore. Professional caregivers have to be extra careful while tending care for adults with special needs, as they have to be handled delicately else they might get injured or hurt.

Adults with special needs are disabled people who find moving around extremely difficult. They might be physically impaired, might be paralyzed somewhere or might have a dysfunctional limb that disrupts their activities of daily living such as meal preparation, assistance with medication and transportation, autistic people and people affected by Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and several other developmental disabilities. Personal care assistants have to ensure these people have interacted with warmly, emotional support and peace of mind.

How do you care for adults with special needs?

This is the biggest question confronting everyone, especially for professional caregivers and personal care assistants. Given below are tips to care for adults with special needs that will make sure such patients find their way around.

• Supports:

  There are a variety of supports available for people with special needs. These supports include job coaching, vocational rehabilitation, day programs, community transition programs, and home care professional support. These supports prepare the disabled adult to become competent at activities such as meal preparation, household work, managing medications, assistance with mobility and ambulation, bathing and hygiene and recreation and other community activities. The supports will also help professional caregivers and personal care assistants get that much-needed break from the round the clock service they generally get busy with. 

  

• Autonomy and Independence:

  Independence, they say, is the birthright of all sentient beings. Each one of us is entitled to live life on our own terms and not be bound by anything. Even adults with disabilities, intellectual and developmental both, have the right to be in charge of their lives. Such people should be allowed to celebrate their autonomy and independence, in the sense that they should be supported when they learn to cook or should be fully supported when they want to join a coaching program, with the help of a home care professional. 

• Change in Role:

  Those phases when they are entering a different phase of life is when they need support most. This is when as professional caregivers and personal care assistants, you should fully support them and allow them to grow into that phase. They should be supported in such a way that they start doing that task independently. So each time you see such patients trying to grow into a new role, they must have your support come what may.

How do I become a caregiver for a disabled family member?

These situations written above must be understood in detail by those preparing to be caregivers for and ready to take care of adults with special needs. Once they get to the core of it, they must get their preparations in order so that they are in a position to discharge their duties accordingly and be the best possible caregiver they can be.