One evening when they were working late in the office of their organisation, the Bandung Independent Living Centre, Indonesian mouthpainter Faisal Rusdi finally confessed his feelings to his childhood crush, Cucu Saidah. He had been keeping his feelings for his…
For Faisal Rusdi, who has cerebral palsy, love at first sight isn’t simply a cliché.
Identical twins Adrianna and Olivia may look alike, but they have a few differences. For instance, Adrianna is a swimmer, and Olivia loves theater. But there’s another difference that isn’t just about these girls’ individual interests. Olivia was born with cerebral…
Donna, a mother and caregiver, writes about a subject that caregivers know all too well – a worst fear. Donna recalls her first encounter with her worst fear. It was a phone call she’d received shortly after sending her…
In May of 2000, I fell asleep at the wheel with my youngest daughter in the passenger seat. Beth, fourteen years old, was paralyzed from the chest down with a C6-7 spinal cord injury. Sports were just one thing of…
Dating can often be an awkward experience, one that doesn’t always go smoothly. Both Holly and Jack know this all to well. Holly, 24, has cerebral palsy and sclerosis, and she uses a wheelchair. She’s tried online dating, and…
Lorraine has twenty-eight years of experiencing in finding, hiring, and working with caregivers. Lorraine was born with cerebral palsy and is a full-time wheelchair user. Once she transitioned out of the care of her parents and family, and onto a…
If you know an individual or a family who is facing a life-changing crisis, take a look at these tips. Kristen’s husband Jeff became a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic following a diving accident in 2013. Kristen has both the helpful and not-so-helpful things her family experienced…
Author and professor Kristin Neff writes about an important aspect caregivers must incorporate into their lives in order to stay healthy and at the top of their caregiving game: self-compassion. “Self-compassion is crucial for caregivers — not only because it…
I believe that caregiving is an art. I wore that hat in many different settings, including ones where I also supervised other caregivers. However, I never expected to be a caregiver for one of my teenaged children. After my daughter Beth’s spinal…