In March 2019 I arrived at the AZ State Capital Building to celebrate Family Caregiver Day. Thinking that I was going to be surrounded by other mothers of special needs children I was shocked to discover that I was the only one in attendance. The rest of the attendees were caregivers for the elderly. The focus of the event was to talk about self-care for them as they cared for their loved ones in the last 5-6 years of their life.
I remember thinking… 5-6 years. Wouldn’t that be amazing? For us parents of special needs children we won’t be caring for our children for 5-6 years. We will be caring for them for the rest of our lives. Seeing the need for a conference that focused on the caregivers of special needs children, Michele Puopolo and Staci Neustadt worked together to create Care for the Giver.
The event was wonderful and well attended. We had speakers present on: parent therapist relationships, how to thrive while raising a special needs child, how parents can make empowered health care decisions for their children, how to incorporate mindfulness and meditation for stress relief, and we ended with a wonderful parent panel.
We also had a fantastic range of vendors who came out to support the parents in attendance
In all the day was a day of caring, healing, and community.
