The Best Diets for People With Disabilities Running in the Family

An intellectual or developmental disability affects a person'southward ability to alive, attend school, and piece of work independently. A person may need support with cooking, banking, transportation, social situations, health care visits, and jobs. Three of the best-known intellectual or developmental disabilities are Down's syndrome, autism, and traumatic encephalon injury (TBI). Many families care for a person who has an intellectual or developmental inability. It could be a young child, an developed child who lives at home with his or her parents, or even an developed sibling.

Path to Improved Health

If yous are caring for a loved one who has an intellectual or developmental disability, y'all are considered a caregiver. As a caregiver, you may exist providing basic intendance by doing the post-obit things for another person:

• bathing
• dressing
• feeding
• cooking
• shopping
• paying bills
• running errands
• giving medicine
• keeping him or her visitor
• providing emotional support
• driving

Some people who have an intellectual or developmental inability have speech and communication problems. This is especially a problem when communicating with doctors or dentists. You lot may demand to speak on behalf of the person you are caring for to aid.

If then, here are a few tips to help:

• Tell the dr. virtually the person's current and by wellness issues.
• Create a "health journal" in a notebook for the person you are caring for and bring it to doctor's appointments.
• Tell the doctor about whatever medicine the person is currently taking. Bring the medicines to the appointment or create a list of all of them. Include information about when and how oftentimes the person yous are caring for takes the medicine. You should also write down the forcefulness of the medicine (for example, does the person you are caring for take 150 mg or 200 mg?).
• Tell the doctor most any noticeable side effects the person y'all are caring for has from the medicine(s).
• Don't be afraid to inquire questions.

As a caregiver, y'all may have to be more involved in the person's medical needs. If you lot have a child under the age of 18 who has an intellectual or developmental inability, you volition make all of the medical decisions. When your child becomes an adult, he or she may need someone appointed to make his or her medical decisions. This will accept to be declared in a legal document called a "durable power of attorney" for medical decisions. The certificate allows that person to make wellness intendance decisions for the patient. The appointed person should talk to the doctor about handling decisions and end-of-life care for the patient. The physician should write these decisions in the patient's medical chart.

Talk with your loved one'due south md to detect local resources that help the person you lot are caring for go the social services he or she needs to have a meaningful life in your community. This would include housing, employment, transportation, educational activity, and wellness care.

Things to Consider

Being a caregiver can be very stressful for you and on your other relationships. Common signs of caregiver stress include the post-obit:

• Feeling sad or moody.
• Crying more ofttimes than you used to.
• Having a depression energy level.
• Feeling like you don't have whatsoever time to yourself.
• Having trouble sleeping or not wanting to go out of bed in the morning time.
• Having problem eating or eating too much.
• Losing interest in your hobbies or the things y'all used to do with friends or family unit.
• Feeling aroused at the person you are caring for.

Feeling overwhelmed and stressed is natural. These feelings are not wrong or strange. Because being a caregiver is hard, some doctors think of caregivers every bit "hidden patients." If you don't accept care of yourself and stay well, you won't exist able to assist anyone else.

Talk with your family unit physician about your feelings. Stay in touch on with your friends and family unit members. Ask them for assist in giving care. Asking for assistance doesn't brand you a failure. Look for help in your community. You may go advice and referrals from your religious community or area agencies, if they have services or volunteers who can help. Sometimes, they tin provide families with respite (rest or relief) intendance. Some places may fifty-fifty host an evening of fun for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. This gives caregivers the night off to enjoy time to themselves.

Questions to Inquire Your Doctor

• Do people with intellectual or developmental disabilities accept more physical issues?
• Can a person with intellectual or developmental disabilities quality for Medicaid?
• Will existence a caregiver affect my physical wellness?
• What if I tin no longer be a caregiver? Where should I become for help?

Resources

The Arc: A Leader in Disability Rights

Centers for Affliction Control and Prevention: Developmental Disabilities

U.S. National Library of Medicine, Medline Plus: Developmental Disabilities

Copyright © American Academy of Family unit Physicians

This information provides a general overview and may non employ to anybody. Talk to your family doc to find out if this information applies to you lot and to get more information on this subject.

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Source: https://familydoctor.org/caring-for-a-person-who-has-intellectual-or-developmental-disabilities/

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