THE CAREGIVING EFFECT PROJECT

 

 

We are not alone. There are approximately 16.7 million adult-child family caregivers according to Caregiving in the U.S. 2015. It is my mission to build a movement dedicated to adult children who have been caregivers to their parent(s).  I believe it is crucial we change the conversation from pain/defeat to sharing what we are learning about ourselves from the caregiving experience. It is beneficial for us and for the generations following.  In communicating how our experience has shaped us, it can serve a purpose that extends in many ways: it can be healing, create community, serve as a way to mentor others and educate society. Please join me in submitting your picture and caption for this project. Someone may see your picture and read your caption and have their spirits lifted and feel supported.

 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

 

Picture: Please submit a square image of yourself- a close-up image that shows you outdoors. The dimensions of the image should be 1080 x 1080 pixels. A pic that is high resolution is best. If you are not sure of the size of your pic, please submit and I’ll do my best to fit it with the dimensions allowed.

 

Caption: Please fill out the highlighted sections below. I have included an example of my submission as a template that may assist you. Please try to limit your caption to 250 words, if possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEMPLATE:

 

 

Meet Priya : She was a caregiver for her father during the 12 years that he had a neurological condition. @priyasoni #thecaregivingeffect #storiesinfullcolor  

 

6 Word Story: How It's All Served Me: Through the noise, purpose was born.

 

One Challenge: In my father's last few years of his life, he had speech aphasia which is a communication disorder affecting his ability to speak. Because of this, it became challenging in understanding his needs. I remember one time he was trying to tell us to turn the dishwasher off so he could enjoy a little television. It took us an hour to figure out that was all he wanted. An hour. I was deeply saddened and transformed by that. This incident set me on a path to figure out how I could best assist him. I remember thinking I can and had to make something out of this crisis and that is what I did. That was the only plausible choice.

 

How It Shaped Me: I started to think about what ways I could help him quickly. I have a background in American Sign Language. So I decided to make a list of all the words that my Dad used most often. One day, my father and I sat down and we went through the words and discovered the signs that he was able to form with his hands. And we changed the signs he could not form-- it was our own language.