It's already tough being a primary caretaker for your sibling, but it's nice to have a caregiver because we still deserve to live our lives too.  And also have income.  Listen to Susan's scary stories about finding the caregiver right for her situation because it was tough. 

In this episode we talk about:

• Check out the previous episode to hear about Susan’s brother and his disability

• Reference to Cheryl’s episode (check out episode 11)

• Getting services for her brother and her very long battle with the process

• You don’t have to take the first caretaker that you’re given, it’s a meet and greet 

• Going through LOTS of people and horror stories before finding the right caretaker for her brother

• When the fit is right with the caretaker, there is a family integration

• “Spyware” is helpful in certain situations

• Her advice to fellow siblings to be aware of the level of commitment if they’re considering taking their sibling in under the same roof

• Guardianship and medical insurance

• Reflecting back on her mom 

• Laughing about things in retrospect (obviously not funny in real time)

• “Today is going to be the best day” and also letting go of who are siblings used to be versus who they are now

• Having a support network for us

• The importance of transition programs

• Susan’s encouragement to fellow siblings (plus some for parents)

More Info:

• Check out the blog and contact Charlene here: https://thespecialneedssiblingpodcast.com/

• Get episode updates directly to your inbox: https://www.thespecialneedssiblingpodcast.com/newsletter

• Support the podcast on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thespecialneedssiblingpodcast

Music by:

• AlexGrohl from Pixabay

• QubeSounds from Pixabay