Spread good, not germs has become my rallying cry for the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak. You may be wondering what good you have to offer when your days have been devoted to caring for your child with special needs and disabilities for a long time.
As it turns out, your role as a caregiver has prepared you for the COVID-19 outbreak.
You have already completed crash courses in infection control, social distancing, dealing with doctors and insurance companies on the phone, family togetherness, homework supervision, virtual relationships, and more. You’ve been doing this stuff so long, it’s second nature to you. Therefore, you have expertise to share with families struggling to adapt to a new normal.
Even so, you may not realize what you have to offer.
I’d like to point out 6 ways your caregiving experience has prepared to you spread good, not germs until this COVID-19 business settles down.
-
Spread kindness. Many times since COVID-19 hit the scene, my patience has been strained by people complaining about how hard social distancing is. I’d like to tell them to put on their big girl panties and stop whining. But then I remember how much the kindness of others meant after our son’s diagnosis–encouraging cards, offers of help, money given. The list goes on and on. Our country’s present circumstances are an opportunity for caregiving families to control our natural instincts and choose to pay forward the kindness we’ve been shown.
-
Spread reassurance. Now is our chance to speak true reassurance to families who haven’t experienced hardship before. We can’t say everything will be okay. We have no idea if that’s true. But we can reassure people that we care about them, that they are stronger than they think, and that they have untapped reserves of creativity waiting to be unleashed.
Source: Special Needs Parenting- Key Ministry
