AS:041 Home Alone

Welcome to the Accessibility Solutions Podcast, hosted by Linda Hunt, an award winning accessibility consultant, speaker, and author. With over 30 years experience in senior management rules and indeed passion for creating inclusive environments, Linda brings us unmatched expertise and credibility to our discussions. Join us as we explore the Transformative Power of accessibility and inclusion in today's world. Through captivating conversations, Linda shares her wealth of knowledge, provides practical solutions, and sheds light on the latest trends and investments in the field. Whether you're a business owner or disability advocate, or simply curious about the world of accessibility, this podcast is your go to resource. Get ready to unlock new perspectives, breakdown barriers, and embark on a journey of empowerment. Are you ready to create a more inclusive world? Let's begin! Welcome to the Accessibility Solutions Podcast.

Hi there, and thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the Accessibility Solutions podcast. For all my listeners, I hope you know how much I appreciate you tuning in to hear the stories that we've got to tell and some educational information regarding accessibility in the world and all the inspiring stories. Today, what I want to talk to you about is a personal story of mine. So we've called this episode Home Alone. And as you can imagine when you think of home alone, a lot of people think of their 18 or teenage children and kind of the planning that goes into leaving them home alone either overnight or for a weekend. I know when my kids were getting to that age, you know, we had to make sure that there was somebody to check in on them and that they had everything they needed in terms of food and emergency numbers and somewhere to go if they needed to and how to reach us and all of that kind of stuff. So planning that goes into leaving a teenager or p teen home alone. What I wanna talk to you about today is the concept of me being home alone. And so for those of you who know I am a power wheelchair user and pretty much require a caregiver to be on site with me 24/7. So my husband goes fishing once a week, sorry, once a year in October with his friends. And so in order for me to be home alone Sunday through Thursday or Friday when I go back down to the cottage where he's fishing, you can well imagine that the same amount of planning for a person with a disability is required. And when we talk about planning, it's not just who's going to be there to get me up and get me dressed in the morning, which is what I have a normal attendant to help me with and my activities of daily living to kind of get me ready for the day, but also, you know, what's gonna happen in the evening and the evening can be is everything from I've got to make sure that someone's turned the lamps on in the living room, that the TV remote is somewhere that I can reach it, that my dinner is planned out and it's something that I can either prepare or put in the microwave, if it's something that I have to prepare, are the plates down as the silverware, oats, All of that, you know, kind of planning that goes into just me being able to have supper alone without my husband home with me. And then the other planning that we have to do is making arrangements to have an attendant come back in the evening later in the evening to put me to bed, which is something that my husband does every day. He is the one that gets me ready for bed and puts me into bed at night. And so that planning is also something that we have to take into account. So I usually start, he goes away for a week in October and usually around the beginning of August, I actually start planning out who's going to be coming, when. And we have kind of a list of all of the things that we need to make sure are organized and happening every day so that I'm not sitting in the dark, I don't have any supper ready or I can't reach a plate out of the cupboard, for example. And so starting in August, you know, we do all of that planning and that's just for me to be home alone one week in October. But let me explain why that is so important. As you can imagine, my husband is my primary caregiver. He is on duty 365 days of the year. And what's so very important about him being able to have this week to go fishing is the fact that it's a break for him. And so now I wanna talk about, you know, not so much why it's important for me to do all of the planning so that I'm able to be home alone, but as a full time caregiver of a, in his case, his spouse with a disability, it's so very important for caregivers to be able to take that break, for them to be able to recharge, for them to be able to be, for lack of a better word, off duty in his case for a week, and also for him to enjoy something that he really like to do, which is fishing with the guys. And I think the important takeaway from this is not so much that sure there's a lot of planning to go into it, but the fact that how important it is for caregivers, regardless of who they are and who they take care of, whether they're paid caregivers or whether they are looking after a family member, to make sure that they are looking after themselves. And as the saying goes, when you're on an aircraft, you've got to put your own oxygen mask on first before you assist with someone else. And this is an example of him being able to put on his own oxygen mask, take care of himself, do something that he really enjoys and to get a break. And I think that everybody that has a caregiver is well aware of the sacrifices that those caregivers give on a daily basis year round. As I said, 365 days a year. So for five days to be able to take a break and not have those responsibilities and know that everything is going to be okay because we've looked after all of the details in order for him to be away and for me to still be able to continue with my regular routine, then that is just so very important. So if you take away anything from this episode of Linda being home alone, it really is that if you're a caregiver, then make sure you put on your own oxygen mask first and that you do practice some safe care. Do not feel guilty about taking this any time that you do, even if it's an afternoon or in this case, if it's a week long getaway to do something for you. And I can tell you, as the person with a disability that does rely so much on my husband as my caregiver, I would do all of this work tenfold if it was something that I could do to allow him to be able to enjoy that time. And so although it takes a lot of planning, it also gives me a sense of independence that, yes, in fact, I can do this. Yes, in fact, I can stay home alone for a week by myself. So the takeaway here is that there's a lot of planning that goes into a person with a disability and making the arrangements for them to be home alone or without their regular caregiver. The other takeaway here is how important it is for a caregiver to be allowed to have the time to take a break, to look after themselves and in fact, to put on their own oxygen mask first. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Accessibility Solutions podcast, and until next time, cheers!

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