Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Cara – Intellectual disabilities, sharing and expressing about grief

Cara discusses how it’s very important that people living with intellectual disabilities have the opportunity to not only know about the information about the person being ill and dying and having the choice and opportunity to go to after death rituals. It’s also really important that they get the opportunity to share their story in whatever way they communicate. This can be verbally through sign language, through communication books, art, music, going for walks, being in nature

Michele – Covid and support

Michele defines expressive arts and how they can help healing in griefMIchele talks about COVID restrictions, technology and ways to support

Jean – What grief feels like physically

Jean discusses the physical effects she has experienced in grief

Michele – My Story

MIchele talks about her multiple losses starting from when she was very young

Jacqueline – Art therapy and grieving women

Jacqueline explains how helping connect to the heart and reslience with art therapy can be very helpful

Corrie – Pandemic of grief

Corrie discusses how much grief there is

Madelyn – Accept what you are feeling

Madelyn talks about how it’s ok to not be ok.

Maureen – “Our 20th Anniversary”

Maureen talks about she dealt with her miscarriages and how she felt after 20 years.

Alongside

That is also our best, and only role, when supporting a person with a developmental disability to grieve. We must be the one that comes alongside. There is no closer place we can get to. We must be present, be with, perhaps not understanding or comprehending what the person we support is experiencing, but alongside them nonetheless. We must be there, ready to provide whatever we can discover of their unique need in grief.

Jean – Be good to yourself

Jean shares about support and not being hard on yourself

Janice – “Crying”

Janice explains how crying helps physically and emotionally.

Keith – “Hope”

Keith talks about time, healing and hope.