Video

Cara – Grief and intellectual disabilities is a topic that needs to “get out there”

Cara shares some information from a participant in her research on intellectual disabilities and the bereaved. A person with an intellectual disability said… “Grief: It’s a topic that needs to get out there” Grief is something that so many people are hesitant to talk about, to display, to show, because there’s so many social rules around how we grieve. This is particularily challenging for the intellectually disabled.

Andrea – Couples versus being single

Andrea talks about becoming single when her husband died

Maureen – “Carrying grief”

Maureen gives an analogy of how hard it is to carry griefMaureen gives an analogy of how hard it is to carry grief.

Betsy – Adoption and grief

Betsy tell her story of losing her adopted son to cancer

Claudia – Defining an art therapist

Claudia talks about art therapy as a form of psycho therapy

Susan – “How love changes”

Susan discusses the concept of how love changes and the role of the dying spouse.

Jane – Sitting in our feelings

Jane – Sitting in our feelings

Jane shares how she has learned to be more present in her feelings while grieving during the pandemic.

Cara – Intellectual disabilities and advance planning

Cara explains that people living with intellectual disabilities are growing to older ages, much like the rest of the population. And as folks are aging what we’re seeing is the need for families more so than ever, to do some advanced planning for who will take over any caregiving decision making or where that person may live, what sort of support they may need and what that’s going to look like after the parents or the guardians die so that this doesn’t become a crisis situation.

Russell – “Need to talk”

Russell talks about both mothers and fathers having needs. Russell continues to grieve the perinatal death of his son.

Susan – “Looking for answers”

Susan talks about the concept of a good death.

Jordin Tootoo – “We Matter Campaign”

Jordin talks about the death of his brother and how he deals with it.

Madelyn – Holding space

Madelyn explains how holding space can help anyone in grief