Trusting your child to the care of someone other than a family member is a big step, no question about it. For some, it can be a leap of faith, especially if you’re way too analytic and meticulous like I am.

I have to be honest. I’m never really 100% confident ALL the time that Ben is OK with his caregiver. It gets really close to 100% but it’s never quite there. How could it? They’re not there 24/7 like I am.

But do I worry that something “bad” could happen? Definitely not.

So is it a question of trust? Sometimes, because everyone can have a bad day.

So why do we leave Ben in the care of others?

Well, for lots of reasons. First, he doesn’t want me or Jan in his face all the time. He’s an adult now and no adult wants their parents in their space much of the time. Even if he were younger, he deserves his freedom and independence just as much as anyone. There is no difference there.

Second, because Jan and I can’t do it all the...

It will probably happen sooner or later. The Caregiver you’ve hired to support you and your child will leave. It may be on your terms or on their terms. And it may end badly.

Sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it. Sometimes you don’t even see it coming. Regardless of the reason, you are still left feeling hurt, vulnerable, even angry. You also can feel violated and cheated since the person who was there to help you and your child just get through the day has seemingly abandoned you, and now you’re on your own, again.

Make no mistake. Your Caregiver’s job is hard work. It is both physically and emotionally demanding. The hours are often long. There can be the stress of health events, seizures, emergencies, behaviourial issues, getting yelled at, and not feeling valued. And it’s often the case that your Caregiver is not paid an appropriate wage to meet the demands of the job.

Given all of these factors, it’s not surprising that things...

Figuring out when you should bring a caregiver into your life to support you and your child is not easy. If you’ve never hired anyone before, a lot of questions can swirl around in your head and actually prevent you from making that decision.

Questions like, “Can I afford it?”, “Where do I find the right person?”, “How can I trust someone to care for my child?”

The other factor that gets in our way is that few of us truly like change. And as a parent of a child with a disability, you’ve already experienced so much disruption in your life, you don’t want to cause any more by bringing in a caregiver, even though your life may not be in a good place. Most families become so immersed in the day-to-day things, in the weeds of their lives (because they have little choice), that it is difficult to step back and see what’s really going on.

Believe me, I’ve been there.

However, what is also true is that, as parents, we can't...

When Ben was born, we were told he would never walk, talk, or go to school. At the time, I couldn’t imagine what that meant. I couldn’t imagine how we could live in world that might require 24-hour care. What I’ve come to understand is that this world is more difficult than I thought it would be. But it has also become an important part of my life. Having lasted 24 years, I guess you could say we have somehow figured out how to survive in this ever-changing world.

One Saturday, a few months ago, when it was just me and Ben (Jan was at work), I decided to log every minute of the day to see what 24-hour care actually looked like.

That day began at 9:10am when the home phone rang. I deliberately didn’t answer it. This was my day to “sleep in” since most days begin at 6:30am. I wanted to experience what eight hours of sleep felt like. But with Ben awakening at 4:00am for some unknown reason, just long enough to get...