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103.13 Special Needs Populations
Kinship caregivers, family caregivers and people with disabilities
Your materials
Slides (PowerPoint) Handout (Word)
For instructors
Facilitator guide Printable pre and post tests Quiz (LMS import)
What you will learn
- Describe the strengths and needs of grandparents raising grandchildren
- Recognize caregiver stress and connect caregivers to respite and support
- Explain ADA basics and Ohio's developmental disabilities system
- Use respectful person-first and identity-first language
Start here
Who in your family has stepped in to raise a child or care for an elder? What did it cost them, and what did it give them?
Lesson
Grandfamilies and kinship care
Kinship care means relatives or close family friends raising a child.
- A family strength: Kin keep children connected to family, culture, faith and neighborhood. This is a long tradition in our communities.
- Money strain: Many kin caregivers are on fixed incomes and take on a child without warning or planning.
- Legal questions: School enrollment, medical consent and benefits can depend on custody or legal paperwork.
- Big feelings: Children may carry grief or trauma. Grandparents may feel tired, isolated and worried about the future.
Caring for the caregiver
Caregivers of aging parents or loved ones often forget themselves.
- Notice the strain: Ask about sleep, health, mood, money, and time for themselves.
- Take regular breaks: The CDC says regular breaks, not rare ones, help caregivers keep going.
- Find respite care: In-home help, adult day programs or short stays give caregivers time off.
- Share the load: A shared calendar lets family, church and friends sign up for tasks.
- Tell their own doctor: Caregivers should tell their provider they are caregivers and keep their own checkups.
Disability: rights and supports
| What | Plain words |
|---|---|
| Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) | Federal civil rights law against disability discrimination |
| Reasonable accommodation | A change that gives equal access, like a ramp |
| Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities | State agency overseeing services for people with DD |
| County board of DD | Local office for eligibility, service coordination and supports |
| Early Intervention | Free help for children under 3 with delays |
Respectful language about disability
Person-first examples
- A person with a disability
- A child with autism
- A man who uses a wheelchair
- A woman who is blind
Identity-first examples
- A disabled person
- An autistic child
- A Deaf person, in the Deaf community
- Ask what each person prefers
Upstream: a grandmother at her limit
- What we see: Ms. Harris, 68, in Hough is raising three grandchildren. Her blood pressure is up and she missed her own doctor visits.
- Why it happens (upstream): Her daughter's addiction, a fixed Social Security income, no custody papers for school forms, and few kinship supports nearby.
- What we can build on (assets): Her church, a kinship support group, legal aid, the children's school counselor, a neighbor who babysits, and Ms. Harris's deep faith.
Situation: the son who cannot get a break
Situation: In Parma, Luis cares for his mother, who has dementia, while working full time. He snaps at you on the phone, then apologizes, saying he has not slept a full night in months.
What do you say and do?
- Listen without taking it personally
- Ask how he is doing, not only his mother
- Share respite and adult day options
- Check his safety and mood; 988 is there for caregivers too
Talk it over
- How have families in our communities cared for each other across generations?
- What barriers do people with disabilities face in our neighborhoods?
- What disability language did you grow up with that you want to change?
Study sheet
The big idea: Kin caregivers, family caregivers and people with disabilities are community strengths who deserve rights, respect and real support.
Key points
- Kinship caregivers keep children connected to family and culture, but often face money, legal and health strain.
- Caregivers need regular breaks; respite care, shared calendars and support groups help them keep going.
- Ask caregivers about their own health, sleep and mood, not only the person they care for.
- The ADA is a civil rights law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination.
- In Ohio, county boards of developmental disabilities connect people to eligibility and services.
- Ask whether a person prefers person-first or identity-first language, and follow their lead.
Remember
- ADA passed in 1990
- Respite: even a few hours a week helps caregivers
- Children under 3 with delays: Help Me Grow Early Intervention
- 988 is for caregivers in crisis too
Ask yourself
- Who in my life is a caregiver, and how could I support them?
- Do I ask people how they describe themselves before I describe them?
Vocabulary
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Kinship care | When relatives or close family friends raise a child whose parents cannot. |
| Grandfamily | A family where grandparents or other relatives are raising children. |
| Family caregiver | An unpaid family member or friend who helps a person with daily needs or health care. |
| Respite care | Short-term care that gives a caregiver time off, like adult day programs or in-home help. |
| Caregiver burnout | Physical and emotional exhaustion from the long-term stress of caregiving. |
| Disability | A condition that limits some activities; it may be physical, intellectual, sensory or mental health related. |
| Developmental disability | A lifelong disability that starts in childhood and affects learning, movement, language or daily living. |
| ADA | The Americans with Disabilities Act, a 1990 federal law against disability discrimination. |
| Reasonable accommodation | A change to a place or practice that gives a person with a disability equal access. |
| Person-first language | Naming the person before the disability, such as a person with autism. |
| Identity-first language | Naming disability as part of identity, such as an autistic person, when the person prefers it. |
Real-life situations
School forms and no custody papers
Mr. Jenkins in Glenville has taken in his 7-year-old granddaughter. The school is asking for paperwork he does not have, and he is not sure what benefits she can get.
What to do
- Thank him for stepping up and ask what he needs most
- Connect him to Ohio's kinship navigator services and a kinship support group
- Refer him to legal aid for custody or caretaker paperwork questions
- Help him check the child's eligibility for Medicaid and food help
Why: Kinship caregivers often need legal and benefit help fast. The CHW connects and follows up but does not give legal advice.
Getting services for an adult son
Mrs. Patel in Euclid has an adult son with an intellectual disability. She is aging and worries about who will help him after she cannot.
What to do
- Listen to her worry and honor her years of care
- Explain that the county board of developmental disabilities helps with services and planning
- Help her contact the board and prepare questions
- Include her son in conversations about his own future
Why: County boards of DD coordinate services, and people with disabilities have the right to take part in decisions about their lives.
The clinic with no ramp
Mr. Brooks uses a wheelchair. He tells you he missed his appointment because the community clinic in Lorain had steps and no working ramp.
What to do
- Listen and thank him for telling you
- With his consent, tell the clinic manager about the barrier
- Help him reschedule and ask about an accessible entrance
- Share that the ADA requires equal access, and tell your supervisor
Why: Advocating for access, with the client's consent, is a core CHW role and an upstream fix.
Activity: Caregiver support plan
About 20 minutes.
- Choose one caregiver from a situation in this module.
- List three tasks others could share and who in the community could help.
- Find one respite or support option in your county and confirm its contact information.
- Write two questions you would ask the caregiver about their own health.
- Share your plan with a partner.
Post-test
Ten questions. You need 75% to pass, with one retake. Your result is saved in this browser.
Sources
- CDC, Caring for Yourself When Caring for Another
- CDC, Caregiving
- Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Help Me Grow referral
- U.S. Department of Justice, A Guide to Disability Rights Laws (ADA.gov archive)
- Ohio Administrative Code 5123-4-01, Administration and operation of county boards of developmental disabilities
- Cuyahoga County, Board of Developmental Disabilities
- OhioKAN Kinship and Adoption Navigator, Our Program
- IRIS Center, Vanderbilt University, Disability-Related Language
- Alzheimer's Association, Respite Care