PERSONAL CARE OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
While behavior problems are the first concern that parents with disabilities tell us about, personal care is the second issue mentioned.
What is personal care? In general, personal care includes assistance with such tasks as bathing, using the toilet, dressing, teeth brushing and dressing. It also includes assistance with exercise, walking, and transferring whether it be in and out of a vehicle, in and out of a bed or a bathtub. Feeding and administration of medications are other examples of personal care for children.
Other types of personal care may include training programs to help people with developmental disabilities achieve more independence; and light housekeeping, cooking, grocery shopping, and transportation, if associated with medical services. The latter services are usually provided for older adults. As our focus in this section of the workshop is on children, we will only address the types of personal care that could apply to all ages, that is, bathing, toileting, personal hygiene and similar types of care. We do discuss other services in our workshops on adulthood and on aging.
First, do no harm. That is the beginning of the oath taken by physicians, and we thought it was worth repeating here, since personal care involves much of the types of care that nurses may provide in hospitals, but now you are doing it at home. While most family members probably don't think about infection control when they care for a relative, it is important. Did you ever notice how families of small children often seem to have one illness after another, even among the parents - first the flu, then colds, then it's something else.
To learn about precautions to prevent infection, please click here.