J

9 years ago my daughters first child was born with Down Syndrome, i have been very involved with his upbringing and his needs, he also has torrents syndrome and is not very verbal, so together we are learning sign. I also work with him when he has high anxiety and find ways of making him feel calm, via music and art therapy which i also studied. 8 years ago my father came to stay from the UK for a holiday during this time he had a severe stroke which caused him Aphasia and some complicated cognitive impairments. I was told he would never talk or read again. I straight away started reading and researching and found a site in America that has an App, we worked on this together as soon as he went into rehab and it worked. The rehabilitation person commended the efforts and uses the app now with her patients. I taught my dad to dress himself shower and shave, he also had a stoma, so i took a course and became confident in this. One year later he had another stroke and i was confident and knew what to do, i recognised the signs and acted promptly, dad had very little lasting effects, it did progress his dementia. My father was a educated man with numerous degrees and not being able to read they way he could in the past, which caused him anxiety and he felt lonely and hopeless. To help with this i done a short course in music therapy and found this worked wonders with him. Being outdoors was on of his favourite things i would plan and go on walks with him in the beautiful Dandenong's opening his eyes to nature worked wonders for his mood and his self being. My father also suffered with a heart attack and epilepsy. He was 79 when he passed away and i feel these past eight years have given me skills that i want to pass on to others, i understand the loneliness, the effects ageing has on the body, including Dementia, along with various medical and limiting disabilities, and i want to bring some joy to people with the skills i have obtained. I currently run classes in Laughter Therapy and i am happy to use these skills with anyone i have the pleasure of working with. Laughter releases endorphins the happy hormone, and is a very holistic way of helping people who find it hard to cope with everyday life. Its known to help with Pain and self being, using Maslow's Theory to concentrate on the specific need of the person and to help them with coping skills. I love being creative and happy to share this, i am not bad at drawing and painting. i love walking and hiking, i love the outdoors. I enjoy nature. I am pretty good with the computer and have good skills in Excel, Powerpoint, Word etc.