Message From our Families to Yours COVID-19

Rhonda: [00:00:00] Hi, I hope y’all are all doing well. We just wanted to send you all a message from our families at Kentucky SPIN to yours. I think during this important time, it’s good for us all to know that we’re here for one another and we don’t have all the answers. I know that during this Corona virus the unanswered questions a lot of times are what I have the hardest trouble with. Our family, you know, I worry about my mom and my brother who are in the very high risk category. But the thing here is. All of us are at risk. I have saw over the weeks that, the Corona virus does not discriminate.

So I hope that this message finds you well in the message from our other families here at Kentucky SPIN. One of the things that, I have just honestly struggled with, I’m normally a fixer. And you know that we all have different roles within our families, [00:01:00] with our friends or at work. And I guess the hardest trouble I’m having is cause I know what to do when I can fix everything.

I’m a problem solver. And a lot of it there is no way to fix it other than us all working together to try to do the best we can and help one another. With kindness and really looking out for one another. So please know that, you know, it’s not an easy road for any of us, and you’re not alone, although we may feel very isolated, you know, we’re all in this together.

So I hope you enjoy the message from our other families here at Kentucky. SPIN. One of the things too, before I go, my son and I, he’s in high school. He’s 15 years old. One of the things that we’ve been doing that has really helped is, we have been getting outside and in the evenings throwing the football, even if I got in late from doing work and it was already turning dark, we still, we weren’t the best in the dark, but we had fun. It was a [00:02:00] moment to escape from everything. Another thing that, I’ve found that is really helped  me is the people in your life, you know, that are so important that you could just sit with and feel better with, even if you all aren’t talking.

Take those time to enjoy those moments. I know we may not be able to be face to face, but you could facetime them, call over the phone. Just take those moments because those are the moments that are going to help us to get through this. So with love from all of us here at Kentucky SPIN, from our families to yours. I hope you all are well and, please enjoy the message from our others. Thanks. Bye bye.

Stella: [00:02:38] Hey everybody, it’s Stella Beard with Kentucky SPIN.

Clayton: [00:02:41] And I’m Clayton Carol.

Stella: [00:02:43] We just wanted just to share with you all just a few minutes just to let you know what, how we’re handling, being kind of inside for a longer period of time than normal because of the COVID-19 virus and also just some of the stuff that we’re doing [00:03:00] to, try to get through this.

Clayton had many speaking engagements. That he had scheduled, that he’s not going to be able to go to now. So we’re just trying to think of different ways that we can still reach the community. So we’re going to do some live videos from his Facebook page just to get him still connected out in the community.

And those are some of the things that we’re doing to keep Clayton involved. He’s not able to go to work right now

Clayton: [00:03:25] Or school.

Or school.

Stella: [00:03:26] He volunteers at the high school here. He’s not able to do that. So we’ve really had to make some adjustments. So we just wanted to reach out to you today to families who have children with intellectual developmental disabilities or young adults with disabilities.

Just try to think of other things that they can stay connected doing, getting outside and, and just enjoying the farm. Don’t we have a beautiful farm?

Clayton: [00:03:51] Yes, we love our farm, and I think, well, my favorite thing about our farm here is just we have a lot of [00:04:00] neighbors that really support us and we just love our, we just love living here.

And, and, this is, this is home.

Stella: [00:04:10] That’s right. And then some of the stuff you’ve been given too is getting out and walking the dogs and enjoying the weather.

Clayton: [00:04:17] Yes that’s fun.

Stella: [00:04:17] And just, you know, even though it’s been kind of gloomy today actually was beautiful. So making that extra time to get out, enjoy the beautiful weather that hopefully we’ll have soon, but just to get a little bit of fresh air.

I think that’s really important for us, for all our families right now.

Clayton: [00:04:33] And a big shout out to our Frankfort governor, Andy Beshear.

Stella: [00:04:37] He’s doing a great job, isn’t he?

Clayton: [00:04:39] Thank you for everything that you’ve been doing, Andy Beshear.

Stella: [00:04:42] Thanks so much guys. And don’t forget, I mean, just hang tight. We’re going to get through this.

Clayton: [00:04:47] That’s right.

Michaela: [00:04:49] Hi y’all. I’m Michaela with Kentucky SPIN and I just wanted to check in with our families, and let y’all know a little bit about how we’re doing here at home with social distancing, and staying healthy [00:05:00] at home in Kentucky. Like I said, I’m Michaela and I have a 12 year old son with autism. So a lot of things have changed in our house since everything’s been shut down.

We have no therapies or social skills groups. School’s been let out. So we’ve had a lot of changes. This is Caleb.

Caleb: [00:05:19] It’s great. I get to play with the dogs all day.

Michaela: [00:05:23] Caleb having autism is not a big fan of social interaction. And so this has been a dream come true for him not to have to get out and go into those crowds.

So we’re pretty excited about some of the changes. And then with therapies being shut down, we’re still trying to find ways to work on those things at home. So we’ve been writing thank you notes to our teachers and healthcare workers to work on social skills and empathy as well as handwriting skills and occupational therapy things.

And then we’ve also been working on, cooking cause that’s one of Caleb’s favorite things to do. So we’re trying out new recipes and of course playing with the [00:06:00] dogs, one of Caleb’s favorite things to do. So we just wanted to share a little bit with you about how we’re getting through these tough times and we hope that you are too. You say, bye Caleb?

Caleb: [00:06:10] Bye.

Kellie: [00:06:12] Hi everybody. This is Kellie Smith from Kentucky SPIN. And I just wanted to say hello to you and talk to you for just a minute about how my family is doing right now in the midst of the chaos and calm. We’re not doing great. It’s been an adjustment. Although I work from home, I do a lot of traveling with my job. I do a lot of trainings. and so I’ve not been out of the house. I think I’ve been out of the house maybe three times in three weeks, and that was, you know, just going to the grocery and, and doing regular things like everyone [00:07:00] else.

I have a two year old granddaughter that I’m helping raise. And so having a toddler cooped up in the house, has been very, interesting, for lack of better word. Who is also going a little stair crazy, as I’m sure most of you can relate to your kiddos. I’m finding it really, really difficult not being able to see my family.

I have weekly meals with my mother and grandmother and not being able to do that has been extremely hard for all of us. Another issue that I’m finding is that, my self-care strategies that I have always used, especially in times of chaos and turmoil. They’re not working for me right now. I don’t know if anybody else having that situation, but it’s like I’m going to have to find a whole new self-care [00:08:00] routine that works for me so that I don’t lose it [ laughing ] , I would say, again, like the majority of you. Everyone’s healthy, everyone’s safe. I hope this message finds you all exactly the same. But I just want you to know if you’re not okay, it’s okay. It. It’s really okay. It’s okay to say I’m really struggling with this. One thing that I can say that I am doing is I am certainly taking all of my meds when I’m supposed to every day, because I need that.

And, I need that I think now more than ever. And then, like I said, just trying to find a new way, for self-care and maybe new ways [00:09:00] to engage with my family, outside of sitting in front of the TV. I can say there’ve been a lot more conversations, a lot more family dinners. Which I’m so thankful for. So I guess when I referred to the calm and the chaos, those dinners, those conversations, those are the calm. And those are the good things that I believe that we can all take away from this. And, we’re looking for ways to help other people. So if you know of anyone who has the need, let me know, shoot me an email. Or if you see a situation that isn’t being addressed that Kentucky SPIN can help with, let us know, we are here for you. And. Together. We’ll get through it. Bye.

Ian: [00:09:51] Hey guys, it’s Ian here with Kentucky SPIN. I’m a contractor for them and I wanted to share a little bit about how I’ve been struggling with some [00:10:00] of the things with the Corona virus and how I’ve tried to work through those things.

One of the things that’s been a real struggle is just kind of whenever I am out and about. All the social distancing and everything, you know, empty parking lots, seeing, vacant stores, you know, just, it just feels different. And it’s hard to get used to, just not a lot of people around. When you do see people, everyone’s trying to social distance, which is a good thing.

And so you’re not seeing a lot of people together. And that’s just a weird phenomenon in itself. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen that, as long as I’ve been alive. So one of the things that I’ve try to do to help with that is control the things that we can control, right? So staying informed as much as we can.

So that’s if you tune into, whoever, whatever news source you get your news from, tuning into that and try to stay as informed as you can. The CDC [00:11:00] is like the whole medical community. And so, I like to go to them because those are the medical professionals that basically are telling us what to do, and how to help. But you can go to wherever you prefer to go. Another thing is to stay in touch with your loved ones, even if it’s through FaceTime or Skype or on the phone. Trying to check on those, especially the ones that are most vulnerable to the virus. That’s something that is definitely helpful and I would recommend, and that has helped me a lot.

Just, you know, calling and check in on my mom who’s older, and making sure she’s okay and that they have everything they need. My neighbor is older and has had some health issues and she actually the other day needed some toilet paper. Well, she just saw me walking in the door with mine and was like, you know, how did you get that?

Where’d you get that from? And, I said, Oh, they, they got some right now, at Kroger, but I know that it’s kind of hard for her to move around. So I just went ahead, ripped it open and gave her a couple [00:12:00] roles. Stuff like that. Being a good neighbor, checking on people, making sure that people are okay, that they have what they need.

You know, I’ve got one of those big things of toilet paper I didn’t really need all those roles in there. I mean, I’m sure over time, maybe, but you know, I believe that toilet paper will be in stock again. So, you know, I went ahead and gave her two rolls. And that’s another tip too. You know, only take what you need.

So when you’re going shopping and you’re getting different supplies, just take what you need for a week. It’s tempting to, to get as much as you can, you know? But that is going to hurt the person that comes behind you, that needs some stuff too. So that’s something I try to think about. Another thing that I do is with, you know, struggling through this, pour that energy that I would pour into social avenues, so, you know, going to the movies or hanging out with friends or, you know, going different places, doing different things like that. One of the things I think is helpful is take that energy in, and pour into some things that maybe were [00:13:00] neglected, or maybe you didn’t have time to spend time on beforehand.

So this is stuff like maybe working on yourself. You know, for me it’s been organization. I’ve had a chance to kind of go through cabinets, go through bookcases shelves, et cetera, et cetera, and kind of cleaned them out and really organize things well to really keep myself, you know, focus and keep myself in a good space, in a good working space.

I’m still able to work from home. And that’s a good thing. And so I’m trying to just stay on top of that and keep things, you know, in the right place. Another thing is, you know, for an example. Is if you have any projects or any hobbies that you haven’t done in a while, or, you know, spending extra time with those loved ones when maybe you couldn’t before.

This is a good time to do that. We have this increase of time that we’re at home, staying healthy at home, and so we can use that time to our benefit and, you know if it’s catching up on a book that we’ve [00:14:00] put down and haven’t picked up in awhile. You know, like I said, that craft that you’ve been working on and you stopped. You know whatever it is, you can now spend that time, that influx of time that we all have now, that was typically spent in other areas. You can now spend that, focused on your family and your loved ones, and even your pet. Right. So, you know, I have a cat named Simba. And we’ve been spending a lot more time together because I’m here at home.

And so, even though I work from home, I’m home probably even more so than any other time. And so anyway, he’s gotten a lot of company. I’ve gotten his company too. And so we’ve got a chance to bond more. And so things like that I think is a way to kind of refocus and kind of change your perception on the loss of social-ness that we’re getting from, you know, we’re all social distancing, so we’re kind of missing each other and not spending, spending a lot of time with each other. That’s one way to kind of refocus that energy.

And so another big thing that’s important is getting some [00:15:00] fresh air. So I try to go out. Go for a walk. There’s a park by my house. But again, keeping in mind that social distancing, so I’ll try not to go if I see a lot of people there or whatever the case may be. So, but typically it’s not a problem. There’s a big track that’s like a mile long, go for like at least one or two laps. Just to still see the outdoors, right. And still get some fresh air. And you know, it’s okay to go outside and do these things, but just trying to keep this social distancing.

So hopefully these tips are helpful and me sharing my story is something that you can use and that can help you when you’re trying to adapt and survive through these times.

Thank you.