Combined brains support kids
04 May 2009
Karingal’s ARCsupport and Geelong-based welfare organisation Glastonbury, have joined forces to develop a pilot program to support kids who have a parent with an acquired brain injury.
Growing up is a complicated, confusing and sometimes painful process; even for the most well-adjusted kids, living in the most ‘typical’ Australian families.
For children of families who are perceived to be ‘different’ from the norm, life can be even more difficult.
A child’s life can change swiftly and dramatically as a result of a parent or family member sustaining an acquired brain injury, whether it is through an accident, stroke or other neurological event. A brain injury can change not only the health status of the family member but also affect the person’s behaviour, speech, mobility and appearance.
In a nutshell, it can turn a family’s life upside down.
Children who have a family member with an acquired brain injury can feel many conflicting emotions, ranging from love and sympathy to anger, resentment, jealousy and embarrassment. These emotions can be hard to process and express, as the child often feels they will be judged for harbouring negative feelings towards the person with the acquired brain injury.
A new support group for children of families affected by brain injury, co-ordinated by Karingal’s acquired brain injury branch, ARCsupport and Glastonbury Child and Family Services, aims to give kids the opportunity to voice their frustrations, feelings and fears, in an informal, child-friendly and supportive setting.
Karingal chief executive officer Daryl Starkey said the group would provide “a space and place’’ for kids to speak up and share their thoughts with other kids, who were similarly affected. Kids would also be provided with child-friendly information about acquired brain injury and coached in coping and reliance skills, he said.
Glastonbury director of organisational development, Nick Collins, said Glastonbury already ran support groups for children of parents with mental illness and drug and alcohol dependence and had a long history of supporting families in the region.
“Kids can be the innocent victims,’’ he said. “Glastonbury supports families so that the needs of kids are still met, despite how situations and lives may have changed.’’