From My Perspective Series – Interview with Ginny

Ginny is a parent of a young adult with autism. She also provides support for families and individuals with autism. Ginny shares what self-care means to her, why it is vital for parents and caregivers, and how it has strengthened her well-being, happiness, and ability to conquer the world.

Transcript

[BACKGROUND STATIC, THEN MUSIC] 

SIMON BUEHRER: From the Family and Community Outreach Center at OCALI, this is From My Perspective – our Inspiring Change podcast series focused on amplifying the voices and lived experiences of people with disabilities and their families through stories that inform, challenge, and inspire. 

[MUSIC] JEN BAVRY: Welcome to From My Perspective. This is OCALI's Family and Community Outreach Center Podcast. In these podcasts you will hear from people with disabilities, their families, friends, co workers, and neighbors. You'll hear about everyday life, their passions, their interests, their opinions. You'll be inspired. You might laugh or cry. But most importantly, you will better understand what life is like, from our perspective. I'm your host, Jen Bavry, Program Director of the OCALI Family and Community Outreach Center. During this episode, we will explore the importance of self-care. With me today is Ginny, who is a parent of a young adult with autism. Ginny also provides support for families and individuals with autism through her work with the Autism Society, Central Ohio. Welcome, Ginny, to OCALI's From My Perspective. 

GINNY: Hi, thanks for having me. 

JEN BAVRY: Ginny, you know that self care is essential for the well being of any individual, family member or professional. This can be even more so with those who have autism in their lives. Oftentimes, the experiences and emotions one might feel can make the ability to practice self care seem unattainable. 

GINNY: Jen, I could not agree more with that statement. 

JEN BAVRY: As a parent and a family member, often the focus is on the needs of the family member with autism. Setting aside your own needs while not realizing the effect that this actually can have on your own self-care. As a parent, what are your thoughts about self-care for yourself and your family? 

GINNY: Well, for me, self-care means taking time for me, being true to myself, protecting my well being, my stress levels, and my happiness. Again, just reiterating, just taking time for me. 

JEN BAVRY: Have you found in moments during your day where you recognize that self-care is needed, and what does that look like for you? 

GINNY: Well, there are times in my days where I feel overwhelmed. A lot of anxiety, my heart rate may rise. I may sweat a little bit. I am just really feeling overwhelmed. In those moments, I need to remember self-care and think to myself, even if I can just take five long deep breaths, it's helpful. That is self-care. There are days where I want to do a little bit more. Maybe take a walk or read a book and it's okay that I can't cause unfortunately, in our lives, we can't always fit it in, but then think to yourself, let's prioritize it for tomorrow. These five deep breaths are going to work for today. 

JEN BAVRY: You're so right, Ginny. Taking deep breaths and just having something simple that you can add in, in those moments is really helpful. I know that for some parents, sometimes, like you mentioned, it's challenging to be able to add in something in those moments. What are some things that maybe you have tried in addition to the deep breaths or, things that you've explored that have worked or didn't work? 

GINNY: Actually, I have tried a few things since the beginning of 2019. The first thing is, I've started doing restorative yoga. I do it once a month, and it has been so rewarding for me. It is very relaxing. I had never explored it before. When I leave there, I feel refreshed. I feel ready to conquer the world. I feel like I am a new person. 

JEN BAVRY: Great. 

GINNY: I also love to read. I decided, since it's very hard for me to carve out some time in the day to read a book, I joined a book club. 

JEN BAVRY: Oh, wonderful. 

GINNY: It really has helped me ensure that I am going to read. Not only do I enjoy the reading, but I enjoy the individuals that are in my book club, too. It's just a nice time for me to concentrate on the book and concentrating on getting to know some other people. It's been wonderful. I truly love that experience. I also started walking. Ten minutes. That's it. Put on my headphones, go outside, walk for ten minutes. I'd love to be able to carve out more time eventually. Hopefully, I will. But as you know, ten minutes is hard, sometimes even to do that. 

JEN BAVRY: Just being able to add 10 minutes in every day is probably a key too, and the fact that if you start a smaller pace, that's where adding more longer, especially as the weather starts getting better, you might want to be out a little bit longer. Your role with the Autism Society of Central Ohio, I know that you connect with families all the time. I'm sure they're dealing with some of the same things here. What might be some words of encouragement that you could send out to family members about self-care? 

GINNY: Well, first, I would like to let them know how important self-care is, taking time for yourself. It's vital to be true to yourself. It's vital to be a better parent, a better husband, a better wife, a better person, a better friend. Just if you can carve out five minutes for yourself, even if you start it every other day and work up to maybe doing something every day and work up to doing it maybe a little bit longer every day. It's so important. We need to take care of ourselves. Because if we ourselves are not taken care of, it's then hard for us to take care of others. We forget that all the time, as we always feel like we need to take care of those that rely on us. But we also need to take care of ourselves. 

JEN BAVRY: You are absolutely right. That is the focus is that you do need to make sure that you are thinking of yourself when you can and how you can and introducing different things into your daily routine that will really help support you because you're right, a better you, a better ... your family member, a better individual in your life, a better ... relationships you have with those outside of your home. 

GINNY: I agree. I think the other thing that's important to say is, it doesn't matter what your self care routine, or what it is that you want to do as long as it makes you happy. That's what's important. The ones that I mentioned are things that are important to me, but, whatever it is that you enjoy, just carve out time to do that for yourself. Maybe meditation, Eating better. Watching a movie. There are so many things out there. It's whatever that individual enjoys that'll help them relax. That's also equally as important. They need to personalize their self-care. 

JEN BAVRY: They do. That's absolutely right, Ginny. Thank you so much for providing your input and your perspective on self-care for family members, for parents, for individuals, and for really anyone. 

GINNY: Well, Jen, thank you so much for having me. I truly enjoyed it. Thanks. 

[MUSIC] 

JEN BAVRY: Thank you for listening to this episode of From My Perspective. If you would like to learn more about OCALI and its resources, please visit ocali.org.