Multiple diagnoses: Down syn, schizoaffective disorder and dementia

Posted by lindaloucg @lindaloucg, Sep 22, 2022

I am looking for some support. My son is going to be 39 in Dec. He has Down syndrome, Schizoaffective disorder and in July was diagnosed with dementia.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed. His Dad died in 2012 from cancer. Is there anyone who might have these 3 diagnosis?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Caregivers: Dementia Support Group.

ihatediabetes | @ihatediabetes | Sep 26, 2022

In reply to @lindaloucg "I rent. I can't afford to buy a home. We're in Pennsylvania. I lost my job..." + (show)

I am sorry to hear about your predicament. I caught COVID myself and have been trying to get better for 3+ months. I caught shingles after COVID.

Another thing we are allowed to do in Minnesota is get paid to provide support to our own adult children. There are also as lot of jobs you can do from home. Like customer service and staff like that. I was also wondering about day programs. My son goes to a day program. So he gets picked up my metro mobility and brought to day program with other consumers.

You have a lot of life experience for lots of good jobs. People have jobs managing group homes for providers. I am also going through Teach for America process for special education teacher. Life experience is so important to working with people with developmental disabilities.

lindaloucg | @lindaloucg | Sep 26, 2022

I do get paid to support my son, PA just doesn't pay well. Day programs around here are not fully open at this point. Besides, the one my son attended already told me that he would not be a good fit any longer because of not being able to get him to leave their facility, therefore having a staff member stay behind with him would make them short staffed.
My son and I both had covid as well. It's not fun.

lindaloucg | @lindaloucg | Oct 17, 2022

In reply to @dadbrother2022 "Hi there. I’ve been reading your post and all the comments 😞it’s so hard and emotional..." + (show)

Just wondering how you and your brother doing?

dadbrother2022 | @dadbrother2022 | Oct 18, 2022

In reply to @lindaloucg "Just wondering how you and your brother doing?" + (show)

Oh hello there! Thank you for asking!!! He is not doing well at all. It seems to be worse now. Most of the time now he is severely depressed and agitated. He is aware this is happening too and feels horrible when he is cuz he is difficult for staff.
I feel horrible for him and constantly think about him.

lindaloucg | @lindaloucg | Oct 18, 2022

In reply to @dadbrother2022 "Oh hello there! Thank you for asking!!! He is not doing well at all. It seems..." + (show)

Getting the right "cocktail" of meds can be so difficult and stressful. My son gets very mean verbally and we stir the cocktail a bit here and there. It works for a while but eventually it gets mixed up again.
Unless he can speak up for himself, make sure they check for UTI's as well. That really causes many issues.
Best of luck!