Supporting Others

John Martin – First You Must Realize What Has Happened

John talks about realizing the reality of grief

Karyn and Aidan – Support.

Karyn and Aidan discuss how much the support they received helped

Janice – “The importance of listening”

Janice explains the importance of not being judgemental and listening when helping someone is in grief.

Matt – Telling my young son

Matt describes the death of his birth mother to his young son.

Joyce- Learning to live with grief

Joyce shares a story of support from a friend and how she managed in her early grief

Kim – Checking in is very important

Kim explains why it is so important to check in and keep in touch with people who have lost

Sarah K – Be gentle

Sarah shares what what she has learned to help someone going through what she has been through

Michele – Talks about being a death doula

Michele explains what death doula’s do. Doula means servant. They support people on many different levels… for instance, emotionally, spiritually and physically

Alongside

That is also our best, and only role, when supporting a person with a developmental disability to grieve. We must be the one that comes alongside. There is no closer place we can get to. We must be present, be with, perhaps not understanding or comprehending what the person we support is experiencing, but alongside them nonetheless. We must be there, ready to provide whatever we can discover of their unique need in grief.

Community Grief Toolkit [Downloadable!]

This toolkit also reflects on how we support grief in the community. The tools to come together and honour our collective experiences and how to build the resources for further support.

Joyce – Using my grief experience to help people

Joyce talks about the positive experiences she has in helping other people in grief

Keith – “Knowing what to say”

Keith gives practical advice about helping someone in grief.