Communication Skills No One Teaches Care Partners | AGE of Central Texas Training l #202

Nobody taught you how to talk to your person after everything changed. And nobody taught you how to speak up for yourself either. This episode covers both.

Genevieve Richardson, MS CCC-SLP, walks care partners through two practical frameworks you can start using today. The first is EASE, a four-point check you run before any conversation with your person. It helps you set up the environment, get their attention, keep things simple, and read the emotional temperature before a single word is spoken. The second is the Stoplight System, a boundary tool for all the phone calls, requests, and decisions that pile up when you are the one holding everything together. Red. Yellow. Green. You get to decide.

This episode was recorded as a live webinar. The questions at the end are real. The answers are practical.

Whether your person has aphasia, dementia, Parkinson's, or PPA, the communication principles here apply. And if you have been white-knuckling this role alone, this one is for you.

Want the scripts for the harder conversations? Before You Answer is the resource Genevieve mentions in the video: https://www.lifebeyondaphasia.com/boundaries

Take the free Care Partner Compass to find out where you are right now and what kind of support fits your situation: https://findaphasiasupport.com/

00:00 Dee’s Breaking Point 02:07 Caregiver Burden Is Real 04:01 Why Caregivers Hide It 05:56 The Moment That Changed Everything 07:46 Meet Your Guide 09:39 Why Communication Gets Hard 12:27 Why Conversations Break Down 15:09 EASE Framework Overview 16:34 EASE Step by Step 22:17 Pivot to Self Advocacy 24:39 Stoplight Boundaries System 28:50 Red Yellow Green Examples 32:31 Protect Your Identity 35:26 Weekly Practice Challenge 38:10 Q&A Real Life Scenarios 43:48 Final Resources and Wrap Up