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