1. Advocate for
Care giving Children
Founder of
“The Care giving Youth
Project”
2.
3. At the age of 10, Connie became
a caretaker of her grandfather
who was dying of heart failure.
Why?
4. Her mother was divorced from Connie’s
dad when she was very young.
Connie’s mother had to work to support
the family.
5. Connie had a brother, but he was not involved.
According to a personal email from Connie her
grandmother was not a caring individual.
This left Connie with the responsibility of her
grandfathers care.
6. Connie’s grandparents had
become destitute following the
Great Depression. The socio-
economic status of Connie’s family
remained low.
7. Connie loved her
grandfather and it
became apparent she
would be the one to
feed him, bathe him,
and give his
medications. She would
sleep on the couch to be
near him.
8. At the tender age of 13, Connie awoke at 2 am
to give her grandfather his medication and
found that he had passed away.
She states she still remembers feeling the
coolness of his skin after more than 50 years
have passed.
How traumatic for a 13 year
old child to not only lose the
grandparent she adored,
but to find him dead.
9. As she grew up Connie chose a caring
profession, nursing. She went to
nursing school early and became
independent. She worked in Home
Health, and in Hospice.
10. Connie continued on to further her
education, and did doctoral research that
discovered the hidden population of child
caretakers and the effect on the education of
them.
12. Connie didn’t forget the stress and
trauma she had experienced as a
caretaker for her grandfather, and she
became interested in helping other
children in the same situation.
Hear from Connie
about her Dream
http://youtu.be/_jJaOc3K-04
13. Connie realized that there was a problem.
There were children who each day faced the
difficult task of being a care giver for an
adult relative.
So, she left her comfort zone to find a way to
help.
15. Connie started a Physician House call company in the
late 1990’s (per personal email) to help patients and
caregivers get the help they needed. The organization
began as a free volunteer support service to give people
who were lonely and homebound the help they
needed as well as to provide respite for family
caregivers. She began a support group for children and
families touched by caregiving.
16. In the beginning, it was hard to get people to listen to
what she wanted to do, and as the organization began
some people did not do what they had promised.
22. According to a 2005 study by the National Alliance for
Caregiving and the United Hospital Fund, between 1.3
and 1.4 million children nationwide serve as primary
caregivers. They cook, clean, dispense medicine,
change sheets and diapers, and bear responsibility for
much more than homework after school.
23. Siskowski wanted to understand the big picture where
she was. So, she turned to researchers from Palm
Beach Atlantic University and the School District of
Palm Beach County who were conducting a survey on
what keeps kids from learning.
24. The answers were startling.
Nearly half of 11,000 students said family health
situations and caregiving played a role in their life.
Realizing the problem was deeper than she thought,
Siskowski knew she had to create more than a support
group for these children.
25. She wanted to help and for the
organization to grow, but lacked
funding.
26. Connie’s funding has improved but she still fights this
Giant. Recently Connie was nominated for several
awards and has received some. This has given her
organization exposure and increased funding.
However, she still needs more funding to fully fund the
organization to help All the children in need.
27. Connie
Siskowski
is a top 10 CNN hero
for her work with
Care giving youth and her organization,
American Association of Care giving Youth
(AACY). You can vote for her so that her
organization can receive prize funding at
www.cnnheroes.com.
29. Siskowski started an organization in Palm
Beach County, Fla., that facilitates support
groups in middle schools, offers classes on
life skills and provides other resources to
ease some of the responsibility and give
young caregivers the chance to be kids. They
even provide a camp for caregiving kids to
get a break.
This video will tell you more about the
organization.
http://youtu.be/lnhdFA19uzU
30. She wants to follow
this dream through,
to finish it before
moving on to
anything else.
“Let’s have no child in
the US drop out of
school because of
Family Caregiving!”
Connie Siskowski
31. In considering Eysenck’s hierarchical
structure of personality, each supertrait is
considered and supported by the next level
of personality traits.
The three super traits are
Neuroticism,
Extroversion-Introversion
Pyschoticism
32. Psychoticism
When considering Connie Siskowski’s level of
Psychoticism we consider the supertraits. Connie was
a care giver as a child, she began an organization to
help other young caregivers, she struggled to get
others to believe that the issue of youth care givers
even existed. This information tells us she must be
creative and tough minded. However, she would not be
unempathic, antisocial, egocentric, cold, or
impersonal. Because of what she is not, she would
most likely score low on the Psychoticism.
33. Extroversion-Introversion is the second supertrait to
consider. Connie Siskowski speaks to groups all over
the United States. She has been interviewed many
times. She is an outspoken advocate for Youth Care
Givers. In considering these facts she would most
likely score high on Extroversion because she exhibits
traits such as being assertive, venturesome, active,
lively, and sociable.
34. In the research found, Connie Siskowski shows little
to no sign of traits such as being anxious, depressed,
low self-esteem, tense, shy, or irrational. So it is
reasonable to deduct that she would most likely score
low on Neuroticism.
35. The big three motives: Achievement, Power and
Intimacy. Although the TAT test is usually used to
determine a score for the big three motives, in review
Siskowski’s profile we can make assumptions of how
she would score.
36. Connie Siskowski pushed forward with a desire to
achieve a task. That task was to find a way to help
children who were responsible for the care of an ill
family member. Siskowski would score medium on
nAch. Even when she was told that the need did not
exists she set the goal to help these children. She set
her goal high.
37. In pAch Ms. Siskowski would most likely score low.
Although, she runs an organization and has
persistently pursued the cause of youth care givers she
does not display a desire for power.
38. Connie Siskowski would most likely score high on
iAch. She displays herself to be a caring person. She
took care of her grandfather as a child because she
cared for him so deeply. In considering her history, it is
clear that the cause she pursues is from her heart. Her
career is in nursing, she continued caring for others.
All of these things support a high score in iAch.
39. Using Kelly’s theory of personal constructs we can
describe Connie Siskowski.
40. Siskowski would be considered to be caring, because
she did not ignore the problem she knew existed.
41. We can also describe Siskowski as Persistent because
she did not give up when she was told the problem did
not exist.
42. Siskowski would definitely be resilient as she came
back time after time pushing through financial
troubles and when others failed to meet their
commitments to her.
43. Siskowski would also be an advocate for children who
were care givers for ill family members, because of her
work to help those children.
44. One personality trait that is
not covered by the textbook
is Siskowski’s inclination to
listen to others. She is a good
listener. She has to be otherwise she would
not have understood that a problem existed
when faced with those who believed the
problem of Children acting as primary
caregivers to an ill family member did not
exist.
