By Kaitlin Stainbrook
When someone is diagnosed with a neurological disorder like ALS or Huntington’s disease, life changes immediately — and not just for them.
Caregiving often falls to immediate family members, even if they are still children. As a clinical social worker, Melinda S. Kavanaugh saw this firsthand while working with families affected by Huntington’s disease at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
“A child was talking to me about the intricacies of disinfecting his dad’s feeding tube and how he needed to be so very careful,” Kavanaugh said. “It’s imprinted on my brain. I’ll never forget that.”
Now a professor of social work at UW-Milwaukee, Kavanaugh has spent her career conducting research and developing training and tools to help other young caregivers and their families.