BRAZIL, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Jaime O’Neal says her son, Colson, was less than six months old when a babysitter made a decision that forever altered their family’s life.
“She put him in a crib with some other things in it and he suffocated,” Jaime said. “Which resulted in a traumatic brain injury.”
Colson spent a month recovering from that injury at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. When he came home, his parents tried to care for him while both still working.
Then, Jaime found out about becoming an attendant caregiver, an option available through Indiana Medicaid’s Aged and Disabled Waiver program.
“I was reluctant to quit my job to do it,” Jaime said. “But I was assured by the case managers and everybody involved that this was a permanent thing and this would be really beneficial to our family.”
Quality of care | ISU’s Early Childhood Education Center
The O’Neals had learned how to care for Colson within their family unit, but were very wary of letting him be left under the care of others after the incident that led to his brain injury. Additionally, there were several needs that Colson had that were not going to be able to be provided by just any caretaker.