When Katy decided to put her four-year-old son, Joseph, forward for a social experiment involving older Australians she was worried he might horrify them with some of the brutal honesty that small children frequently come out with.
“I just pine for that [kind of connection] when I see other grandparents around,” she adds, noting that Joseph has only met his paternal grandmother once and has no memory of her. And he only met her own father shortly before he died. Her mother died when Katy was 25. This isn’t what was supposed to happen. At least, that’s not how most of us perceive what will happen when older people and small children get together. The first series of the TV showwhich won an Emmy award, highlighted primarily just how lonely, isolated and sad life can be in old aged care homes for older Australians and what a boost being with boisterous four-year-olds gave them.
“His teachers say he’s more confident,” says Katy of Joseph, who was diagnosed with a mild stutter, after the show finished filming. His vocabulary has also improved.For Maximillian, who turned five during the series, the experiment led to him being able to make friends for the first time. Clinical psychologist Dr Carol Newall, who worked with the children on the show, isn’t surprised saying that older Australians – whether they’re related to you or not – are an untapped resource for many families in terms of providing unconditional regard and “time from a patient adult” that is crucial to a child’s confidence and sense of self worth.
And, for some of the parents in the series, relationships with the older Australians enabled them to discuss difficult topics that all too often are shunned by people who find them too uncomfortable.Keiser’s son drowned when he was 18 months old.
SamanthaSMorris As long as they are paid nothing.
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