I have some fun, snarky things to blog
But not tonight.
I worked over 56 hours between Friday morning and Sunday night, and today feels like it was a blur (worked 3 hours in the am and 7 in the afternoon/evening), but something struck me really hard this morning.
I always said I didn't want to work with people with DD because they don't get better. They maintain at best and deteriorate over time. I had no idea it was so FAST, though. One of the residents at one of the cottages I work at infrequently was already in a wheelchair, scared to walk and had trouble communicating...well, now he's on a catheter and will have it for the rest of his life.
It took a good hour to get him dressed with it and after he was dressed, ate breakfast and all, I wheeled him into the living room, where one of the staff had turned on PBS cartoons made for VERY small children. He looked at the TV, sighed and grabbed one of his tchotchkes and started messing with it.
I asked him if he wanted to see something else, and he said "Cowboys!". After looking through all of the channels, I saw they didn't have the Encore Western channels, and there weren't any westerns on anything else,m but, there were the 3 Stooges.
I switched it, and his eyes lit up....mostly because it was black and white and he loves black and white shows. I stayed in for a bit, and he watched, eventually putting his hand on top of his head and says "whooooooo" as if he were imitating Curly. He was laughing (which I don't know as I've ever heard him do) as he watched, so I left to do other stuff. When I went by the living room again as I was finishing up for the morning, one of the staff was switching it back to the pre-school cartoons saying, "Here's something good for you."
Fuck no.
He's not 5, even though he processes information like a 5 year old. He's 55 years old and was laughing at the 3 Stooges. Why not let him enjoy some TV that HE likes? It's not like he's got much else to enjoy during a day...
I know I'm new, but the infantisizing of the residents really bothers me.
I worked over 56 hours between Friday morning and Sunday night, and today feels like it was a blur (worked 3 hours in the am and 7 in the afternoon/evening), but something struck me really hard this morning.
I always said I didn't want to work with people with DD because they don't get better. They maintain at best and deteriorate over time. I had no idea it was so FAST, though. One of the residents at one of the cottages I work at infrequently was already in a wheelchair, scared to walk and had trouble communicating...well, now he's on a catheter and will have it for the rest of his life.
It took a good hour to get him dressed with it and after he was dressed, ate breakfast and all, I wheeled him into the living room, where one of the staff had turned on PBS cartoons made for VERY small children. He looked at the TV, sighed and grabbed one of his tchotchkes and started messing with it.
I asked him if he wanted to see something else, and he said "Cowboys!". After looking through all of the channels, I saw they didn't have the Encore Western channels, and there weren't any westerns on anything else,m but, there were the 3 Stooges.
I switched it, and his eyes lit up....mostly because it was black and white and he loves black and white shows. I stayed in for a bit, and he watched, eventually putting his hand on top of his head and says "whooooooo" as if he were imitating Curly. He was laughing (which I don't know as I've ever heard him do) as he watched, so I left to do other stuff. When I went by the living room again as I was finishing up for the morning, one of the staff was switching it back to the pre-school cartoons saying, "Here's something good for you."
Fuck no.
He's not 5, even though he processes information like a 5 year old. He's 55 years old and was laughing at the 3 Stooges. Why not let him enjoy some TV that HE likes? It's not like he's got much else to enjoy during a day...
I know I'm new, but the infantisizing of the residents really bothers me.