Humanity...One Feces at a time!
So I work in the non-profit field of adults with developmental disabilities now...so what does that mean?
What it technically means is that I try to help adults that have developmental disabilities such as Down's Syndrome or autism live as normal and independent lives as possible. This also includes such individuals as those that have suffered brain injuries that affect cognitive abilitites.
In reality this means I spend a lot of time wiping noses and asses...
Today was a tough one...I worked with this guy that, due to a drunk driving episode 20 odd years ago, took a road guard rail through the forehead, and has had serious difficulties living since then. Actually, his injuries have led to impulse control difficulties that, unfortunately, led to him committing a sexual offense against another similarly cognitively impaired adult...
Anyway, today he and I were out walking his neighborhood when suddenly he realized he needed a bathroom...so we turned back for his home, but he knew he wasn't going to make it, so he turned off to ask a young woman if he could use her bathroom...but this was in clear violation of his probation (and he just got back out of jail this morning), so I order him to continue walking and not to say anything to the girl...result being when we were about a hundred yards from his house he suddenly stopped and liquid feces started pouring down his leg...
Anyway, he apologized for the situation to me!!! But it had been my decision that resulted in his embarassing situation and his physical, as well as social, discomfort!!
And I entered this field because I felt I had lost touch with the humanity I so cherished within me! So, I guess this afternoon I was exposed to a significant amount of humanity...and, actually, this was the second such episode this month (earlier it had involved lifting a semi-paralyzed ex-con off the floor of his bathroom that was covered in his own liquid feces).
So why do I continue doing it? Because it beats doing anythin else I can think of...at least for now. Maybe in a few more feces covering events I will think otherwise.
But I must say, my understanding, as well as tolerance, of what it means to be human has experienced a significant paradigm shift...and that's a good thing...I think.
What it technically means is that I try to help adults that have developmental disabilities such as Down's Syndrome or autism live as normal and independent lives as possible. This also includes such individuals as those that have suffered brain injuries that affect cognitive abilitites.
In reality this means I spend a lot of time wiping noses and asses...
Today was a tough one...I worked with this guy that, due to a drunk driving episode 20 odd years ago, took a road guard rail through the forehead, and has had serious difficulties living since then. Actually, his injuries have led to impulse control difficulties that, unfortunately, led to him committing a sexual offense against another similarly cognitively impaired adult...
Anyway, today he and I were out walking his neighborhood when suddenly he realized he needed a bathroom...so we turned back for his home, but he knew he wasn't going to make it, so he turned off to ask a young woman if he could use her bathroom...but this was in clear violation of his probation (and he just got back out of jail this morning), so I order him to continue walking and not to say anything to the girl...result being when we were about a hundred yards from his house he suddenly stopped and liquid feces started pouring down his leg...
Anyway, he apologized for the situation to me!!! But it had been my decision that resulted in his embarassing situation and his physical, as well as social, discomfort!!
And I entered this field because I felt I had lost touch with the humanity I so cherished within me! So, I guess this afternoon I was exposed to a significant amount of humanity...and, actually, this was the second such episode this month (earlier it had involved lifting a semi-paralyzed ex-con off the floor of his bathroom that was covered in his own liquid feces).
So why do I continue doing it? Because it beats doing anythin else I can think of...at least for now. Maybe in a few more feces covering events I will think otherwise.
But I must say, my understanding, as well as tolerance, of what it means to be human has experienced a significant paradigm shift...and that's a good thing...I think.
posted by Fool Ishy at 10:09 PM
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