I am a support worker
and I work with a very disabled gentleman who I shall call Steve. Steve cannot speak, he cannot walk unaided and he has a damaged spine held together with a steel bar. Nature was unkind to Steve because inside all of the Autism and physical disability there is a kind and gentle human being who I am very fond of. It takes a special bond to be made a key worker and advocate.

Steve struggles going out, my co workers really struggle trying to motivate him to go out when I am not there and they usually resort to housework while Steve listens to the noise of the vacuum cleaner or his radio.

Last week on a glorious sunny Day a co worker and I decided that Steve needed a break from the house and the theme park down the road was open. So using basic language and Makaton (sign language for people with learning disabilities) I told Steve we were going to ride roller coasters and then get chips!

Steve was out of the door like a whippet on a track! Once at the park we queued for the rides which Steve is not good at, his level of Autism makes time an unreal concept for him and he wants stuff right there and then, but he waited for his go with more than his usual patience. I stood back and watched him ride the coasters. The smile on his face combined with the laughter said more to me than Makaton ever could. He rode every roller coaster and had two goes on the log flume. He finished it up with his chips and we went back home, where he lay on the sofa holding my hand and smiling.

I love my job, my mate Steve is awesome and I have had more fun with him than I have had with some of my fully able bodied friends.

Not my usual sickness, but it is all true.
( Rev. Jayneflakes Buy my book, I need the cash for drugs and hookers, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 13:53, 16 replies)

steve
would be happier if you stopped eating his tomatoes
(little lord muthafuckin fauntleroy, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 14:13, closed)

Ahhh
so that is the answer!
Actually, I am so allergic to tomatoes, that I cannot eat a single bite let alone a lot!
( Rev. Jayneflakes Buy my book, I need the cash for drugs and hookers, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 15:03, closed)

Good story. Click hard.
( enoughblueskyforsailorstrousers, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 14:24, closed)

Thanks
I love my mate Steve.
( Rev. Jayneflakes Buy my book, I need the cash for drugs and hookers, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 15:03, closed)

Clickety clickety clickety click
FTW
(all my scars face forward possesses 2.5% of a hyperalloy combat chassis, Sun 12 Jun 2011, 0:11, closed)

I'm also a support worker
It's always heart warming to let them have a good time, I have a client who has advanced MS, he can barely speak, and his carers rarely let him leave the house, I took him to the local pub in his wheelchair. The smile on his face to have a bit of normality was the best thing I saw that day.
(Maccy Divided by 0 on, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 16:32, closed)

People like you make the world a better place to live in.
*click*
( NooShmoo It's a fantazmagorical pile of ultra bollocks, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 16:54, closed)

This is awesome.
And deserves more clicks than I can give.
( Blind Meach Cautiously optimistic, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 17:04, closed)

This is splendid.
*click*
( Fathter Puddytat Kill Kill dat widdle boid is mine on, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 17:42, closed)

Are you me?
I'm an autistic therapy tutor with an allergy to tomatoes... it's a fab job! Most of us sign without thinking now, we've got makaton autopilot which looks like mad gesturing to others. :)
(Mrs Ballunatic counting calories, not votes., Sat 11 Jun 2011, 19:05, closed)

I sign to my partner when we are in the pub too!
It is handy when at gigs and I need a wee!

Thank you every one for kind comments. The job is not about me being kind though, it is my job and I aim to do it well. The real brave person is Steve. With all I have learned about Autism, all I can say is that going out must be hell for him some days. Massive respect to my mate Steve, he is awesome in ways some folk just do not understand.
( Rev. Jayneflakes Buy my book, I need the cash for drugs and hookers, Sun 12 Jun 2011, 0:39, closed)

*clicks*
For a nice story - good to know Steve is in good hands :)

Good karma to ye.
(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Sun 12 Jun 2011, 8:41, closed)

what all them above said
bravo to you and to steve :)
(DreddPirateBob has watched every scifi film ever on, Sun 12 Jun 2011, 10:02, closed)

Another support worker here...
Found out while working recently that I'm officially too old for the waltzers : (
(I needed a little sit down and everything!)

However the job's not all fun and games. Just this week I've had to watch the new X Men film...
( TheMattInAHat has a particular... odour..., Sun 12 Jun 2011, 12:00, closed)

Ace!
Finding satisfaction at like that is rare. Makes the hard work so worth it. Nice one.
( Herb Alpert's Taxi Driver I have very beautiful lips, Sun 12 Jun 2011, 19:54, closed)

Bloody lovely
A click for being so sweet. The world could do with more people like you.
(Aruu does not put all her trust in root vegetables., Sun 12 Jun 2011, 22:56, closed)