Yesterday I did an enjoyable late shift at one of my many semi-regular places through the agency. This one is a home for adults with learning disabilities, challenging behaviour and varying degrees of autism. I don’t think I could cope with it full-time but sometimes this type of work can genuinely be very “rewarding”, to use the well-worn phrase. It can also be physically and emotionally exhausting.
It certainly gets a lot better when you know the residents and their personalities and quirks a bit. Some of the ear-piercing screaming, dribbling and sometimes violence takes a bit of getting used to! Although I need the variety of agency work, I’ve always tried to build long-term relationships whenever I can. I hadn’t been to this home yesterday for a few months, but the fact that I’ve been going there now and again for about three years makes all the difference. It was nice to see them again.
In the past I’ve worked with more extreme forms of learning disabilities which can be quite depressing. When you feel you can make some kind of difference and make some kind of connection, the whole thing feels a bit more worthwhile.
