22 August, 2014

A fun experiment!

Imagine a rich, successful executive has a personal assistant. His personal assistant is knocking at the door in the morning and he finally gets ready and comes down. The assistant says, "What took you so long? I want to go shopping."

The executive says, "That's not what I was planning to do today."

The assistant says, "Well, I need to go shopping and I haven't done it in a long time. Come on, it'll be fun." She proceeds to bring him along with her as she goes shopping, does all her errands, and hangs out with her friends. What's in it for him is that he gets a chance to get some coffee or something.

If this seems weird and confusing, instead imagine that a disabled person has a personal assistant who is behaving this way. I don't have to imagine because I know lots of PAs who do this. It is jacked up, but completely socially acceptable. Why?

I'm guessing because the client is not able to use words to tell them to stop, or is easily convinced to be agreeable and not express their real preferences, or because if they do complain, the PA can just say, "That person just isn't patient or empathetic to my needs because of their disability," or, "That person is just confused and being contrary because they have dementia." AND, because clients are often not able to fire their PA, or at least can't do so immediately/directly. (For example they might be able to tell the agency providing them services that they don't like this PA, but if they need help eating, it would take a lot to just tell someone, "Okay, you're fired," in the middle of dinner. Especially if someone needs a PA with them at all times, that makes it hard to stand up to someone. Or someone might think, "Well, this is kind of annoying, but it could be a lot worse. I might not find someone else who is friendly and knows how to handle all my medical needs.")

I just think it sucks, a lot, that some PAs think they can just schedule their client's life around whatever they want to do. Even if someone can't communicate very much and you have to guess what they want to do, you should still do that, not just pretend that you think your blind client wants to go to a silent movie with you or whatever. You are doing a job. You are getting paid. If you want to do whatever you want all the time, then don't have a job, because that is not what a job is, and in no other job is it so acceptable to railroad over the preferences of the person who should be your boss.

12 comments:

  1. I guess you will have to explain what this has to do with my post about PAs.

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  2. I use Akismet on my blog; it stops most junk (especially stuff with links). There are similar things for other hosts.

    It is a shame there are people who do this. Just delete their comments - that's your right as a blogger.

    And if you don't like me stopping by occasionally, tell me, and I won't. Or just delete me. This is your safe space.

    Alicia

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Amanda. I like your writing - I learn from you. You do a lot of thinking before you write.

      Alicia

      Delete
  3. There is no way to prove that jackassery is real, but you just did. Sometimes the evidence speaks for itself.

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  4. My son has autism, and we've actually had sitters who tried this kind of stuff. Theyvwere supposed to keep him at my house because it is safe for him. Instead, one took him to her sister's house so she could hang out. Another took him to her doctor's appointment. It's as if people don't get that this is a JOB.

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  5. Tom Cruise, is that you?

    ReplyDelete
  6. this is my first opportunity to read your blog. I luv 'true stories' ~ carry on....

    ReplyDelete
  7. 'AnonymousAugust 26, 2014 at 5:50 AM
    There is no such thing as "autism". Psychiatry itself is a bogus science. The following articles and essays explain this:

    12 Part essay that exposes psychiatry as a bogus science
    http://antipsychiatry.org/'......

    Having just read the bullshit you've posted it comes as no surprise to me that you choose to post anonymously.

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    Replies
    1. you know I don't think I realized until now that it's a TWELVE PART ESSAY. how much can they possibly have to say about it.

      Delete
  8. Congratulations, you've just won the internet. (:

    ReplyDelete
  9. Takes real balls to post trash like this anonymously.

    ReplyDelete