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Hello everyone,

Every day is a new day when you work with developmentally challenged individuals. Every day brings fresh experiences, challenges, achievements, and frustrations. We are the frontline members of the treatment team of the persons that we work with. We bear the brunt of their frustrations; we deal with the day-to-day aspects of their lives; we take them to their therpy sessions, medical appointments, can-collecting excursions, latte stands clear across town in freezing temperatures, or simply for a walk around the block to help bring their blood sugar down in case of the diabetic ones. We spend more time with them than we do with the members of our own families. We attend to their needs, document their activities, remind them to take their meds, monitor them as they try to integrate into the larger community around us, and remind them of their options as they freely make their own choices. In this attempt, we are frequently verbally abused, sometimes physically assaulted, and often threatened with golf clubs and baseball bats. Some of us have had our car windows smashed, or our hoods and fenders dented by angry clients. Yet we are the least appreciated, the most underpaid, and worst treated members of the treatment team. Our efforts go entirely unrecognized by the company that we work for, or even by the state and federal bureaus which are assigned with the collossal task of oversight of the programs that our clients are enrolled in. In Rambo's words, "we are Expendible!"

Our superiors do not listen to us; they simply ignore our views and opinions. Our clients find us in their comfort zone, and as such vent out their frustrations with the shortcomings of the program on us. Where should we go if and when we feel frustrated? I have created this blog so that we can voice our concerns, talk about our experiences, share our successes and failures, reflect our opinions, and vent out our frustrations. If you have something to say about what happened at work today, how you were justly or unjustly treated at work, how you made a differences in the life of your client, or how you could have brought your client closer to normalcy and independence if company policies allowed you, share your experiences with me in an email - abghari@msn.com - and I will post it on this blog for you, with your own name or anonymously if you feel that it might affect your standing with the company.

I look forward to your cooperation.

H. Abghari