trinityroyal
Well-Known Member
I have been hesitating posting for a while, partly because I simply couldn't believe my eyes, and partly for fear of bringing about the Board Curse, but here goes nothin'.
difficult child has been out on his own for 2 months now, and he's doing very well!
There, I said it. I still can't quite believe it. After years and years of the wrong diagnoses, bad medications, difficult child learning a little bit and then regressing, falling apart at the slightest loosening of the reins, just never getting anywhere with the treatments he was receiving, I feared that he was in for a lifetime with no real prospects. Especially after he left assisted living to move in with my mother in law and help her for the past two years, he lost so many of the skills that assisted living had helped him gain.
When mother in law died this past spring, husband and I weren't sure what to do. His assisted living provider had a spot available in an independent living unit. difficult child would go from 24/7 staff and 1:1 support during the day, to twice-weekly visits from support staff for a few hours at a time. Big change, but difficult child has handled it like a trouper.
And, he has a job. There is a company that hires mainly developmentally delayed people and provides full job training and support. They are supported through the Salvation Army, and have support workers in place at the work site to act as resource people for the staff. There's an 8-week orientation, so that they can try out all of the different jobs and determine the best fit, and then settle into a permanent role.
I still just can't believe it. My difficult child. Living on his own. With a job. Just like any other 23-yr-old man. I truly never thought I'd see the day.
There are still issues. difficult child will never be "normal". You can still spot him a mile away and tell that there's something eccentric about that boy, but the crushing worry I've always had that difficult child would fall off the face of the earth once husband and I were gone is starting to ease, just a bit. A few more months of this and I might actually start to believe it for real.
Yay!
difficult child has been out on his own for 2 months now, and he's doing very well!
There, I said it. I still can't quite believe it. After years and years of the wrong diagnoses, bad medications, difficult child learning a little bit and then regressing, falling apart at the slightest loosening of the reins, just never getting anywhere with the treatments he was receiving, I feared that he was in for a lifetime with no real prospects. Especially after he left assisted living to move in with my mother in law and help her for the past two years, he lost so many of the skills that assisted living had helped him gain.
When mother in law died this past spring, husband and I weren't sure what to do. His assisted living provider had a spot available in an independent living unit. difficult child would go from 24/7 staff and 1:1 support during the day, to twice-weekly visits from support staff for a few hours at a time. Big change, but difficult child has handled it like a trouper.
And, he has a job. There is a company that hires mainly developmentally delayed people and provides full job training and support. They are supported through the Salvation Army, and have support workers in place at the work site to act as resource people for the staff. There's an 8-week orientation, so that they can try out all of the different jobs and determine the best fit, and then settle into a permanent role.
I still just can't believe it. My difficult child. Living on his own. With a job. Just like any other 23-yr-old man. I truly never thought I'd see the day.
There are still issues. difficult child will never be "normal". You can still spot him a mile away and tell that there's something eccentric about that boy, but the crushing worry I've always had that difficult child would fall off the face of the earth once husband and I were gone is starting to ease, just a bit. A few more months of this and I might actually start to believe it for real.
Yay!
