I started at the group home by sheer blind luck. I had just moved to Roseburg, Oregon from Southern California and had no job. I saw an ad in the paper and applied. I didn't think I stood a chance, but I went to the interview very relaxed because I wasn't quite desperate for money yet. I figured I had a month or so before I had to start worrying about it. I'm not sure why I thought they wouldn't hire me. Maybe because I have long hair and earrings. Maybe because I'd never done anything like this before. I dunno if they took a chance on me or saw some potential, but they hired me. I was fairly surprised.
At the orientation, I began to have serious doubts about whether or not I'd be able to do it. They started talking about how to change adult diapers, suppositories, and giving various medications. I was completely overwhelmed. I went home and told my wife that I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do this job. But after the first day at work, most of my reservations changed. The residents (what I was told/asked to call the people I was going to help take care of) seemed genuinely happy to meet me and I began to relax a little. It helped that most of my coworkers were really supportive of a person who'd never done this type of work before. After a few weeks, it felt like I'd been doing this all my life. Of course, I was (and am) continuing to learn more and more about the people I was taking care of and their disabilities (and abilities).
Now I'm working at a local middle school substituting as a teaching assisstant in the Disabled Learning Center (DLC) as well as workng full-time at the group home. I like this job even better! The kids are great and I enjoy going to work. It's amazing the effect of having a job (or two) that you enjoy has on your life. I'm probably happier now than I've ever been!
For the past month and a half I've been working with emotionally disturbed children. This has got to be, by far, the most difficult thing I've ever done. These kids have some serious problems and they want help, but don't know how to get it with out letting their walls down. I might write more on this another time, but this position is temporary and I'm not sure how it's gonna turn out.
It's December as I write this and I've been doing the "temporary" job for about 7 months now. It hasn't gotten much easier and I've hit the burnout stage a couple of times already, but something about it pulls me back again and again.
I've begun collecting a few links on the subjects relevant to what I do. Please e-mail me if you know of other good sites.
The Arc
Ooops! Wrong Planet Syndrome
Center for the Study of Autism
Angelman Syndrome Foundation
Disability Information Center
Quick Search! - A place to search for info on disorders or disabilites.
On a sadder note, I've also experienced a great loss because of my job. My friend, Aaron died last August.