Trauma and disablity lets talk about the lack of it.
This is something that we don’t really talk about and as we
all start to think about the new year we need to start talking about these
things as, unfortunately people with be subjected to trauma over the holidays
and it can be triggering for people with a disability or who have been removed from
families it can be a difficult time of year.
We also are seeing that it can be a time where budgets are tight,
and it provides not comfort and job but stress and anxiety of how to provide
for a family or contribute to the day. But this is where we need to start talking
about how having a disability isn’t inherently traumatising, but it can be,
where the trauma start is not with the person who has the disability but with
the persons family realising or having testing before the child is born or
realising that they are not hitting their milestones or even hitting them early.
With the people who have become disabled later in life or
have had a live changing accident or illness, this is traumatic
for the family realising that life will never be the same again. But this is
the initial trauma and not the trauma that is ongoing as the family starts to deal with the changed
situation and outcomes of having the disability and the possibilities of
needing care and what that looks like and in countries that don’t have a
universal care system this is where it get complicated as a person may need to
either pay for care or become a care giver for that person.
It can be isolating and extremely stressful in that situation
due to the fact that caring for a family member is taught and not the same as
being paid to provide support.
I know that there are some wonderful independent support workers
out there, but I am also seeing that they are at times not aware of professional
boundaries and what is good and bad support and are on a bit of a power trip
and this really does need to stop.
For my community access team I have a very ethically based support organization
who really has made a difference not only in my life but in my families life,
in my housing team their has been a few speed bumps but not to major that it
can’t be sorted out, as in a Sil house the reality is your not going to be buddy, buddy with everyone who supports you and that is ok but respect is mandatory
for them and this is where they also need to respect you and your boundaries and capabilities as
well. It’s a challenging situation and it’s rare to find trauma informed
support workers to work with people as they need to be not only highly trained
but trauma informed and be able to separate the person from the behaviour but to still
understand that behaviour is a form of communication,
but if a person isn’t attached to
reality this is where it gets tricky and we need to be able to meet the person
where they are at and have compassion for them and to understand what is going
on in their world. Perceived or otherwise, it’s something that takes a lot of practice
to not be nervous and to just get on with it, as most “new support” workers are
hypersensitive to doing or saying the wrong thing but if you have a bit of
common sense that is ok and it’s how we learn.
I have also found that there is a shortage of positive behaviour
support practitioners and that we need many more as they are the key in
reducing trauma around the usage of approved restrictive practices and that
means having the right team and paperwork involved as using these without proper
context and support can be traumatic for both the person who has the disability,
support workers and other housemates.
It’s unapproved practices that I am against and when they
are used very inappropriate due to the fact that there is a very low barrier to
entry, around becoming a support worker and the perception is it’s an easy job.
It’s not and you need to be able to work with all sorts of different people and
expectations and not take away a person’s agency when they have the capacity to
work it out for themselves and are motivated to change.
RACGP
- Trauma-informed care in general practice
Trauma
Awareness: Supporting People with a Disability (blueknot.org.au)
Trauma-informed
care - Wikipedia
Person-cantered
therapy - Wikipedia
Person-cantered
therapy - Wikipedia
Comments
Post a Comment