Tag Archives: assessment unit

“Finding him something to do…”

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It was LB’s community team meeting at lunchtime today. He’d refused the farm so talk turned to finding him something to do instead of school. My brain nearly melted.

How can we be in this position of “finding him something to do“? Not just him. Any young learning disabled person? How can we be talking in these terms? Where’s the aspiration? The opportunities?  Ironically of course, giving LB choice is an effective way of erasing aspiration from his life; he will choose to stay in bed, watch DVDs and eat loads of cake.

I walked back from the meeting, head reeling. I’d mentioned that we have given thought to LB’s longer term plans (of course), we have got a folder full of residential college brochures that the county council will never fund, we know that local college provision is crap, and that leaves, er, direct payments. Which is where we started.

How can provision be this crap?

Well the walk to the unit kind of (but not really) sheds some light on that question. A 25 minute walk through a local estate to the ring road where the site is. I thought, funnily enough along the way, how this location reflects the status of learning disabled people in society. How much learning disability provision is located on the margins, at the edges of towns and cities? Winterbourne View was on an industrial estate. Leominster day centre is literally next to the dump.

A very recent indication of this status is evident in the endless discussion and jokes in the media, and social media, about the ‘swivel eyed loon’ comment, with barely any reflection on the offensiveness of this comment. It’s almost as if people don’t see it…. because really, and maybe subconsciously, they don’t see learning disabled people as fully human. 

I got home and had an email from the Care Manager. I’d chased her up this morning about arranging a meeting to talk about LB’s future plans. She’d emailed me a couple of months ago to say that when someone is about to leave the unit, they have a Care Plan Approach (CPA) meeting to discuss what is going to happen.

Her email said it was being held on June 10th. In less than three weeks time.

Turned out the invitation had been emailed to various professionals last week with a note at the bottom saying:

Please let me know if anyone else should be invited to this meeting.

No words. Just tears of frustration and rage and despair.

The Unit. Day 59

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LB went to the farm today. Under duress but with effective encouragement. His face lit up when he saw his teachers apparently.

He was lazing in the living room, surrounded by his transport magazines when we turned up this evening. He showed us his scrap metal notebook. After the list of items he’ll need to set up a scrap metal depot, he’d drawn a picture of a lorry on each page and labelled them ‘scrap metal lorry’.

Towards the end of the book, there was a picture of two men with guns pointed at each other, labelled ‘Dirty Harry’.

“Wow. Have you seen Dirty Harry LB?’
“Yes.”
“You must tell Grandad, he likes Dirty Harry.”
“Yes.”
“Whose the other man in the picture?”
“Dirty Barry.”

The Unit. Day 42

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The excitement of the trip to the bus museum had worn off by the time we visited yesterday evening. LB was in his room, subdued, having chosen not to go to the farm (again).

Choice eh? Very, very important that learning disabled people can make these choices, we’re told. Unlike many other people, who have no choices in their everyday lives. Yeah, it’s so much better that LB is able to choose to laze about in his bedroom all day (again), than get a good day’s exercise, sunshine, fresh air, hang out with different people and be productive. My arse.

Of course loads of people would choose the room-laze option over working. But they wouldn’t be given that choice on a daily basis. They’d have to (if they could) do something productive. And more than likely want to after a few days.

I’m getting pretty naffed off with this choice charade as you can probably tell.

Anyway. Back to yesterday evening.  LB’s bedroom was snug and comfy, with the evening sun shining in. He sat leafing through his Yellow Pages, with bus magazines spread across the floor. Jug of squash on the desk. It was calm and peaceful.

“Do you like it here, LB?” Asked Rich.

“Not really, no”, he replied, without looking up.

The Unit. Day 30

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Rich visited LB yesterday. Apparently LB was withdrawn, not very communicative and didn’t want me to visit. He said I should ring the unit today. I rang this evening on the bus home from work. Blimey. He wanted me to visit.

I jumped in the car as soon as I got home and whizzled round there. He was OK. Been in his room all day (after a good day at Trax on yesterday), quiet and a bit subdued. The nurse came in with a plastic kidney shaped dish with a cup of water and pot of pills. Funny because you forget it’s a hospital really. LB carefully drank the full cup of water, put the cup back on the tray then picked up the pills to swallow. Love him.

So, as far as we know, he’s a voluntary patient. He’s going to the farm tomorrow with Sue and his class. And hopefully getting back to the chill pill he was on Monday morning. That’s pretty good really.