Work Update

Recently, I have been rather hesitant to write new "Highlight of the Day" segments of my blog. This is something that is supposed to force me to update my blog on a near-daily basis by talking about an interesting or funny story from work.  Currently, my work is being a one-on-one with a young man who has autism.  These days, my job consists mostly of the same schedule everyday.

In the morning, my student comes to school, and we spend the first few hours of school dealing with bad behavior.  These includes inappropriate language and topics of conversation, violent and threatening language, hitting and kicking objects, and throwing objects.  When he get's angry and aggressive (and there isn't always a reason why he gets angry), I become the primary target of his aggression because I spend the most time with him.  So far, I have been kicked, spit on, and had various objects thrown at me.  Some of this behavior is work avoidance, and some of it is his Torette's.  Depending on the day, there is little or any school work that gets done by lunch.  He goes to lunch, and usually takes a nap (a product of the different types of medicine he is on).  By the time he wakes up, he has time to do maybe one or two assignments.  There are usually less than 2 hours left by the time we reach this point in the school day.  With maybe an occasional exception here and there, my student's schedule goes like this everyday.

I guess I have been hesitant to write about my job because, frankly, I haven't felt like writing about it.  At times, my job is fascinating and silly (he can be a really funny and sweet kid).  At other times, it is frustrating and downright depressing.  I feel so bad for the emotional roller coaster that his mind takes him on from hour-to-hour.  A lot of nights, the last thing I want to do is sit down and write about these difficult days in an internet post.  I hope readers will understand where I am coming from.

That doesn't mean I won't ever share any stories.  For instance, my student was talking about Monty Python yesterday, and he did his impression of the monks who hit themselves from The Holy Grail.  I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time, and I know the other adults in the room thought it was funny too (by the way, he didn't actually hit himself).  For those of you who have never seen The Hold Grail and don't know what I'm talking about: first of all, SHAME ON YOU FOR NOT SEEING IT.  Go rent it right now.  Secondly, here are the monks who hit themselves.