autism and support worker

[Eden1919]

so i am having some issues with one of my support workers and idk what to do or how to explain things better to her. she recently cut back her hours with me because she was uncomfortable apperantly because i was not talking to her enough and because i didnt give her enough to do now i have been very unwell for this whole year pretty much and so i havent been able to do much at all but i have been doing what i can as much as possible but she pretty much said being unwell was not an excuse and sometimes particualrly when i am not doing so well i struggle to talk sometimes i go mute even and this is something i have been dealing with my whole life and it happens with everyone not just her but none the less i try my best to talk as much as i can while she is here to the point of exhaustion after she leaves and that is not appreiciated at all i still need to do more aperantly. she made everything about her and how she was feeling and didnt ask how i was feeling about it despite the fact that she is being paid to support me and i just ugh like i try my best to be as normal as i can be when i am with her but nothing i do seems to be enough. 

also she expects me to respond somehow differently to her small talk like she will say something like "it was hot today" to which i will reply "yes it was" and apperantly that is not good enough of a response apreantly i am supposed to say something else or more idk really it is confusing and she knows what conditions i have but doesnt seem to take that into account at all. idk what to do if anyone has any advice it would be welcome. 

[tyme]

Hearing you @Eden1919 

I hear how confusing it must be! 

Sounds like you need to support the support worker lol. Do you have an option of changing support workers?

Have you ever worked with an occupational therapist of this sort of stuff?

[Eden1919]

@tyme  i cant get another worker at the moment i am already short on workers and am not getting enough of my support days covered so i cant afford to lose her right now. i am looking into getting another company on board but it is hard and will take some time. i am also on the wait list for an occupational therapist so cant start working with one until i reach the front of the line which is frustrating. 

[Macey]

Hi @Eden1919 and I'm thinking support worker this one might not be goodun at their job. Many ways people communicate without they call it 'verbage' and 'support worker' should be trained in this language that is non verbal. So maybe this one is defective support worker and not suitable to vocation. 

not your fault sweetheart 🌼

[Eden1919]

@Macey  Thanks yeah I am not sure what to do because I can’t get a new support worker yet but I am working on getting another company involved who might be able to cover the shifts so hopefully if I can get that sorted I may be able to get a new one. But it is really difficult finding support workers trained in mental health issues. 

[tyme]

True that @Eden1919 .

It's hard finding support workers in general. There is so much work out there that workers can actually choose their clients and not the other way around.

Hope things get better for you.

[Macey]

• @Eden1919 but sad thing this is many have mental health first aid training but don't really care. It's like a day or two day open book course and it's just to flesh out a CV but no real care in them 😔

[Eden1919]

@tyme  yeah thanks and yeah there is such a shortage that the workers can choose who they want to work with and be picky about clients and the clients just have to take what they can get which sucks.

@Macey that is so true mental health first aid is not nearly enough training and half of them dont even care to begin with i wish it wasnt so hard to find good help. 

[Macey]

 but @Eden1919 everything has a season.

[tyme]

Agreed @Macey  🙂