Monday, January 7, 2013

Daughter's Rant

Beginning this week, Daughter will be going to the sheltered workshop two days a week.  She requested this at the planning meeting last month. 

Last night, after our final party of the season, she was helping me clean the kitchen.  She went on this rant, raging about how she wasn't safe at the workshop, and she didn't want this, and the staff harassed her, and she didn't belong there.  I didn't respond much, and she continued shouting (and occasionally crying) for 10-15 minutes.  The entire time, she was working.  It was surreal.  When she finally stopped, I told her that I knew it was scary and I suspected once she got there today she'd feel better about it. 

The kitchen is now back to normal.  The 5 leaves are out of the table.  The 12 extra chairs have been returned to the basement.  The punch bowl and large coffee pot are back on the basement shelf.    It's amazing how much room there is now with all of that put away.

Our last party yesterday evening went well.  It was funny, though, I had a hard time getting them to go get their food.  I realized we were a bunch of ministers, accustomed to being last in line at church suppers.  

Today I brought lunch and supper, and will be here until after this evening's meeting.  The next couple of weeks will be very busy.  Lots of good things happening, and lots of work. 

2 comments:

Miz Kizzle said...

Did she go to the workshop once a week previously? Why do you think she doesn't like it there? Is it because she wishes she could work in an office or a retail store like the "normal" young women she sees on TV?

Reverend Mom said...

She has been going once a week. I think the issue is that her PTSD makes it challenging for her. She is hypervigilant, and it is very hard for her to keep track of everyone. She is easily overwhelmed. She spends most of her day in a small room working on a particular project with a smaller group as we seek to make it more manageable for her. There has been some talk about letting her help in the office, but it hasn't happened yet.