On this day in 1887, Anne Sullivan began teaching six-year-old Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing after a severe illness at the age of 19 months. Anne Sullivan might be considered the first of the Direct Support Professionals people of this world.
And why are they so important?
Having dealt with so many of them who have attended lovingly
to my daughter, Ellen and having a son who is one, I understand the hardships
they deal with every time they work. I understand the decisions they need to make
and I also understand how vital they are for the people they do the work for,
not their bosses but their charges.
Imagine you have a job that requires your being on time,
every day, driving through snow storms and freezing rain and ice, feeding and changing diapers, chopping up food, looking for
abnormalities in people who have disabilities and cannot speak for themselves.
Imagine dressing them, cleaning running noses, lifting them as dead weight, and
you have a picture of your job. Then you take that paycheck to the bank and pay
your taxes with it and the cost of gasoline and car maintenance, because you
need a car to drive to work, you need clothes to wear, and oh, I forgot, you
also need to feed your family.
You pray you don’t get sick because you need a job because
your two jobs together just barely pays for your survival, and the Governor of
the great state of NEW YORK, will not appropriate an increase to your meager
salary because he just doesn’t give a damn.
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