He called me Momma

What a beautiful moment. And what a heart you must have. It's easy to know they don't mean to hurt you, but with how often you have been hurt, it would be very human to resent him a bit, and try to minimize contact with him. What a compliment he gave you.

I do hope you are reaching him. That is so sad when someone has those kinds of problems. It has to be so scary working there. Can't the doctors force him to take medicine. If he is a danger to people, what about having him in a hospital and getting him medicated. I know of someone who has issues similar to this. He lives in a group home setting. He is not allowed out in society. He has to go to the hospital every now and then to get his medicine adjusted because of violent outburst. He can be the sweetest most gentle guy in the world. I hope you don't get hurt anymore.

awee pal that is brilliant , yes you must have got through to him , maybe he realizes that you are trying to be kind , it must have been such a nice feeling for you both , An online friend of mine had to give up on the same kind of job , she was hurt quite a few times quite badly , she didn't want to give it up but had to , xx

The job you describe certainly does not pay enough for what you go through. I know, I work similarly. These moments are the payoff.

I loved working in a group home. The progress that our guys made. The feelings that it gave you when they accomplished things. We had disabled men in our home. We had 5 of them. We had 2 downs syndrome and one severly autistic. The rest were just 'very' slow.They were 22 to 64 years old. It sounds to me that you are reaching this guy. Keep up the good work. just be on your guard with him. Sometimes a little thing can turn into a huge thing with them.

I am glad that what he said made you feel better. But my goodness, what he does to you all is horrible. I live in a board and care. In order to live here, not only do you have to take meds, but you have to be med complient. I think that if he is not on meds he should be moved to another facility. He could kill on of you guys. Are you guys allowed to wear protective gear? This really upsets me because I use to take care of developmentally disabled clients, but it was in more of a convelesant home environment. The closest we ever got to violent behavior was keeping them from hitting themselves. One guy would hit himself on the head, so they put a helmet on him to protect his head. Then he started hitting the helmet. We were instructed to do what we could to prevent him from hitting the helmet, but sometime my hand got caught between the helmet and his hand and that really hurt. One of the hardest things was that none of our clients were ambulatory. They were all in wheelchairs. I remember this one client who was about my size. Sometimes she would move unexpectantly when I was attempting to get her in the wheel chair. She would end up falling on the floor. What got me though was that not only would she not attempt to break the fall, but she would be smiling the whole time. I would have to run and get someone to help me ge her off the floor. It was one heck of an experience.

Oh Wow!! This is something, is it not. Maybe due to the way you have been trying to help him, he sees you as a Mother figure knowing you are caring for him, and about him just like any mother should. In a lot of ways I can see how you would have mixed thoughts and feelings on this as well. His real mother might feel a little offended like you are vieying for all of the attention over him instead of him getting it from her. All I can say, is sounds like it takes a special person to work there with those people. Glad you are of assistance and there for them. Sounds like a job most people would not want to do.

I think he should go back to the doctor. It seems there must be a reason he is acting out, if he was always a very happy person. It is always nice to know we can get through and make a difference to people with special needs.

Although I am concerned about your safety, I can understand your feeling of reaching out to this young man.

Deb, I tend to agree with you in that if his behavior has all of a sudden taken a turn for the worse then it is pain, or frustration. If he is in pain why will his mother not let him have pain medication. This seems a bit cruel to me. I mean I understand some of the concept of not wanting him addicted, but dang to let some one lay in pain is not humane either. When he touched your face and called you Momma, are you sure he did not think you were his mom? I have worked in group homes such as this, it takes a special person to care, and tolerate some of the things that you must in this kind of profession. So much love, patience, understanding... I admire you very much for it.

that must of made you feel good he must of felt some kind of comfort around you