Friday, September 4, 2009

Guest Post by PCA

“What is Dominoe doing?” a question that would be asked of a girl often when she was first met by the writer. Now, Dominoe is a young woman and that question is still being asked. Dominoe had personal care attendants that helped her to carry through her days. At school there were aides that helped her.

Dominoe, through the last seven years, has made some progress and none of it is measurable on any test but ‘mama’s test’ and ‘old lady’s test’. She was not able to use the microwave, not because she was not capable of performing the task. The safety question had come in the picture.

As I became her direct care companion (DCC), this older (59) woman decided; she needed to be able to get a snack when she wanted one. All of the dos and don’ts were well taught so Dominoe could choose and zap a snack (all under the wary eye of her DCC).

One day her mom called, Dominoe is cooking in the microwave some noodle soup. She (mama) was surprised that she (Dominoe) had been taught to do this function and she could do it so well. As well as she knew the precautions.