I have searched a similar thread on the forum before, but I hadn't found it.
I would like to know if some persons here are working, or planning to work in the future, with persons who have a disability.
If some of your are (or plan to be, or were before) in the domain, could you share your experience , the role/function you have, and so on...
For myself, for summarizing my career :
Before, I studied psychology, with the aim, at that time, to work in geriatrics as a psychologist. However, if I succeeded to my Licence (the first University degree in my country, equivalent to the Bachelor in the U.S.), and began a Master (the second University degree in my country... uh, it's the same name in U.S.), as the Master was much more difficult than the Licence, I failed to become a psychologist.
Then, during near one year, I worked in a nursing home (a house for old people who cannot stay alone at home). I already had a little experience in this domain before (as an intern during my studies in one other nursing home, and as a volunteer with persons who have a physical disability), but this was my first real and long-time job.
Persons in nursing home are not all here for the same reasons (even if, of course, their reasons are near all due to aging), but near all of them have disabilities, either physical, either psychical (most of them suffer from dementia such as the Alzheimer's Disease, or from delirium), either both.
Most of the time, I worked at the animation, but sometimes, I also take the time to speak with persons who had problems such as depression, or "just the blues" and I tried to cheer them up, or to reassure persons with confusion problems.
I can say that what I learned in psychology really helped me in fact, as it was not always simple.
But as it was only a limited-time job, and I'm now retaking studies for one year (it's a one year training) with the aim to become a social worker in the domain of disabilities and aging.
Now it's to you.
Don't be shy, I hope we will have discussions of this topic.
