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Disabled People and Abusive Caregivers

We Deserve Better

By Iria Vasquez-PaezPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Here’s another situation you able-bodied folks do not think about when it comes to disabled people stuck in an abusive situation be it a partner or family. Some people with disabilities put up with their caretaker being abusive by stealing their things. It can be hard to find a trustworthy caretaker for starters. If a family is untrustworthy, it is only because they use somebody’s disability to control them, their finances, when they leave the house, and more. Families shame their disabled children sometimes, depending on the type of disability.

Chronically ill people can become dependent on their caretaker depending on how their illness progresses. Disabled people have various obstacles that depend on a person’s individual situation. I’m only saying this because there are many different kinds of disabilities out there. Deaf people, for example, may or may not need an interpreter who speaks American sign. If they have a hearing aid, this does help them hear. Some in my family refuse to wear their hearing aids. They are not helping their ability to hear with this attitude. But anyway, most of us with a disability want to make ourselves functional, not dysfunctional.

Abusive caregivers do not give their victims access to things such as water, for example, or food. Trustworthy caregivers make a person feel safe. I’m going for a non-fundamentalist caregiver because I will have to call 911 if they are mean to me or threaten me in any way. I’m trying out a caregiver scenario just to see if I can get one that I trust as well as for the fact that my family is coming back. Yes, I worry about this. But well, I can get out of the house a lot when I need to, and I’m going to do that a lot.

Caregivers need to be trustworthy, and that’s the bottom-line. Maybe my non-profit can provide caregivers too. This would count as a service we would provide, trustworthy caregivers. There are problems with every healthcare system on this planet, not just in the United States, but also, even in countries where the healthcare is free. We need to work on our healthcare situation as a planet in general, not just individual countries. There are problems everywhere and no one country has free healthcare.

Caregivers, however, are only assigned when somebody needs more help than they let on. Having a caregiver is a useful endeavor but not always necessary and they may not grant my request for one. But well, I can take care of myself. I’m busy working on a bunch of different projects anyway. Disabled people simply have many social problems that we are not addressing as a society in general. People with disabilities need better resources such as my non-profit among other things. We need to make sure that we have a way of finding trustworthy caregivers. They exist but are not always available through legitimate caregiver organizations. Sometimes it is hard to find a trustworthy caregiver.

Caregivers who steal things from their charges need to be arrested or fined. A trustworthy caregiver is something sorely needed right now in the industry. Caregivers need to be able to maintain their end of the bargain. I cannot ask for an untrustworthy caregiver as I have sensitive data on my USB drive, for example, which needs to be protected. I’m going err on the side of caution and I could say I don’t need a caregiver except to protect myself. I will have one around for my safety. Caregivers are interesting to have around though, that’s for sure.

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About the Creator

Iria Vasquez-Paez

I have a B.A. in creative writing from San Francisco State. Can people please donate? I'm very low-income. I need to start an escape the Ferengi plan.

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