I dreamed a dream last night and in the dream I was given one wish .
I know, one wish is not three and I even said in the dream ,'Sorry but it is meant to be three', but sadly the wish giver was not listening:(
So one it was.
But what to wish for ?
Obviously, anything I wished for would be something to do with Beauty but what to choose ?
What a terrible position I felt I had been put in.
First I thought NO MORE AUTISM.
But then I thought WHY, she has had the happiest childhood that any child could have.
Second I thought,all the money I need and more to provide for her.
But then I thought WHY, she has everything she wants and needs now.
Then thirdly I thought, a world that doesn't stare and treat her like a freak would be fine.
And that is what I wished for.
'You pay peanuts, you get monkeys' as the saying goes.
I know people who are working in care homes and the wage is usually basic rate, not enough to feed a family on and because of this the turnover in care staff is high and quality of care cannot be maintained in some care homes.
If the staff were better paid, taught and regulated then perhaps there may be an improvement in the provision of care.
But these are private businesses looking to make a profit so the moment the staff find a better paid job they move on. I watched the film and from the first few seconds of filming I could pick out those who were not suitable to work in that environment. So it is not just the carers who should be found guilty of abuse but the people who employed them.
The whole of the Castlebeck company needs to be investigated.
20 June 2011 Winterbourne View Panorama 'abuse' hospital to close Castlebeck will close Winterbourne View on Friday 24 June Related Stories Parents 'feel sick' over 'abuse''Abuse' film nurses are suspended Care home serious review date set A residential hospital for vulnerable adults near Bristol where alleged abuse was secretly filmed by the BBC Panorama programme is to close on Friday. Castlebeck, which runs Winterbourne View, said the hospital would close on 24 June when the last patients would be transferred to alternative services. Patients at the unit were filmed by an undercover reporter posing as a care worker The footage showed residents being pinned down, slapped and taunted. A spokesman for Castlebeck said the company had been working closely with families and carers, the NHS and social services "to ensure patients are safely transferred with minimum disruption to their lives". After the programme was broadcast Castlebeck apologised and launched an internal investigation. A number of people have been questioned by police and released on bail following the programme and the government said it would carry out its own review of what happened. A serious case review into the alleged abuse at the residential hospital has been set for July. 'Future untenable' Jack Lopresti, the local Conservative MP, said he had met Lee Reed, the chief executive of Castlebeck, earlier in the day. Mr Lopresti said: "Mr Reed gave me his assurances that the closure of the hospital will be conducted in as sensitive a way as possible. "I stand by my call for the hospital's closure and I am pleased that Castlebeck have come to the same conclusion. "Given the horrific events which have taken place at Winterbourne View I believe its future running is untenable."
When I have had visitors, some have noticed that I iron my Tea Towels and they then proceed to fall about laughing. They have told me that is the last thing they iron BUT if there was only one thing that I iron it would be my Tea Towels. I am not OCD, my children can confirm that but I do believe in avoiding unnecessary infection. I also am not the kind of mother who believes in keeping their children all safely wrapped up and not allowed to get wet and dirty. Beauty is a champion puddle-jumper and will pick the most disgusting things up of the floor and put them in their mouth :) I once worked at a traveller/gypsy clinic and in the depths of winter,when there was frost on the ground, I saw children running around without shoes and socks and they seemed pretty healthy children. I use a dishwasher because it uses less water and hotter water than hand washing and I quite regularly bleach, soak and boil and iron my tea towels. Beauty and I had MRSA when she was approximately 10 days old and I think this is probably one of the main reasons I make an effort with food and dishes cleanliness. Also, Beauty's autism makes her totally unaware of the need for personal hygiene (she is yuk!!!!!) and I use many cloths a day to wipe her hands and face and the table too. Most cloths are usually only used once.
I Googled ironing Tea Towels and the results seemed to be a half way split between those who DO & those who DON'T . The following is one of the many who feel the same way as I do. The following is from somebody who works inn the catering industry and I have to admit that most are not as fastidious as her. I worked as a waitress part-time for over 22 years and most restaurant kitchens are not a pretty sight!
From Yahoo answers Best Answer - Chosen by Asker Firstly buy good quality tea towels - old fashioned white glass cloths are the best as they can with stand all washing, even bleach if needed. Colourful pretty ones are not great as dyes can run in hot washes. Secondly the way you handle your tea towels has to be to ensure that you are keeping any bacterial growth to a safe level. This is why you hang up them to dry after using them as damp conditions are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria. If you wash by hand then you do need to use a fresh one at least every day. I use a dishwasher and use one a week! but rarely dry anything with it so it never gets damp and will pickup very little bacteria. If changing everyday I would still hang the tea towel to dry at the end of the day, but in the morning put out a clean one putting the previous days "down for washing" then do a hot (at least 60'C) wash once a week. If you buy the white "stockinette" dish clothes then do the same with these - a fresh one every day. So hot wash (on their own and certainly never with any clothing), and make sure you dry them quickly removing them from the machine as soon after washing as you can. Once dry IRON them even if this is the only thing you ever iron do it as it sterilises the cloths. Hot wash + Iron = Safe Bacterial levels When washing use Biological POWDER. The biological action breaks down proteins such as will be picked up from food and powder (with the exception of powder to wash colours) contains a bleaching agent which you don't get with liquids - compare Persil Biological Powder with Persil Biological Liquid next time you are in the supermarket! Follow this and you will have beautiful spotless tea towels but more importantly safe!!
If you go through a lot of tea towels and dishcloths then you can do what I do at work. All cloths are never carried from one day to the next - fresh for each day. At the end of the day I soak the cloths (and oven cloths/gloves) in a solution of biological soap powder and COLD water in a STAINLESS STEEL pot (don't use aluminium as the detergent will break this down and the cloths don't come out to clean, enamel pans will work but the enamel eventually corrodes). I leave these soaking all night and then in the morning put the pot on a very low heat and leave it to gradually come up to boil temperature but don't actually let it boil (if you do you end up burning the dirty water which goes a horrible smelly brown that stains the cloths!), giving it an occasional stir I leave them on the low heat for 4-5hours. I then put the pot in the sink and run the cold water through it agitating with my hand. Then give them a final rinse under the hot tap, hand ring and hang up to dry. I then refill the pan with soap powder and cold water and then just add that days dirty cloths one at a time making sure by end of the day all cloths have been put in to soak. Source(s): Am a Caterer
So whilst I have A VERY GRUBBY CHILD that I am training to be A NICE CLEAN CHILD I shall have to maintain my NOT SO DIRTY LITTLE SECRET:)
I once taught manual handling to carers in a nursing home and one of the carers said,'no matter what you teach us,I will do what I like when I am on my own'. How do you deal with that kind of mentality ?
1 June 2011 A pattern of abuse at a residential hospital uncovered by BBC Panorama has been condemned as "shocking" by the government. It comes after Bristol police arrested and later bailed four people over the treatment of patients with learning difficulties at Winterbourne View. Care Services Minister Paul Burstow said he was determined to strengthen safeguards for vulnerable adults. NHS South West said it had been "appalled" by the issues raised. The hospital's owners, Castlebeck, have apologised and suspended 13 employees.
There can be no place for such inhumanity in care services. ” Paul Burstow Care services minister
During five weeks spent filming undercover, Panorama's reporter captured footage of some of the hospital's most vulnerable patients being repeatedly pinned down, slapped, dragged into showers while fully clothed, taunted and teased. Mr Burstow said: "The abuse of people with learning disabilities at Winterbourne View uncovered by Panorama is shocking. There can be no place for such inhumanity in care services. "There have been failures of inspection and adult protection which have exposed people to appalling abuse. "I am determined to strengthen the system of safeguarding to protect vulnerable adults from abuse." Avon and Somerset police confirmed three men - aged 42, 30 and 25 - and a 24-year-old woman were arrested as part of their investigation into the hospital. Mr Burstow said he had already ordered "a thorough examination of the roles of both" government regulato, the Care Quality Commission, and the local authorities. Secret filming caught patients being dragged and slapped by support workers NHS South West said it was "appalled" by the issues raised surrounding the care home. In a statement, it said: "We always expect safe, high-quality care from providers of services and the abuse of vulnerable patients is totally unacceptable." Warnings ignored The programme decided to film secretly after being approached by a former senior nurse at the hospital who was deeply concerned about the behaviour of some of the support workers there "I have seen a lot over 35 years but this I have never seen anything like this. It is the worst I have seen," former nurse Terry Bryan told the programme. Mr Bryan reported his concerns to both management at Winterbourne View and to the CQC, but his complaint was not taken up. In a statement, the CQC said that, following an internal review, it recognised that "there were indications of problems at this hospital which should have led to us taking action sooner". The CQC says it was alerted to the allegations on 12 May 2011 by Panorama reporter Paul Kenyon and carried out unannounced inspections on 17, 18 and 24 May. Joe Casey said filming the abuse was the hardest thing he'd done There is currently a team from the local mental health primary care trust at Winterbourne View and the CQC is in touch with them and going in regularly for informal visits. It said that, in response to the Panorama film, it had carried out three unannounced inspection visits of the hospital and taken steps to ensure it will not admit any new patients. It had also written to Mr Burstow proposing the launch of a programme of risk-based and random unannounced inspections of a sample of the 150 hospitals providing care for people with learning disabilities, a move which the minister backed. Patients moved Castlebeck has launched an internal investigation into their whistle-blower procedures and are reviewing the records of all 580 patients in 56 facilities. Winterbourne View can accommodate 24 patients and is taxpayer-funded, charging the state an average of £3,500 per patient per week. NHS South West said: "Following initial checks, and a subsequent inspection by the CQC it has been agreed that patients should move to alternative facilities at the earliest opportunity." It said: "Primary care trusts in the South West which commissioned placements at the unit have carried out an urgent review of the processes used to commission and review privately provided services. The outcome will be fed into the wider multi-agency safeguarding review." From the BBC website.
How can an autistic 18 year old stand trial in a court of law. Anyone else think that this young man has been let down and failed by a society that was meant to care for him? And do they really think that 2 years in prison is a fair or sensible action to take ?
"Latson to serve two years instead of 10-plus
STAFFORD — An autistic teenager from Stafford whose case drew national attention was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday instead of the 10-and-a-half the jury recommended.
Reginald “Neli” Latson had eight-and-a-half years of his time suspended in Stafford County Circuit Court, leaving him with two, according to Judge Charles Sharp, who said that the time he already has served — about a year — will count toward his sentence.
Latson mostly kept his head down low while seated and when responding to Judge Sharp he was barely audible in the full but small courtroom.
The 19-year-old was convicted by a jury in March and ordered to serve 10-and-a-half years in prison for an altercation that took place against a school resource officer in May of last year. At the time, he had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Several people were called to testify Tuesday including Latson’s former middle school wrestling coach David Emison; and Vicki McCarthy, a licensed therapist who works in Fredericksburg — she met Latson when he was in middle school.
The prosecution team, led by Stafford prosecutor Jim Peterson, played a 911 tape from an incident in the spring of 2008 when Latson’s mother Lisa Alexander called the police and wanted her son removed from her home due to his being violent.
She told police her son was cursing at them all day, behaving violently and “needs to get out of the house.”
The prosecution also noted in court that Latson has hit other children and exposed himself to them.
McCarthy, when called to testify, described Latson as very shy. She said she met him just after he had been diagnosed with an autism disorder. He had earlier been diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, she said.
“I think he needs a lot more support than the prison system can offer him,” said McCarthy. … “I was horrified at what happened to Deputy Calverley. …Our community lost on both ends. I would like to see [Latson] get the help he needs.”
On May 24 last year, Latson scuffled with Calverley after the school resource officer approached him, police said.
That day, a call came in to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office from an adult at Park Ridge Elementary School at about 8:30 a.m. The caller reported a “suspicious” man sitting in a grassy area near Porter Library. Some confusion about whether there was a gun or not came about, but the man in question did not have a gun, police determined.
Meanwhile, local schools were put on lockdown.
The school resource officer reportedly administered pepper spray, but Latson gained control and sprayed Calverley in return. Calverley suffered a head laceration, cuts, abrasions and a broken ankle.
Latson was later convicted of assault on a law enforcement officer and wounding in the commission of a felony, according to court records. He was also convicted of disarming a police officer and obstruction of justice.
McCarthy described some of Latson’s idiosyncrasies such as carrying a key around his neck, carrying three playing cards, often wearing a hoodie, repeating television and movie lines out of nowhere and carrying string that he runs through his fingers. She said he had an aversion to strong odors.
Emison, when testifying, spoke about Latson’s earlier athletic talent. The coach said he didn’t have problems with Latson on the team.
The defense, led by William Reichhardt, asked Emison, “Knowing what you know today [about Latson] would you still want him on your wrestling team?” Emison, who coached Latson at A.G. Wright Middle School in Stafford, responded: “Yes, I would take him on my team in a second.”
A doctor who testified for the defense recommended that Latson go to several facilities for treatment instead of prison.
He has “significant difficulty making appropriate social judgments,” the doctor said, noting that sending him to prison for an extensive period of time would not only result in an “abysmal prognosis” but it would mean “we’re missing this window of opportunity to intervene.”
The judge’s conditions in suspending Latson’s time include time spent at residential treatment programs and probation."
Written by Tracy Bell Tracy Bell is managing editor of the Stafford County Sun.
