Yet Again

Life changes yet again today.  I'm not ready for it...

When Ashley moved to our state's Developmental Disabilities Medicaid Waiver, she became eligible for many services, one of which is a personal care aide through an agency.  In the past, Ashley has had what is called a 'consumer directed' aide, a person that I would seek out and hire.  But now, we are relying on an agency to do the seeking and hiring.

Several other families referred me to a specific agency, saying they were really good and worked hard to find an aide that was the best match for your family.  I want to believe that, but the jury is still out in my opinion.

In the past several weeks, I've met five aide candidates, and three others cancelled their appointments at the last minute.  Of the five, I'm only really impressed by one, and that person is only available three afternoons this week - and that's it.  Which leads me to the second issue that has me worrying...

I *think* we have two aides that will work this week - I won't really know until they show up - and then the agency is going to keep looking for others because I still don't have all the hours covered.  My biggest concern is the number of people who will be coming in and out of the house to work with Ashley, none of which will be around long enough to build up the trust and type of relationship Ashley needs and deserves.

I'm still hopeful that the agency will find the exact right person, and maybe one more to cover one evening (so I can go to Ronnie's sporting events) and a few hours on the weekend so I can get some errands done.  That would be my ideal situation, and one to which  Ashley would best adapt.

For a person with deafblindness, building a trusting relationship with someone, especially someone who is going to be helping with the more intimate parts of her daily routine, is paramount.  But if we are constantly changing aides, I am worried that won't happen.  Please keep Ashley in your thoughts and prayers, hoping she will find the right person (people) to help her while also making her comfortable with their presence.