Team Hoyt

I guess I never posted this. I found it today on my computer when I was cleaning some stuff out.

You all know I work with kids who have disabilities, some of you even work with the same kids. I love these kids to death. No matter how much work there is to do or rules I have to follow that I don’t agree with, those kids are something else. They daily surpass the expectations that doctors have put on them… they will never walk… they won’t communicate… they wont have a “normal life.” What is normal anyways, I know my life isn’t and I am very happy. Do you know that some of the children were given life expectancies of only a few years? Some doctors wanted to put feeding tubes in the children and the parents refused, saying I will teach them to eat, and they did. The direct care staff may not see it, but the kids do things daily, that others never thought they would do. For some of my kids that I work with, they don’t get to see their parents everyday. For whatever reason, they have been placed outside the home. When I get the opportunity to tell people of some of the reasons these kids did not make it in the home, they are surprised. Even ones that work with them daily don’t realize what odds they were given. The staff do not realize, that these children are some of the most difficult to serve children in Illinois. They’ve gotten out of the house and lost in the community only to be picked up by police and taken to the hospital, but could do easily been hit by a car. Others from homes so abused and neglected but unable to speak about their experiences- maybe that is for the better. The work that our direct care staff do is something I admit I would have to work very hard to be good at. I am in the way when I work with the kids, they are the ones that deserve the credit, and I try to tell them as much as I can. These kids, are with us because their parents can’t do the work they do.

I’ve always loved kids. My cousins always teased that I tried to keep the baby that was being passed around family parties the longest. It wasn’t until a few years that the thought of having children, really started to freak me out. It was when I started working with the children, that I started to worry, what if my children have disabilities? Lately, I’ve been learning that, the kids at work have taught me more about living life than many other experiences in my life. I find myself amazed when the kids speak in full sentences or reading, feeding or dressing themselves and socializing with one another. Can I tell you that seeing a child start to take his first steps is quite amazing?! I am honored to be apart of it.

At church this weekend, the pastor talked about this family.

In this movie, they make reference to how the doctors said to institutionalize him. I understand that a lot of people have a very bad stigma against residential placements. Some think the children are abused or unhappy. Some think that parents are giving up their children and don’t care about them. I believe whole heartedly that our children are very happy and well taken care of. I quit my last job without having any source of income because I felt the agency was not providing services that the clients needed, and I was not going to be apart of it. Many have parents with kids at our placement see them often, and all believe that they will have the best possibly development because they are in residential placement. Some feel that placing them outside the home, is what being a better parent is meant. Although it is not for everyone, residential placement for many helps children have a better life. I know I would get arguments on that, but when you see children, completely non-verbal, interacting and playing toys or coloring or laughing together, how can you experience that in another setting? What parent of a disabled child with behaviors wants another kids to deal with in their home for play dates? I wish I could get it through to all the direct support staff that the parents notice all their work. They notice gains in their kids every time they see him. Yeah, they have problems and we address them, but more often they can not thank you guys enough.

If I am ever a parent, I want to be like this man. I want to love my children like God loves me. I will never be perfect and sinless like Jesus, but He does teach me daily that I can give a portion of that love that He gives me.