I spent the summer working at my dad’s company, In-Pact. In-Pact is a non-profit company that provides developmentally disabled individuals with assistance in their daily lives. I’m working in the day-program again over Christmas break (I’ve got to pay for books somehow). In my first few days back on the job, I have realized how much I learned over the summer because of my experiences on the job. Due to company policy, I cannot mention anyone by name or other details about them, so this article will be more focused on what I have learned rather than the clients.

The most crucial part of my job is staying calm in a crisis. Everyone has bad days – that’s just part of life. Some of the individuals I worked with cannot easily tell us if they are upset. This usually leads them to act out by screaming, breaking things, or trying to hit other clients and staff. Initially, this freaked me out, but, after a few weeks on the job, I was more focused on calming or protecting my clients. By the end of the summer, I barely flinched at anything the job could throw at me. Be it an attempt at running away, property destruction, or finding my client naked in the bathroom, nothing could surprise me. Yes, I have dealt with all three of these things at least twice.

When I look beyond the crazy aspects of my job, I realize that I have learned a lot about how to work with people effectively. This is not to say that I was totally socially inept before I started working at In-Pact, but I was not always effective when instructing people. Prior to this, the only people I had consistently needed to motivate were my pledge brothers and/or the pledge classes that followed. That type of motivation, more often than not, was just a lot of swearing and threatening to throw things out the window. Needless to say, this type of behavior would have gotten me fired if I tried it with my clients.
I found that motivating clients was a simpler than I thought. If they were reluctant in completing a task, a little bit of assistance on my part was enough to get them motivated. While I was away, I noticed that I kept using this type of thinking in the leadership positions I had on campus. Regardless of the task or an individual’s mental capability, it is better to focus on what you can do to help them get it right rather than focusing on what they are doing wrong.

I think this realization, in part, was due to a deeper realization about myself. I never thought I had the ability to be compassionate, at least in a caretaker role. I am not a heartless monster, but actually caring for an individual, who more or less relies on you for their safety and well-being, seemed foreign to me. I never thought I would be capable of showing that type of compassion at this point in my life (my dogs being the exception to this). Despite myself doubt, I continue to find myself showing this exact type of compassion every day at my job. Whether I am keeping a vigilant eye on a sick client, or going out of my way to find a new activity for a client, I am constantly surprised by how much I have come to care for the people in my care.

At the end of the day, our clients are no different than any other person. They have their good days and their bad ones. They are all passionate about something, and beyond that, I believe they all can excel at something. Their area of expertise can be as simple as jigsaw puzzles or tic-tac-toe. The important thing in this line of work, in any line of work for that matter, is to never underestimate the power of human potential. I am constantly amazed by what our clients can do if a little bit of attention is paid to them. People will surprise you if you invest a little bit of time in them.