Sowing and harvesting- a rhythm for farmers!
So it is for anyone opus in any work situation. We share our abilities and resources in our work place to turn it into a place of yielding fruits for the benefit of others.
I have begun to look at the way I worked in my present work place for the last eight years and reflect on what I leave behind as I prepare for my departure. I have many experiences of encouragement to be grateful for!
I have however some concerns which disturb me as I reflect on this experience. As I work in a specialty that engages children with long term needs due to their Neuro-developmental needs, what one needs is a patient and steadfast approach. This suggests that there is greater attention needed to a hosts of situations at home, school, neighbourhood, skill development facilities, job opportunities, etc. I find that changes needed to offer an inclusive approach to children as they grow up are often difficult to create. I do not feel that parents are often in a position of openness to make changes which alone can create a setting to optimise the prospects of developmental support for their children.
If a mother were to take leave from her work to help her child to adapt to the school environment, how would the family manage financially during that period.
In Sweden, a mother is given an allowance more than her regular salary with job and promotion protection, when a parent decides to take a break to help a child who needs an additional support for a season.
I am grateful for the institution where I work that it created a facility to offer children and parents a contact point to receive some assistance for their developmentally challenged children. What I was not able to do in the last eight years was to turn it into an integrated facility, with substantial impact on parenting behaviour, modification of school environment, and a home based monitoring of the developmental prospects of children by giving more responsibilities to parents.
Before I leave this responsibility, I am still hoping that we would be able to offer a Neuro-developmental appraisal plan for parents, so that they become primary care providers to their children and professionals become their support.
A farmer waits for the harvest!
So also a professional.
I too wait for something substantial to come out of the efforts of the last eight years.
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
