Watching a Mr Bean episode with Steven this afternoon reminded me of another "closed minds" Unit story. If I was on Just A Minute you would have buzzed me for repetition by now but today, I discovered an added twist to the story.
It's another of those stories that got logged as "violent and challenging behavior", with " no obvious antecedents". It still scares me that the Unit were so lacking in imagination or the will and respect to get to know Steven. They were prepared to send Steven hundreds of miles away for further assessment, rather than ask for the input of the people who know him best.
The Unit had brought a new TV. A very large flat screen TV. They were having problems setting it up. I can imagine Steven sitting on the sofa, getting frustrated at this. So he did what any right minded Mr Bean fan would do - he got up and bashed the top of the telly. It worked for Bean. It didn't work at the Unit. Consequence for Steven was that he was banished for the next months of his time there to the dining room with a portable TV.
We were watching the scene today and when Mr Bean did his business, Steven said: "Like Steven Neary at M House". His support worker who has been with us since the Unit days did, " Oh - I remember that. I did say to the manager that was how Mr Bean got his TV to play but nobody was interested".
It's one thing not asking the workers who knew Steven best for their views. It's another thing completely to ignore them just because their knowledge doesn't fit into the Unit's ideas or it challenges their plans. I'm not saying that the Unit staff should be expected to think of all the popular cultural references in Steven's life. But it's pretty crap when they're offered an explanation on a plate, they chose to smash that plate on the floor.
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