Group Homes for Autistics

[OliveOil_Med]

Chris in a Group Home

As a former mental health worker in a group home, I often find myself wondering about what his life would be life if he were somehow forced into a home.

If he were placed in my home, depending one what his social worker or guardian discussed with the Program Director, he would likely be forced onto some kind of diet. All clients are required to have some sort of job, even if it's just in the local workshop for disabled adults. He would definitely be forced to bath daily and would likely be forced into counseling and there would be no more ignoring the doctor's orders (underpaid college students who revel in what little power they have).

Of course, given Chris's history, he would likely not be allowed to have a computer or access to the Internet, so that would mean no more updates, so that would me the era of Chris Chan would come to an end.

What do you think Chris's life in a group home would be life?

 

[CatParty]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1004&hilit

 

[Kosher Dill]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

You said it yourself. I see the word "forced" about a dozen times in your post, and that's precisely what everything about it would be: forced. There are pretty much only 2 possible ways Chris's life will go: either he'll stay independent and become Barb 2.0, or go to jail/mental institution/whatever where they'll play Break The Autistic.

 

[CatParty]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

it's also never going to happen

 

[Kosher Dill]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

Well, it could happen if Chris went for-real insane or something. But if he just stays as he is, yeah, never going to happen.

 

[DangDirtyTrolls]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

Well, it could happen if Chris went for-real insane or something. But if he just stays as he is, yeah, never going to happen.

If he went for-real insane then he'd be institutionalised, not put in a group home.

 

[Kosher Dill]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

Isn't a hypothetical group home where they can take away your belongings and force you onto a diet pretty much institutionalization with a nicer name?

 

[DangDirtyTrolls]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

Isn't a hypothetical group home where they can take away your belongings and force you onto a diet pretty much institutionalization with a nicer name?

When you said for-real insane I assumed you meant full-on psychosis such that he would be sent to a mental hospital, not simply a group home where he's just forced to not be a slob.

 

[Kosher Dill]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

Well, let's get the OP back in here. How DO you get sent to a group home that can force you to do things? Was this place in America?

 

[OliveOil_Med]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

Yes, it was in America, though the word 'forced' is probably the wrong word. In the group home I worked at, if a client refused to follow their program, they had faced consequences. No one held them down and forcibly brushed their teeth.

You don't want to shower or do your chores? Fine, then there's no going on the weekly shopping trip. You don't want to get a job? Alright, the video games stay in the office until you do.

Of course, the group home didn't do these things just because they felt like it. Before a client was admitted, the Program Director would sit down with the client's guardian and outline the program, rewards, and consequences center around that program and what would be done in complying with the orders of doctors. And the client would also be present at the meeting when this plan was drawn up and were made very aware of what it would entail.

And yes, sometimes following the doctor's orders meant implementing things the clients didn't want to do. If a client was obese (not just overweight) and the doctor gave staff a diet to follow, the diet was getting followed.

Though with Chris, the most likely way he would end up in a group home would be if after Barb died, one of his relatives stepped in and petitioned the court to become Chris's guardian.

 

[LM 697]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

https://www.cwckiforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1004&hilit

Merged.

 

[GFYS]

Re: Chris in a Group Home

Of course, the group home didn't do these things just because they felt like it. Before a client was admitted, the Program Director would sit down with the client's guardian...

And that's where most of these scenarios run aground... The courts have declared him an adult - albeit a dumb one. That precedent is a huge obstacle for Chris to later be declared incompetent, and assigned a legal guardian. It might be possible if someone were to go to great lengths to petition the courts, but who would do that for Chris? His extended family ignores - in some cases hates - him. His congregation barely tolerates him. The white knights probably don't want to get that deeply involved, and probably haven't the adequate position of authority. No matter who would step up, Chris would resist every step of the way, making it even more difficult.

Unless Chris has a demonstrable decline in mental acuity, resulting in another brush with the law, he'll almost always be the one responsible for his life. And, as long as he's the one making the decisions, it'll rarely be the best decision for his future. Unless court mandated, nobody will ever have legal authority over him, so he'll always be able to stress sigh and walk away.

I don't think Chris is too stupid / stubborn to eventually become assimilated to a controlled reward/punishment system, but it would take a lot more persistence and careful balance of give and take. It's such a precarious balance, that really hasn't worked beyond Bob & Barb (though piss-poor, their methods were). No matter how persistent, no matter how much they dangled their tits within his reach, no matter how much they prodded him, none of the lady trolls were able to persuade Chris to make a single meaningful change in his life (I had hopes Tomgirl would be a sexual liberation for him, but that petered out quickly). They had THE ultimate reward - China - and it wasn't enough to motivate Chris beyond getting to jump through a few hoops.

How many commercial assisted living facilities would be in a better position to persuade to comply with their rules, without breaking the law (making him comply with force, drugging him, or persuading him with sex)? There can't be that many patient enough to find that balance where they can slowly fix Chris. The only ones I can think of are religious orders, motivated by some divine mission. And even then, I think Chris could push the most devout past their limit. I can easily see the most benevolent saint on this planet, sitting on top of Chris and punching him repeatedly yelling "say 'hmm, yeah' again. Say 'hmm, yeah' again, I dare you. I double dare you motherfucker!"

Again, this is assuming that some fluke chance doesn't come out of left field and change everything. When it comes to Chris, never rule out the fantastic. Common sense doesn't always apply to the universe immediately surrounding him.

 

[LordCustos3]

Chris is not ending up in a group home; he's way to stubborn. And besides, aren't those places mostly for lower-functioning autistics?

Contrary to what Chris'tard himself may think....I don't think he qualifies as "high-functioning" anymore.

 

[OliveOil_Med]

'Functioning' is a relative term, and one not just related to diagnosis. I've met people with depression, ones capable of living on their own, and ones ruled by the courts as an person in need of supervision.

Also, as said in the Autism Awareness Emails, Chris does not work, he does not live on his own while in his thirties, and is not self-sufficient in any sense of the word. Whether or not he will ever be capable of actually caring for himself if it came down to it remains to be seen.

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

I don't think Chris needs a group home. He needs to see a psychologist or psychiatrist regularly and get a job coach. Really, his biggest problems are his laziness and inability to learn from his mistakes. If he could get his own place and escape the lair of get a part-time job (which he should have along with the ) and work on overcoming his many personality flaws, he'd be on the right track.

Of course, he also wouldn't be Chris if he had the introspection to do that, so he'll remain in his horrible predicament until Barb dies.

 

[Holdek]

I don't think Chris needs a group home. He needs to see a psychologist or psychiatrist regularly and get a job coach. Really, his biggest problems are his laziness and inability to learn from his mistakes. If he could get his own place and escape the lair of get a part-time job (which he should have along with the ) and work on overcoming his many personality flaws, he'd be on the right track.

Of course, he also wouldn't be Chris if he had the introspection to do that, so he'll remain in his horrible predicament until Barb dies.

Like I said before, I think Chris is in a donut hole: he functions too well to fit in in one of these group homes, but not well enough to get by on his own.

In one of the Jackie e-mails he wrote something about home visits in lieu of living in a group home. That's probably the best for him; somebody coming by a couple times a week to help him out with stuff he he has trouble with or can't do.

Adding in the other stuff you mentioned (regular therapy, job search assistance, part-time job, and tugboat) and he could actually improve. Of course, and again, like you wrote, the first obstacle would be he himself deciding he wanted to improve, or even that the problems in his life stem largely from his own poor decisions and not Michael Snyder's or whomever.

 

[Zero Gun: Fenrir]

Considering that he doesn't respond to emails from people he doesn't know, or phone calls not from the Charlottesville area, he's learned at least something. So, he could become independent, if he were to learn that how he's living isn't normal, that it's unhealthy, and that it's just icky. If he could learn those bits of information, he'd be fine.

 

[QI 541]

Considering that he doesn't respond to emails from people he doesn't know, or phone calls not from the Charlottesville area, he's learned at least something. So, he could become independent, if he were to learn that how he's living isn't normal, that it's unhealthy, and that it's just icky. If he could learn those bits of information, he'd be fine.

As long as he has money, and doesn't lose his house somehow, and doesn't get arrested again, he can survive on his own.
Unfortunately for Chris, it's not unlikely for him to fail one of these. If there's one thing Chris is good at, it's screwing things up.

 

[Holdek]

Considering that he doesn't respond to emails from people he doesn't know, or phone calls not from the Charlottesville area, he's learned at least something. So, he could become independent, if he were to learn that how he's living isn't normal, that it's unhealthy, and that it's just icky. If he could learn those bits of information, he'd be fine.

As long as he has money, and doesn't lose his house somehow, and doesn't get arrested again, he can survive on his own.
Unfortunately for Chris, it's not unlikely for him to fail one of these. If there's one thing Chris is good at, it's screwing things up.

I could see Chris stepping on a rusty nail and not knowing to get a tetanus shot. The fact that he's still alive is a testament to good luck winning the battle against over his mortality.

If he curses the Grim Reaper over false promises, though, he might intervene and settle this once and for all.

 

[CalmMyTits]

Well, to be fair, an institution is different from a group home. Group homes are great for high and even medium-functioning autistics. My SIL used to work in a group home, she checked on it every few days and among her jobs were...

-making sure that each tenant was spending their money appropriately (not going into debt, using their tugboat to buy food and other necessities before they used their money for fun)
-making sure the house itself was clean and chores were being done
-making sure each tenant was taking care of him/herself as needed, hygiene and medication-wise
-some counseling and mediation as needed when a problem arose
-coordinating and planning outings like to the zoo, etc

The residents of this home varied from 20's to 60's and I think there were 6 or 8 of them.

She no longer does this as she now works in special needs education, but she told me about it. Some autistics really benefit from this because it gives them a semi-normal life and relative freedom, and social interaction.

An institution on the other hand, sounds just that... an institution. An institution would be stricter and much more regimented than a group home, with much less tolerance for shit. (literal and figurative) and this would be what Chris needs immediately. (I honestly see institutionalization, and nothing else, as the first step in successfully helping Chris)

In a theoretical situation where a judge sees Chris is unfit to take care of himself (especially of he melts down in court) she could order him to an institution, and after a while, if he actually learns and manages to improve his attitude and behavior, he could then be moved into a group home. But he would definitely need some institutionalization first, because I doubt that in his current state, he would want to live with other portals to hell.