You guys know me.
I don’t often explode.
BUT I have to say something about this.
I work with/for an organisation that uses therapy dogs with young autistic kids. It’s wonderful work. They’d funded my research in working with Multi-Assignment Service Dogs, and the program really took off. I’m pleased.
Basically, our people (and their therapy dogs, or some with their fully-certified service dogs) work with these kids who otherwise wouldn’t qualify for a service dog of their own.
So far, fine.
There’s this one parent who is being a nutcase.
Her son has Asperger’s Syndrome. We’ve worked with kids with AS, and had great success. All our workers who work with the kids are VOLUNTEERING THEIR TIME. Some of us are paid workers, but for other work we do - training, conferences, research. This lady’s boy is uninterested in the work with the dogs, but she wants him to work with us.
Fine, we said, but our waiting list is long.
This year, we told her “sorry, we really don’t have the space, and can’t send out someone to you.” She wants someone sent to her, 40 minutes out of the city, while all other parents (who are fabulous) with whom we work bring us the kids, participate in all this, and really have a grand time. She’s not willing to make the drive, but insists we should and that it’s not that far. But see, now, her boy is afraid of dogs, and so she only wants him to work with Valen (one of my MASDs). Valen is trained to work with the most difficult cases we have. I can’t pull him off the job for her son! Maybe she could work with another person and dog, but she’d still have to wait, and bring her son in to us.
She used to email me once a week to bug me. Then she started to call. In the last week, she called 26 times. I love call-display. My housemate told her that I was away teaching (which I was) one night, and it just dawned on her that most of us had other JOBS than just this. (Gee!)… This is a free service to the community, and costs a fortune to run. A lot of us give a lot more than we can afford to keep the program running, even with all our grants.
Yesterday, as I was teaching, she started to call. From 4pm. Every hour. On the hour. Until 11pm. This morning, she started again at 9am.
Won’t she GET THE $(@*%!#% MESSAGE? I’m contemplating blocking her phone number, which I can do, but I’m worried she’ll start using a cell phone and I won’t be able to tell. Right now, though, I have a great service which blocks unknown calls and makes the caller identify himself/herself before it patches the call through and gives me the opportunity to decline and redirect them to my answering service.
I mean - I understand why parents with kids with disabilities like this really want what’s best for their kids. But this organization is made up of volunteers who are already overworked. This is starting to border on harassment! Why does she think we OWE her something?! Fuuuuck.
Leave me aloooooone!
Hopefully, by the summer, I’ll be outta here and she’ll not be willing to drive over 20 hours to come see me.
The MASD Division is my baby, and the research is finally being funded. We’re pleased.