Methimazole and Messy Meetings

Beth's doctors appointment confirmed her over active thyroid. She has been on Methimazole for a few weeks but I haven't seen a huge change. She was awake at 2:00 this morning, in the kitchen getting something to drink. Although, I will admit she does get up in the mornings now. Makes my life much easier, thank you Beth!

We had her annual vocational meeting last Wednesday. She is with Washington Vocational Services and once a year they meet with their clients to talk about work and to see if changes need to be made. Beth has been working at a group home for a few years now and Jennifer, her Job Coach feels it is time for something new.

We talked about working at a 'real' job. You know, Safeway, Bed, Bath and Beyond, some places that people have heard of. Now when Beth tells people she works at Smightwright, they always ask, "Where?" Then she repeats it and looks to me to explain that it is a group home not far from us and she does their laundry. I think she wants to just say something like, "I work at Safeway" and have everyone know exactly what she is talking about!

This is Beth signing all the paperwork.

_X__ Yes my parents can read my paperwork.
_X__ Yes WVS can talk to my parents when they call.
_X__ Yes I will follow WVS rules while I am at work.
_X__ Yes I received a copy of this form.
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.

This is Jennifer, Beth's job coach (on the left) and her assistant Kathy. The meeting went fairly well until Jennifer asked Beth if she was doing a good job. "Beth, am I an okay job coach? Do you like me" "Yea."

"And what about Kathy. Do you like her too?"

Beth hesitated and shook her head no.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, we talked about why she didn't like her. Kathy is there to watch Beth and to make sure she is doing her job. Well, Beth has been doing this job for a few years. She knows how to do it and she does it well. She does not like people telling her what to do. Especially when she already knows how to do it! So... now Kathy will just check in with Beth, then let Beth do her job. They were both happy with that arrangement. (This wasn't Kathy's idea, she was asked to supervise Beth and has been doing what she's been asked.)

I was so proud of Beth for talking it though with us. She spoke up and helped explain why she didn't like what Kathy was doing. I know she likes Kathy, she talks about her a lot at home. She tells me things they talked about at work, Kathy has given her flowers, I know Beth likes her. It was so great to hear Beth tell us what the problem was! Woo hoo!

Hopefully Beth will have a new job in the near future! (She interviewed at Safeway a while back but they weren't hiring.)