Red Tape Rant

Nat had a strange rash today. I got the call from his caregiver, who also sent me photos of the rash via text. I immediately remembered the shingles Nat had a few years back. Shingles is an awful disease that is related to chicken pox. It hurts and hurts and it takes a while for it to clear up. I called my sister who is a pediatrician and sent her the photos. It was just a rash, she concluded. Thank God. Give Nat Benadryl, she told me. The thing that bothers me is that when I called the house manager I was told that legally, the caregivers are not allowed to give Nat Benadryl without a doctor calling the pharmacy and signing off on it. What? I said, “Well, can I give it to him? I’m his legal guardian.” And his mother. So, of course I could do that, and even though Nat had just gone back to his home after spending the night here, they had to bring him back so that I could give him an antihistamine. Makes sense, right? So riddle me this. What if Nat had — God forbid — been anaphylacting over something, and needed Benadryl? Would the staff have had to wait for all that red tape before helping him??  If so, then this is insane. The state purports to care about these guys like Nat, with this kind of overprotective shit, while still denying person after person funding and housing because the resources are too tight. The caregivers watch over Nat at night, give him meals, drive him around. We trust him in their cars, we trust him to their care. But the...
Source: Susan's Blog - Category: Autism Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs