Today was an interesting day to top all interesting days.  It began with my time at the Young Adult Program (as part of my internship at Croyden Ave School I spend Thursday mornings at another school for young adults with developmental delays - these individuals have much higher functional capacities than the individuals at Croyden do; however, their impairments still remain significant).  Anyway, for the most part the students are highly sociable and will willingly interact with any person willing to take the time to listen to what they have to say.  So, today I had interactions with a teenage girl who said she was bleeding (there is a really funny story about this; however, it is not appropriate to post on the internet, so you know), and a 21-year old man who is excited because can "gets to drink beer now."  

This opened up an interesting conversation between my supervisor and I: should individuals with cognitive impairments, of sufferable age, be allowed to drink alcohol in to the point of inebriation?  After all, they do have suffrage.  Furthermore,  if I chose to, I could go out drink like a fish and possibly injure myself - and as long as I did not place another individual in harms way - I would be well within my rights.  However, if an individual over the age of 21, living in a group home drank alcohol and became inebriated that individual's supervisor would face disciplinary action through the employer and may even face the possibility of criminal prosecution via the individual's family.  So, a dichotomy exists - I (as the supervisor of a group home) cannot legally bar the home members from consuming alcohol, yet if I do not stop them I face punitive action.  So, I must choose between my job and my client's right to consume alcohol.

To this quandary, we could add this: should we even deprive an individual with a cognitive impairment the very powerful learning experience of 'hangover'?  It would serve as another tool to teach cause and effect (as well as moderation - a seemingly difficult concept to teach).  I am learning a lot more than 'how to give speech therapy' at my internship.

I have learned that individuals with cognitive impairments are not all that different from you and I.  The primary difference between us is my increased skill at dealing in the abstract, or 'outside the box'.