My post last week on “To Help or Not to Help” generated some great conversation on Facebook and WordPress. Thank you. Some of you noted that it is helpful to either ask, or wait to be asked if the other needs our assistance. I could not agree more.
When Jerry asks for help I may tell him yes, but ask if he can he wait a few minutes, and vise versa. We each know the tone in the other’s voice that indicates help is needed without any delay.
I thought I’d follow up this week with a (now) humorous anecdote on waiting for help.
It was a Friday several years ago when Jerry took a day off and I went into the office. He had already called me twice throughout the day asking me to come home when I had a few minutes to help him with something. Thankfully we lived less than a mile from the office so it was not a big deal.
When his third call of the day came midafternoon I decided to pack it in and just work the remainder of the day from home. He asked for me to come help because he was stuck in the middle of the living room unable to move. He thought his wheelchair batteries died. I asked him the usual questions.
Are you safe? Yes.
Can you wait 15 minutes while I wrap up this one project and then pack up to come home for the day? His answer was yes to that too.
When I got home this is what I saw.
I again asked what happened and if he was ok. He still said yes and wondered why I asked. I then described that his front wheels were off the ground and his foot rests were hung up on the recliner. He had no idea! He wanted a picture to see what I was describing.
Gathering every ounce of strength I had I pulled him backwards and got all his wheels on the floor. Then we took deep breaths, and tried to figure out what happened. We think he was reclining in his chair and somehow jammed the joystick and recline features together.
Thankfully that has never happened again. Thankful too that he really was ok to wait for me to get home, though once he realized what happened he wished he had not said to take my time.
I know we’re not the only ones who have funny disability mishaps – how about sharing one of yours with me please? 
You may remember mine. It’s funny now but maybe not so much at the time. As you know, children with autism can sometimes be “flight risks” and when they do run there is always concern about them running towards large bodies of water or wooded areas. So one evening at JAF family retreat, my son ran away from his STM, something he had never done before. And while panic set in to the group of teens that had been with him, I knew that panic would quickly spread if we weren’t careful. I wasn’t concerned in the least because I knew my son wasn’t a risk taker and would never have run off into the woods especially at night. So when I saw the fear in the face of my son’s sweet STM, I immediately asked if they had looked near our room. When they said no, I Led the parade thru the building and down the hall only to see My son sitting in front of our room door. I let him into the room, handed his STM a paper bag for hyperventilation and returned to my party to eat my cheesecake. 😊
I love it Sarah! I don’t recall that one but it is a classic ;). Thanks for sharing.
You may remember mine. It’s funny now but maybe not so much at the time. As you know, children with autism can sometimes be “flight risks” and when they do run there is always concern about them running towards large bodies of water or wooded areas. So one evening at JAF family retreat, my son ran away from his STM, something he had never done before. And while panic set in to the group of teens that had been with him, I knew that panic would quickly spread if we weren’t careful. I wasn’t concerned in the least because I knew my son wasn’t a risk taker and would never have run off into the woods especially at night. So when I saw the fear in the face of my son’s sweet STM, I immediately asked if they had looked near our room. When they said no, I Led the parade thru the building and down the hall only to see My son sitting in front of our room door. I let him into the room, handed his STM a paper bag for hyperventilation and returned to my party to eat my cheesecake. 😊
Was at another camp.somhow flipped my chair back so I WaS stuck reclining for quite awhile.no cell phones then.prayed someone would stop by. About half hour later someone did.scary pArt is feeling helpless. But remembering God is with us helped a lot.
Wow Rhonda. Glad you were ok. That half hour must have felt like a day!