Welcome to the new Learning Disability Nursing forum

I too am very interested in this forum. Yes I am a recent LPN grad, but my interest is because I have a 20 yr. old MR son. And we have been on all types of meds for his behavior. It will be very interesting for me to see the topics discussed here. Glad this forum is here!!!!

I am a registered nurse who works in geriatrics. I have a 9 year old 185lb son with autism, MR, OCD and Epilepsy. I am grateful for the forum. It helps to see the nurses perspective. I work in geriatrics-obviously I am my sons own dev. disability nurse -ha ha. I give my gratitude and thanks to all of those out there helping these wonderful people.

Hats off too all of you. I am an RN. We are arising our nephew who is autistic and border line MR. What a challenge. Evertihing is black and white. And when he decides he wants something you had better have had it figured out 10 minutes ago. He communicates fairly well.
He recently has had 2 grand Mal siesures one was at school so now he associates "nightmares" with school and just won't go if we try and force him he becomes aggressive and hits me and then himself. I new behavior since his seizure is taking his penis out of his pants and showing everyone. Nothing we do or say detours him.
He has actually been charged with an indecent act.
He has been banned from school yards even though he is constantly supervised he could never go anywhere on his own.
He isn't even allowed to enjoy the local beach
He has become a prisoner in his own home our yard is 6'by6' and leads to a common area he has been banned from there also. We have asked for help form the community and schools but to no avail. We applied for respite in may and still nothing has come of it.
the judge is trying to see if he can forces these agencies to help us
I know you'll tell us to move but our lease is until May 04 and it will cost us $$$$$ to break it
Thanks for letting me vent
Bye the way I live in North Bay Ontario
Any suggestions would be of great help

So glad to see this new topic. My son has CP, autism, DD, PVL, and a long list of other dx's. Look forward to hearing from nurses who work in this field.

Thanks

Great Idea Brian, I worked in this field for 15 yrs I loved it.
deb

I am a RN and have coordinated a neonatal follow-up clinic for the last 13 years. I consider the area I'm in to be in the developmental disability category. There aren't any other forums I know of for this category for nurses.
I'm 49 and just finished getting my BSN (I was a diploma prepared nurse) and have started working on a masters in a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program. You are never too old to go back to school!
If any of you work in the pediatric population there is a good conference March 27-31 in Nashville--The Young Child With Special Needs--it is full of all sorts of talks regarding areas of develpmental disabilities.

iam a registered nurse in learning disabilites based in the u.k. i want to work in the states is it possible with my qualification.

Can anyone tell me what the job situation is for nurses in this part of Australia. I am Dual qualified in paediatrics and Learning disabilites ( or intellectual disability i think our fellow professionals use this term in Australia ). Currently work in a respite care service for children with medical issues and some form of physical and learning disability. Just kicking about the thought at the moment.
What type of employment is there? is it private or Government funded, etc.
Any help or thoughts on the subject would be greatly appreciated.
ewol .

I have worked with some disabled children and special needs children. I love that area. How hard is it to find a decent paying job in that area? Any ideas on where to look. I live in central Illinois and have 3 children I am not ready to move or drive to far. But would love to get into this area.


Angelia

Hi- I am a nursing student and will be graduating in December. Whrn I was 18 yrs old, I got my first job as a caregiver in a group home for adults with developmental disabilities. I love this population and it made me want to be a nurse so that I could understand these issues more fully and, hopefully, eventually open a group home/school of my own. Before seing this forum, I had no idea that this was an are that you could be certified in. How do you get certified? What agency is in charge of that? And, what exactly do you do as this type of nurse? Insight from someone working in this area would be very appreciated! Tanya