whenever I say I worked at a care home people always assume I mean an OLD PEOPLE'S care home and start talking about dementia, and even when I correct them and say no, it was adults of all ages with disabilities like cerebral palsy, some of them younger than me, people still don't listen and start talking about how hard it is "when you get to that age".
like people who live in 24/7 care for their entire adult lives exist!!!! residential care is NOT something that only comes into play at the end of your life. lack of awareness and funding is, in my opinion, partly why negative experiences of full time or respite residential care are so widespread.
ALSO when I successfully clarify that I worked with people of all ages, people start talking about how SAD it is when young people who have conditions like cerebral palsy can't move or talk or whatever. and I ALSO take issue with that. I think seeing disabled people's experiences as wholly "sad" or "what a shame" pre-emptively dictates what kind of life we expect disabled people to live. people in residential care CAN be happy, largely independent, or happy with their level of control where they are dependent on others. if we assume they can't, we won't even try to help them get there.
some people have high support needs at home and then go into residential care. some people spend their whole lives in residential care. some people won't need it at all with proper support and funding at home. people need support, not pity and people seeing their lives as lost causes.
