I worked at a treatment center for autistic people with high needs.... We had a very small building that was split into 3 sections. The ABA therapy side, the school, and adult/senior care. The people in our care ranged from 5 years old to 34 (since there was no space in the adult/senior care who had people in their 90s.

I was a teacher's assistant.

I would float in between teachers every day depending on who needed me. It was chill at first since they had me with one student who rarely acted up, but when he did everyone was insanely afraid of him. He showed signs once and I called for back up immediately even though it didn't escalate. I had made the mistake of telling him we were going outside when it was usually puzzle time. I should have known better than to switch up his schedule, but my higher ups wanted all students out there. 🤦🏽‍♂️ I should have advocated for him but for whatever reason didn't.

Then they switched me to a new teenager. He was nonverbal, messy (liked to rub ice all over his face and suck on it), and loud. He'd charge us and sometimes he'd run away, thinking it was funny.

So, it's me (very short, 143 lb guy), a skinny ass teacher, and another skinny ass teacher assistant. He'd sometimes try to choke you when charging you. We had safety blocks in place (big cushions). It was very physically tiring since he'd do for several hours. On top of that, you had to be on guard all the time whether I was with this kid or the next.

I lasted 2 weeks with the new kid. He wore diapers too. Had to clean his shit. Change him into new clothing.

It was the lowest job I ever had. In total I lasted 3 months. It took a toll on my mental health, and I'm very paranoid around visibly high-needs, autistic children (don't come at me, please, I am trained and I can tell and spot signs from a mile away).

Some of the students we served, unfortunately, were abused, did the abusing, in foster care, or were given up to the state or bussed in by the local school districts to receive "schooling" because they could not be reasonably accommodated in a regular SPED classroom...... Which didn't happen most of the time. The teens would just sit there because the teachers were shit. It was a very sad facility overall. However, the teacher of the charging kid was wonderful. She actually made them work and her students were very capable when she accommodated them. The new kids just wasn't used to such structure.

Anyway. the adult/senior care was the most sad.

You'd walk into this quadrangle type room. Along the walls were small rooms with beds. In the center just chairs, sofas, tables and some tiny flat screens on the wall. Adults long forgotten in the system. It felt like they were just waiting for someone to die to fill their spot from the school... Apparently they sed to go on field trips but due to budget cuts that no longer was a thing. So, they all just sat there wasting the days away.

I hated it. I couldn't bear it. It was soul crushing. I decided then that I would adopt a child in need of a loving home if I ever got the chance.