"Expect the unexpected."
I have never understood that phrase. It doesn't even make sense. If you expected it, it wasn't very unexpected now, was it? We had a few unexpected findings this week in our pilot-test of the Adulthood, Aging and Disability workshop. First of all, I thought Erich would have something to say about the sexuality section, which he did. What was unexpected was that he didn't say we should cut it out or be more inhibited. In fact, quite the opposite. He suggested that we really need to increase our discussion and talk about the spouse or partner of a person with a disability in a relationship. He recommended we talk about how having a disability affects a partner, both emotionally and sexually. Actually, by "we", he meant me. If Erich and I ever went into sex research, I would have to be both Masters and Johnson. He is a lot more comfortable writing about tribal policies or ethics education. So, I will write about sex more next week, with a focus on partners.
The other thing that was unexpected was the number of people who said we should have more information on Diabetes. I had assumed that with the extraordinarily high rate of Diabetes on the reservations that everyone would have been bombarded with information by the time they were older adults. Apparently not. My second task next week is to add to the Diabetes information on our site, which should be easy enough since I have plenty of material I had not added expecting, "Oh, I am sure everyone knows all of that."
This week should be equally interesting as Erich will be on the Standing Rock Reservation presenting our Special Education Rights training to hundreds of parents. It is always a humbling experience when one of our computer-based training workshops is first presented. These are the times when I learn that what I thought was completely obvious was about as clear as the instructions for putting together the last stereo I bought (before they were all replaced with iPods) and that no matter how much information I put on the site there will always be something someone is looking for that was left out.
I guess I need to learn how to expect the unexpected.
I have never understood that phrase. It doesn't even make sense. If you expected it, it wasn't very unexpected now, was it? We had a few unexpected findings this week in our pilot-test of the Adulthood, Aging and Disability workshop. First of all, I thought Erich would have something to say about the sexuality section, which he did. What was unexpected was that he didn't say we should cut it out or be more inhibited. In fact, quite the opposite. He suggested that we really need to increase our discussion and talk about the spouse or partner of a person with a disability in a relationship. He recommended we talk about how having a disability affects a partner, both emotionally and sexually. Actually, by "we", he meant me. If Erich and I ever went into sex research, I would have to be both Masters and Johnson. He is a lot more comfortable writing about tribal policies or ethics education. So, I will write about sex more next week, with a focus on partners.
The other thing that was unexpected was the number of people who said we should have more information on Diabetes. I had assumed that with the extraordinarily high rate of Diabetes on the reservations that everyone would have been bombarded with information by the time they were older adults. Apparently not. My second task next week is to add to the Diabetes information on our site, which should be easy enough since I have plenty of material I had not added expecting, "Oh, I am sure everyone knows all of that."
This week should be equally interesting as Erich will be on the Standing Rock Reservation presenting our Special Education Rights training to hundreds of parents. It is always a humbling experience when one of our computer-based training workshops is first presented. These are the times when I learn that what I thought was completely obvious was about as clear as the instructions for putting together the last stereo I bought (before they were all replaced with iPods) and that no matter how much information I put on the site there will always be something someone is looking for that was left out.
I guess I need to learn how to expect the unexpected.
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