Feature Issue on Addiction and IDD

When I was 6 years old, I remember finding empty bottles under the sofa. An older member of my family was trying to hide how much he was drinking. He did his best to keep it away from us, but the reality was, the bottles were coming out as we were walking out the door after we would visit.

Author Nessie Pruden-Siler

Many years later, I worked for a help line serving people with substance use issues. We worked with anyone who called, and it was intense. Having had that experience in my own family helped me work with people, because when you come from that particular place, you remember what it’s like to be the one in the corner, hoping that whatever is going on doesn’t set off the thing you don’t want. You remember that hiding a problem only makes it worse. Sometimes the help line work was difficult, in that you have to be able to bond for a period of time, and then you come away and it’s hard to let people go.

Working on the Monarch curriculum, we wanted to make sure to help people understand that the medicine your doctor prescribes needs to be taken as described, and more is not necessarily better. It’s OK to take medicine your doctor prescribes, but it’s not OK to self-medicate or to stop taking your medication so you can drink.

We also wanted to make people aware that listening is the most important thing in dealing with addiction. Have the respect for someone with disabilities to presume competence and build a rapport so you can truly listen to what they are telling you about their addiction.

Now, when I present the curriculum to groups, it breaks my heart a little when someone says how great this is, and how new it is, because there have been people suffering with this for so many years and their lives would have been so much easier if someone would have helped them.