I have multiple people who I work with who can not read. It's sad, but I wonder if my company would offer a tutoring program for them, because it's really sad.

Edited to add....these are STAFF!

Edited again....yes, staff. Recently, I saw a co-worker using some app to take pictures of client documentation. It was reading the sheet to her. Then she was using a text to speech app to know what to write. I have also seen a different coworker who keeps a notebook of phrases that she can copy onto client documentation because she can't formulate thoughts on her own. I also have seen several coworkers fail certain certification tests due to not being able to read the questions, so the instructor will hold them back and read the questions/answers to them. I am not saying they are bad employees, because they aren't. They are kind and can perform the labor intensive parts of the job.

Do you think I'd look like an a-hole asking the agency to offer tutoring to the staff? They are a large company that definitely has the money to do so. Maybe they don't realize it is a need. Adults can learn to read with the correct interventions.

Hello! I’ve been a DSP/manager for a bit over three years. Not super long, but I took to it like a fish to water. Being somewhat “out there” myself, I always got along with strange sorts. So when I found out I could make a career hanging out with and helping people with mental illness, WITHOUT dropping tens of thousands of dollars on college (tried it once for psych, didn’t go well, young n dumb at the time) I jumped at it. I made manager in three months, but was ultimately pushed out of the company following an unfortunate interaction with administrators. As it turns out, notifying them of mildew in an asthma sufferers room, decades out of date smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, and generally dangerous living conditions was not appreciated. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, and I’m given to understand, nothing new. After being publicly screamed at for disagreeing with administrators by standing up for some of my staff, I left. It hurt. My clients were kind of my world, and due to policy, I cannot interact with them. During a meeting, the 3rd in command, a master social worker, even made jokes about how no one would hang out with our peeps if they weren’t getting paid. That was my first red flag. The company was toxic. Being non-LDS and the wrong kind of white did not help my situation. If you’re not coming or going from a mission, they simply didn’t care that you existed, to say nothing of sending missionaries to client houses, and yes, they had individuals who don’t know a quarter from a penny paying tithes. I stopped that. Also not appreciated. I could honestly go on and on, but again, this is nothing new. The top of healthcare, particularly administration, is so often profit driven, and in my neck of the woods, White, LDS, and bigoted as hell.

All of this broke me. Almost took the long sleep early. But I didn’t. I found another company. So far, I’ve received zero training (save some AI generated videos), never even seen a Q, busted my manager actively trying to steal meds, and been left to care for three individuals that require advanced care solo. When I asked who I should call, another staff said “whoever you want, but they won’t answer.” Even on grave, it’s non-stop rounds of emptying urine and colostomy bags, repositioning and changing someone who can’t move on their own, and hoping to gods I don’t hurt anyone, cuz, ya know, I’m not a nurse. When I expressed my discomfort and asked when I’d get training, I was sent a YouTube video on changing someone. That’s it. Not cleaning them properly, not positioning, and not with any of the equipment or supplies actually provided to this individual. I’m at my wits end. I’m terrified I’ll get a call that I fucked up somehow and made a hard life worse, or ended one. I care deep, and take pride in my professionalism. The last place had a lot of violent clients, and I never once got hit. Often when I showed up to handle behaviors, just seeing me calmed my peeps down. They knew I cared, they knew I’d listen and not judge. But it’s like something shattered and I can’t make myself anymore. My first instinct is to run. Go back to cooking. I make the same as a line cook anyway, and I actually have food safety training. So my question is this:

TLDR/The point- how do you folks that have been at this a long time not go insane trying to get the leeches at the top of the ladder to care what they’re putting these folks through? Staff AND clients.

I have been doing community habilitation for a family for the past 2 years. I’ll be honest, I have a LOT of frustration with the parents of the child I work with. But I absolutely adore the child, so I stay. I’m wondering if this experience is normal or not, though. My understanding of comhab is that your primary role is helping out in the community. The parents, however, refuse to let me leave the house with her. I think her mom is more willing but her dad is an absolute no-go. This means I spent most of my days sitting and watching her on her iPad. The company I work for does not allow us to get reimbursed for things we could maybe do IN the home (like a craft or baking), so when I try to break her away from her iPad, she’s wholeheartedly uninterested in what I’m trying to redirect her towards (and honestly I don’t blame her). And even if I do get her away from the iPqd, the mom usually just hands it right back to her when I’m not looking. I honestly don’t feel like I’m even doing anything most days. The mom always stays in the same room as us and watches everything we’re doing so I don’t even feel as though she gets a break. Is this normal? Should I talk to my company and make them aware that I’m unable to do community events with the child?

Is anyone familiar with this company? They’re a Texas based ABA company. Their indeed posting claims they pay $100-$400 per hour for remote work, and does not specify if you need to live in TX. Does this sound like a lot or too good to be true?

Today is officially the day where I have to tell my client and their family that I'm leaving. It's been 2 years together.

This is extremely difficult especially since the parents and client are really fond of me. And my client likes that we share the same culture and have a disability. If I were them I'd be disappointed too.

I don't know if I should tell them when i pick my client up or drop my client off. They're always so happy to see me that the parents start talking about their weeks and the news. I may not be able to get a word in.

I also pray that there's no crying. Best case scenario they're just like "ok, it's been great. "

Please only give advice if you had a client that you had a strong rapport with. Meaning it's a little bit harder to say good bye.

i’m always so curious as to what draws people who are not passionate about this type of work to work a job like this? at least in my area the pay isn’t great and it’s not like you can easily get into this work with a criminal record either.

Basically the title is it ethically acceptable for a staff member to initial and date and time stamp a client's breifs/depends. Our new team leader is upset because on a couple mornings one client hasn't been properly changed so now she's marking the breifs with her initials the date and time it was put on. The initial is what gets me if feels like it takes dignity away from the client marking them.

Has anyone had experience with Spelling for Understanding? It’s a traditional keyboard that a non-speaking individual uses to type out thoughts. It requires a teacher to get started.

I’ve seen it being used with one individual. I’m not directly involved. I’m trying to understand why they ask the individual to use traditional spelling. Why not use a specialized keyboard with illustrations, making self-expression easier?

I work as a supervisor in a residential group home and the individuals in the home couldn’t be more different from each other. They coexist peacefully most of the time, but I wish an effort was made to make sure individuals are sharing a home with people whose personalities and interests go well with their own. That’s all, just a little rant. Do any of you work for organizations that DO take those things into consideration?

I've worked in the developmental disabilities field for a few years now and throughout that time I've seen both the good and the not so good sides of how provider agencies operate.

One thing that's always bothered me is how sometimes agencies become so focused on growth, getting more clients, and filling shifts that the people actually providing the services can get overlooked.

And honestly, I think there's a lot of room for improvement.

I've always believed that the quality of services an agency provides has a lot to do with how it treats and supports its DSPs. You can't expect employees to provide quality care if they don't feel supported themselves.

So I'm genuinely curious to hear from DSPs:

What has been your biggest frustration with the agencies you've worked for? What do you wish management understood about your job? What makes you feel valued and supported, and what makes you want to leave?

And on the flip side, have you worked for an agency that actually got it right? What did they do differently?

I'd love to hear everyone's experiences, good or bad..

He has 40 dollars, I'm genuinely happy for him.

Also RIP Katia, she was a fantastic pain in the ass, and I'll miss her dearly.

....and without "outing" yourself....where is it?

I would give my ALL for a place that actually cared about the residents and did what was in their best interests.....and to work with people who are educated in the world of ID/AU/DD.

I am able to move (due to money I made before entering this field. lol)

I know I am meant to do this job, but NOT where I am now.

So I just finished my first week at an ICF as a day hab DSP. Not yet amap/scip certified but that's not even related to my issue.

On Friday, the last day of my first week there's COVID exposure/flu at my house specifically. Great. Love that for me. ESPECIALLY because I myself am immunocompromised and so is my daughter 🥲

Anyway I'm still continuously made to work with two clients I've already had to write up for being inappropriate with me/touching me inappropriately even though my manager knows very well what happened. One of the more senior dsp's came to help me in one situation and basically embarrassed me in front of all my co-workers.

Anyway the client I have more of the issue with is the client who got me sick. I'm not supposed to work with him or the other client because they have in their paperwork that they are aggressive with female staff. I may be nonbinary but I also am painfully aware that I am a small afab human bean. And the client who got me sick stands at a terrifying 6'5....

This client also loves to grope me/look directly at my chest or butt... And I want to be so clear... He only tries this shit with me.

So tell me why my SITE MANAGER tells me I need to walk with him by myself outside 🤔 I'm so curious why that makes sense.

So I got to wondering.. I've seen this client cover his mouth to cough or sneeze.. I've seen him hold on to my other coworkers on their shoulders so wtf did I do??? Why tf did he cough into my face when he always coughs into his arm????

So I read his file 🤷‍♀️ I mean they're literally there for a reason

Anyway turns out this guy is one of our lowest support clients. He suffers from complex TBI which has caused like a permanent state of catatonia and other stuff that basically qualifies him as "medically fragile"

I did a little personal research on him in my own free time as well because be so fr you don't just wake up one day with TBI but I do not want to divulge what he did with his personal life as that could directly identify who this client is and where I work and yaddayaddayadda but what I am going to say is I do not feel bad for not liking him on a personal level and I am desperate to figure out what I can do as I am still on my probationary period. I feel extremely backed into a corner because not for nothing I am the smallest afab person in my house and this man is our biggest client.

I think my manager is not getting my fear because I'll go out to walk with one of my male clients who's completely blind but that's because he's nice to me AND DOESN'T DO INAPPROPRIATE SHIT TO ME... The only time he's ever had to grab me he accidentally grabbed my hair... And then you know what he did? yes, he immediately let go.

I just don't understand how my manager doesn't see this as a direct security violation. I don't know who to talk to because it's not even like I think my manager should be reprimanded like I truly think this is just a huge oversight of security. I don't even think she realizes this is my first DSP job EVER. I don't even think she remembers I'm not scip certified. She's so burnt out and stressed and we are so short on staff especially now because I can't come back until I don't have the flu. My coworkers who've been there for forever are burnt tf out. And I get it. Not only do nurses/doctors look at us like glorified babysitters but we also work with some of the most reactive clients in our company..

But honestly who tf do I look like having to continue working 1-1 with this client when I've expressed to everyone I possibly can about how much I do not like working with him? And I just want to reiterate he is the only client in my whole campus I have this kind of disdain for. Even the other client who was inappropriate with me, I'll still watch over him with no issue if I have to. What I found out about him and just the way he treats only me, the fact that he's very much low support and he specifically only ever gives me a hard time and the fact that I seemingly always get stuck doing things with him by myself.. I'm already exhausted man. I've been trying to get into DSP work for a while but like idk I could ask to change houses but then I'd be leaving my other clients that I already like so much. I feel like everyday this past week I had to ask my manager not to put me with this client and somehow I ended up getting stuck right back with him.... Like I said please make this make fucking sense because I already feel burnt out and I feel guilty because I love my job but like damn I just feel so weird and annoyed about this whole situation. I feel like if I told my BOSS boss about what I found out I feel like I may be the one to get in trouble because I had to do my own digging to find out what I did. Idk.. idk what to do. Any advice helps.

I am concerned about this already and have already reported the situation. And I will be vague because I dont know how much of it would be a hippa violation.

But we got a new client in our group home a few months ago and from day one her mother has been a huge red flag.

We are at default settings. Which means we get wrote up if we do more than just encourage good choices. Thier decisions are all thier own. And this clients mother is very upset with that. As a result she has decided not to allow her access to her own funds. Mainly because she doesnt want her daughter gaining weight. And we were honest and told her we can only control what the company buys but it id her money so if she has money and weve done all we can do to encourage her to make healthy choices we cant tell her what she can soend her money on. So her mother then decided she will have all control over her money. And that she will just send money when her daughter needs it.

And just sends money on her prepaid debit card after paying for the liability that is required for her daughter to stay here. And i have never in my career have seen it be that low. No one here has.

She does recieve the financial waiver and ssi. They have verified that but we as DSPs are not allowed to ask how much and leave that to management. And i did recently find out from a manager... that management doesnt even know how much the client recieves and neither does the client. The client is always asking why she doesnt have money to do thing like everyone else. And why she isnt getting a check in the mail like she used too.

And somethinf isnt adding up. We have never contacted her mother for more money. Nor asked the client to either. The client has started too because she is sick of not getting to go on all the same outings as the other clients because she never has any money. And then not telling us she did so until right as we are getting ready to leave. Her mother berated me for 45 minutes today because she now believes all the clients here are " rich" because they got to buy halloween costumes ( 2 dollars from the local theatre sale, 10 dollars for a set of fairy wings, and alot of elbow grease wirh my sewing machine and my donated time to make it fit correctly by the way. ) and go to a pumpkin patch in the same week.

She has stated that her daughter will feel left out if other clients get to go spend money and she doesnt so we need to make all the other clients not spend any money at all either so her daughter can be included.

She said none of the outings we have done have been free ( we do an outing every day... most of them are free... we do one paid out8ng per week if that.) And that she could be using that money on herself. When i asked her to clarify she got really quiet and said.. " that twenty dollars i send every month is all of her money. The rest of it is mine out of my own pocket. "

And thats where I get confused. As her guardian.. her mother has to approve her budgeting goals. Her budgeting goals are 56 dollars a month... why would she approve goals that are more than what is realistically hers?

I think her mother has spend so long with that extra income she has started to see it as her money. That happens alot in this line of work. A couple years ago we had a client whos parents insisted that if we werent going to sign the client up for food stamps ( they dont qualify under our care) that we give them permission for her to keep her on thiers. ( which is illegal) when yulou spend so much time in that kind of lifestyle, you literally forget how things work and that what your doing isnt common place. Her mother also said the richer clients shouldnt get to do anything her daughter can afford to do. Snd thats why it happened. I lost my temper.

So i lost my temper. Only for a moment. I told her that we have never once asked her daughter to call her and ask her for money. That she does that of her own volition. And we are legally not allowed to tell her she isnt allowed too. Because she is an adult in control of her own behavior. Just like she is. And its not our job to tell her that her mother wont give her any money.. its her mother's job to tell her no. Especailly when its supposedly money out of her own pocket. And that if she told her daughter no more often maybe she would understand that ehen she doesnt have money, she just doesnt get to go spend money.

And I might be in trouble now. Because I spoke rudely to a clients mother but I sent a stinky worded email. To the IST team concerning the fact that nothing is adding up when ilher mom is doing the explaining about her finances.

I am so glad I found this place. And just found it, mind you.

For nearly 3 years now, I have worked at my state's residential developmental center. Even though it says developmental, we have dual-diagnosis residents, typically mental health which we are not equipped for (not a lock down facility) and because of the type of facility that we are, we take on the most violent residents from the other centers in the state (we also have a forensic unit).

Without getting too detailed, I work on a large campus and my cottage specifically houses females, though one of our units is being temporarily used to house men from another cottage but they are high needs and low functioning.

In the beginning of September, we had our hot water shut off. We originally assumed it was another legionella scare but after a few days of no hot water, I started to see what I could find out; and what they told me was some BS about the boiler being out and they are waiting on a part that day. The next day, still no hot water. And then the next, and the next... during this period, we had to drive the ladies to the gym on campus. These women are not high functioning in hygiene and some need assistance and were expected to get on a large van, covered in urine and feces, someone of them 1:1, to drive to the gym, shower with an unregulated boiler where the ladies frequently got burns. It was over a week of this by the time I went on vacation.

I come back and the hot was STILL OFF. At this point I was beyond livid both for my coworkers and residents. This was fucking inhumane and disgusting. A landlord could and would be sued if they allowed this to happen. Any one of those narcissistic ass-hats in admin wouldn't last an hour in our shoes much less a day without their precious hot water. I know my place of work has MANY issues but this has left me feeling absolutely disgusted with every single one of them involved in this. How can they tout on about these people deserving dignity and respect and rights and then have such an abhorrent lack of care for my residents!?

So I anonymously contacted my state's health department and to my surprise, arrived the very next morning to investigate my tip. Everyone at work all day kept whispering on about how "someone whistleblew on three-letter-center about the hot water". But the hot water was turned on that very same day... when I came back to work the next day, as a coworker and I are walking in, mentions that the hot water is back on and looks at me in a way that feels like she's gauging my reaction, and I just say it was about damn time and I don't feel bad.

And I don't. I found out the temporary residents on the unit next to us wasn't taking the residents to the gym to shower, which means they were taking freezing cold rags to those poor men's bodies and giving them a poor semblance of a bath ---- for ALMOST 30 DAYS... I am disgusted with my coworkers. There are a few at this facility that genuinely care about these people and I am glad they show up every day because I don't feel like I can much longer. My job is broken, my union chapter is broken, and our facility is falling apart. And now they are making our jobs even harder, installed 44 more cameras to watch us, introduced unsafe handling practices for residents under the guise of "trauma-informed care approach" but it has left the psych hospital up the hill paying out 35 million in lawsuits made against them by previous DSPs that were injured while under this new program (don't ask how I know teehee). I can't tell anyone at work it was me even though my closest work friends probably know it was me but also know not to ask. I recently found out even more collusion at work. I guess that'll be my next adventure. I am tired of this place and them bringing in people from downtown to watch us, intimidate us, and throw false allegations against us when their programs don't work or there isn't an answer.

Sorry, I know I am all over the place. My fiance also works for the state so I do vent to him but I know (and he knows) that he can only understand it so much. My job offers us free counseling due to the things we see. The things I have witnessed have left me fucked up but I don't think it has made me a worse person, though. I had made amazing friendships and I love my residents like they were my adopted children. Hell, I take care of them and see them more than their own families do. It'll definitely make it hard when I leave but I know I will leave one day. This place is toxic and broken and I won't make myself unhappy just so I can fulfill some BS savior complex that I see too often at my place of work.

Thank you for listening if you made it this far. I have so many stories and I'm glad I can vent them somewhere now. I got this job thinking I was going to help make people's lives better but all they ever wanted was a warm body to babysit their cash cows while holding zero accountability, allowing the system to break havoc, leaving them with few solutions that aren't simply pacifying the situation. Thanks for coming to my soapbox sermon of debauchery.

I have a client who needs to go on outings for her mental health and to get away from her mentally abusive housemate. However, she has NO money! We’ve been going to the park, but it’s starting to get cold. I don’t feel it would be right to take her to the mall or a store to walk around because that’s kinda cruel when you have no money. But, can y’all give me some ideas of things you do with your clients to get them out? You may say to ask the case manager….please don’t. They really do not care. The other staff have no ideas. They just leave her at home because she has no money, and take her housemate anywhere she wants to go. (Yes, seriously….its that sad.)

I started writing this and it spiraled a bit faster than I expected it to, but I think it's mostly coherent so I'm going to post it anyway. Sorry in advance if it doesn't make too much sense, it's 90% ranting but I really want to know if I'm alone in this... *Editing to add that I work in community based living and support people that are mildly intellectually disabled. I only have 1 person on my caseload that has a secondary diagnosis and it's not disability related.

So, during all of the initial trainings and subsequent continuing educations, the goal is to make the individuals as independent as possible. We should have all had it drilled into our heads before we're even face to face with the individuals that we support that the goal is to be as independent both in the home and in the community as possible, eh? I believe the wording my current organization used was "our goal should be to make our jobs obsolete" which I think we can all agree is a bit....overly optimistic and I don't particularly like but I digress.. Why does independence only ever seem to translate to allowing them to make their own mistakes? Why is it never being held accountable for say, striking or cursing at a staff member? Some people are just allowed to abuse staff members and never be held to account for it. There's very little actual planning going on with supports coordinators it seems, to actually get the people to a place where they're able to be more independent. It's almost always "Well, you can't force them to take a shower." You are correct, I cannot force anyone to do anything and I do not want to... Yet, if we're on day 6 of not taking a shower or brushing teeth, should a natural consequence not be that you don't get to go out and subject others to your odors? Most of the people I support only have a very limited amount of money in their direct control, I'm talking $20 or less for all 9 of the people I work with, one of them isn't allowed to have direct control over any of their own money due to a smoking/vaping restriction. Yet, when a budget is made by them/their family, I can only encourage them to stick to it but then I am in hot water with my manager or their families when I don't force them to stick to it. I'm also not allowed to withhold the funds that have remained under staff control. What are we actually doing here? Can anyone explain to me like I am 5 years old why the disabilities of some outweigh the humanity of others? Why in every other setting in this world there are rules that people are expected to follow or face some sort of consequences, no matter how small....but as soon as there is a disability tossed into the mix all of that is out the window? I got into this field because I have young relatives that will likely need some level of services when they're older, be it full time or part time...and the last several years have been absolutely heartbreaking to see that apparently they'll never be seen as more than their limitations if they do need some type of support staff. Is part of a dignified life supposed to be getting held to an entirely different (mostly non existent) standards? Am I confused or is this experience universal? I've worked at 2 different organizations and turned down positions at multiple others and this seems to be the overall experience here and I don't get it. It's very disheartening. It truly makes me sad to know that all of the progress my young relatives have been making learning boundaries and how to act in certain settings, how to communicate in healthy ways can all be erased because if they ever do need to enter services, they'll just be allowed without consequence to do whatever they please. Am I just over thinking here?

For context: I started this role about six weeks ago. it is once a week on Fridays for six hours. the rest of the week I work about 25 hours with the same agency and spend another 16 hours in an internship for my graduate school program. at this agency, if you work above 20 hours a week, we receive PTO per hour we work, as well as several paid holidays. if you are scheduled to work (or not) on the actual holiday, the agency adds 8 hours of Holiday PTO to your bank to be used at any other time in the year, all unused holidays of which expire come the new year. these are the benefits. I started this new role, informing the family that I would need one Friday off before I even accepted the position.

the mother is insane. shockingly over-achieving for her two disabled children, incredibly high-standards of care. but I respect it. I know how traumatizing it can be to be the mother of children with high levels of special needs and she has excelled at supporting her children. on my first day with her daughter she complimented me, said she trusted me already, and that she knew would do a good job. she was right and I did spectacularly with her daughter, we clicked right away, and I followed the mother's array of convoluted, borderline-nonsense, knit-picking directions to the absolutely tee without so much as a hesitation.

the Friday off I had planned was approaching. I informed the mother that I put into for PTO for that day designating PTO for my unused Holiday of Labor Day. she called me and said that because I only work one day a week, she was going to have to talk to someone to see if I qualify to use the time off. I agreed, said do what you have to do, knowing the answer already myself. HR was going to tell her that I work 30 hours a week and earn PTO to use. that's what they wound up telling her, I know because I spoke to them myself several times. but today she told me, no, I'm not approving your PTO if you only work for me one day a week. "It's not how I do things." as if the benefits I earn are up to her discretion. they're not. and the holiday time/pto we earn comes directly from the company, not from the budgets of the participants.

so she told me this as we were working together with her children. I wasn't happy, but I ended the conversation professionally without a smile, but with an "I understand." I recovered my mood quickly and continued to work for several more hours, following all directions, smiling, asking questions, and generally being normal. on my way out of the house she stops me: "I'm sensing tension between us, and I'm just letting you know now that I am not going to tolerate this in my house." I was shocked. the day had gone on quite normally and I didn't really say or do anything to warrant this besides mildly pushing back when she told me I don't qualify to use pto. I asked "did I do something wrong?" she told me no and continued to go back and forth with me about the matter, until quite aggressively telling me again "there is tension between us and I will not tolerate it in my house. I don't wan't to let you go, but if you can't get over it you have to let me look for someone else." to that I told her yes, please do look for someone else, I walked out the door and she slammed it behind me.

I cried for an hour. it can be so dehumanizing and exhausting constantly having to advocate for yourself. being treated like you have done something wrong for trying to access the benefits you have worked to earn. that's all. I needed to vent.

I feel like I complain here everyday. But it's ok y'all are my besties.

One thing I don't like about being a DSP is that you have to do things you're not comfortable with.

One of my client's favorite stores that she goes to frequently recently enacted a policy where they take your bags before going into the store. They will not let you enter unless you leave your bag with a random guy they hired.

I usually avoid stores like this. If you don't trust customers enough not to steal, why should I trust a random person not to steal or misplace my belongings? We all the same people. A role or uniform doesn't change morals.

I was pissed but I had to give in. All my client does is look around the same exact store over and over again.

I was trying so hard to emotionally regulate and pretend to be engaged.

My client kinda picked up on my vibe because 30 minutes after looking at shirts in the store she says " do you want to leave because I would be mad if they took my bag." I reassured her that this was her time and we can leave when she's ready. So we stayed in the store an extra hour looking at toys and shirts.

Y'all please pray for me. I'm not even hoping that I get this new job. I'm claiming it.

For those who left the DSP field, where did you go next?

I spent about eight years working in an adult day program, progressing from Job Coach Aide to Behavioral Job Coach. I have experience with client support, documentation, transportation, coordinating schedules, and helping train staff.

Now I’m looking at moving outside the field, and honestly, I feel pretty lost. I have a high school diploma and some previous medical call-center experience, but figuring out which jobs my experience transfers to has been frustrating.

For those who left DSP work:

- What job or industry did you move into?

- Did you need school or certifications, or did your experience get you hired?

- How did the pay compare?

- Are you happier with the change?

I’m open to different paths, though jobs involving standing all day are tough for me because of foot and knee issues. Would appreciate hearing what actually worked for people.