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WWYD - adult at playground
I took DD to the neighborhood playground yesterday.
Its big and between a school and the neighborhood pool. There is a big climbing structure w/ slides and tunnels and then a separate area w/ some swings. When we got there, there was a large adult woman (20-25 yo and easily 5'10", 200+ lbs.)laying on her side next to the swings area w/ a small beat up bucket full of mulch and dirt that she kept putting her hands in to, dropping it on her legs and then rollling around in the grass. She wasn't saying anything and she was sitting the whole time absorbed w/ the dirt and mulch.
I thought she was high/tripping and was uncomfortable w/ DD there, but at the same time, I didn't want to freak out either, b/c I didn't want to attract her attention and she wasn't being violent or anything, but still it was weird and uncomfortable.. There were other people around too. I tried to steer DD to the climbing thing and not the swings. We were there about 30 minutes and she was there the whole time, doing the same thing.
As we were leaving, a woman from a parked car came over and told the woman to get ready to leave, directed her to clean off her hands, etc. and, it became clear the woman was mentally retarded/severely autistic, etc. something was "off" developmentally. I was relieved to realize the woman wasn't on drugs or impaired, but at the same time, I thought it was kinda shitty that her mother/caretaker, etc. was sitting in a car while this woman was at the playground.
So. ... question, would this situation have made you uncomfortable or am I just uptight? and, #2, do you think the woman should have just left her "unattended" while she sat in the car?
Re: WWYD - adult at playground
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My first thought reading this post was that she was mentally ill or autistic or something - being on drugs didn't even enter my mind until you said it.
the fact that she was there wouldn't bother me at all, especially considering that she seemed perfectly content to play with the dirt and mulch, but I would be peeved that the caretake just stayed in the car - even more so if the caretaker is someone paid to watch her (in home companion, nurse, etc) and the family doesn't know that the worker is letting her just play by herself while she waits in the car.
So - would I be bothered by her presence? eh, not really, not unitl I had a reason to be bothered. Would I be bothered that the caretaker did not seem able to intervene in any situation that might arise (especially one where the adult was the victim - kids making fun of her, etc.) - yes.
Hmmm - I didn't even think about the kids bugging her. It was all little kids at the playground yesterday but there are frequently some older kids who hang out there too (especially w/ the pool) l that I'm sure would have bothered her.
This is tough. Logically i want to say it was no big deal, but I could see how she could make people uncomfortable if they didn't know what was going on with her. Personally, no, I wouldn't have been bothered by her until she gave me a reason to. I agree with the others that her caretaker shouldn't have just been sitting in the car. That seems pretty irresponsible.
Mentally handicapped people have every right to enjoy public places that, and they should, but a story comes to mind of something that happened in my area a few years back. A 17 year old mentally handicapped kid lured a girl off the playground and raped her in his house. Obviously he shouldn't have been alone at a place like that.
This. As long as she wasn't hurting or harassing anyone, it wouldn't bother me. I don't agree that the caretaker should be so far away. But then again, maybe the woman had never acted out at all, and the caretaker knew she wouldn't cause any trouble.
If there was anything about her that made me think autistic/mentally disabled, I probably wouldn't have been concerned. That was my first thought when I started reading your post. However, I wasn't there to see her so you have to go with your gut.
As for the caregiver leaving her unattended, that sounds inappropriate but I don't think you can absolutely judge without knowing her level of mental functioning.