D.I.D....

Part of the problem is that C'link medical requirements are based on the assumption that the illness/disability in question has a consistent presentation from one day to the next, and therefore a consistent requirement for care. Also, in the past the paperwork was skewed heavily towards physical and cognitive disabilities, so oddly, our daughter's water phobia was one of the things that got the carers payments across the line, because that meant she had "difficulty showering".... Thankfully they've changed that now, and have a more open ended process where they accept medical evidence from any suitable medical professional, instead of insisting that particular boxes be ticked off by every applicant.

Hmmm... crossed over posts there @Faith-and-Hope . Curious that we said very similar things without having first seen the other's post.

Completely different field @Smc

I was initially in a engineering related role

Transitioned into a sales role (selling the same product) when that became too much. Wouldn't mind finding some form of customer support role as I like helping people.

(I have been asked by 2 career advisors at uni why I am not doing councilling or psychology based on personality testing) if only they knew why I was back at uni in the first place.

@Faith-and-Hope understand what you mean by greater level of support to start with costing less in the long run.

Where our carer payment gets tricky is that while I am at home supporting daily activities darling more often has the appearance of coping because I am at home in a support role. Evident in the frequent meltdowns when I am focused on things outside of the home. Just thankful that the Dr at the time was able to recognise that as that is not always seen in that light.

As @Faith-and-Hope mentioned mh is most defiantly viewed different to physical or even intellectual disability. Our s1 has a verified ID with a measurement score. S2 who is starting to exhibit mh flags gets passed off as age and stage of life despite the background.

Haha seems we also crossed over @Smc on the topic of consistent presentation of symptoms.

@Determined, I had my psychologist suggesting I should do a psychology degree. Uh uh no way. I like it that she was that certain of my capacity to do such a demanding course, but working in that sort of role would drain me dry. 😞
I started a uni degree after high school, and was doing well, but I deferred and never went back because I realised I would end up in a desk job. Regardless of intellectual capacity, I'm more a hands on, outdoors sort of person, even if that kind of work is considered "low brow". Who cares???
One of the things that gets me excited about pottery, apart fron the creative side of it, is actually the science of it. Understanding the chemical and physical interactions that happen between clay, glaze and kiln. Materials technology, basically.

I love picking up a piece of handmade pottery by another potter and being able to "read" it. If you know what you're looking for, you can often tell what sort of kiln it was glazed in. Gas and electric give an even glaze formation, but the gas kiln can give you the ability to do a de-oxygenated (reduction) firing, which gives different glaze colours and properties. If it's a wood kiln, you can see traces of fine (or sometimes coarse) fly ash on the pot, and you can often work out which side of it was facing the flame too. Sometimes you also get flame effects on gas fired pieces, but there's subtle differences in the quality of it as it's a "cleaner" flame. And then there's the construction methods, clay composition and glaze ingredients... but that's another story. 😛 Or stories.

That is often the way here with crossed-over posts @Smc ..... there is a commonality of experience.

@Determined you might be recognising traits in S2 that never actually emerge into the “fully fledged” mi zone. In hindsight I can see traits in my kids, and can see how coping skills can be fed into the mix that will hopefully keep them just as traits.

I see the difference between my older ones and the youngers, who were exposed differently to developed mi issues in other family members. The amount of coping strategies, positive self-talk, and resilience I was able to support in the older ones was what helped them to manage the traits.

Hubby’s mi triggering without having learnt those skills himself tipped pur boat out ..... but even that is too simplistic an explanation.

Its a giant learning curve no matter how you look at it, and we can only do the best we know how in the moment.

Feeling for you so much @Smc. You must have been so completely blind-sided in your daughter’s situation, and I am sure there are health professionals who still question that the condition actually exists.

Just realised- a sample of what I do that I can show off without giving my secret identity away! 😄
These two shards are a glaze test. One is just rock dust mixed with water to make a glaze; mostly marble but likely "contaminated" with small quantities of other minerals. The other is my attempt to reverse engineer the glaze with "pure" ingredients that I have in my kiln shed. Silica, alumina, iron, wood ash (which is somewhat impure calcium carbonate) and maybe some other components... would have to check my notes. To do this, I had to research the chemical composition of marble and try to reproduce that, along with a bit of "reading" the rock dust glaze for clues.
The result wasn't completely identical, but it was close enough to get me excited when I pulled them out of the kiln. I would have to chase down the actual pieces to tell you which is which. 🙂 (They're marked on the back. You always always mark test pieces!)

😊 Getting quite an education here ...