Word: mattlin
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...after a year of living in his Canaday room, Mattlin says that he still feels somewhat left out socially and finds that Canaday is really not an accessible dorm because only four rooms in the 70-plus-room building are accessible without ascending steps. Mattlin says that, as a result, his life is primarily "self-contained" and that he is somewhat envious of the two six-man suites on the fourth floor of his entry. "I'm not saying I want to have 10,000 people in my room, but it's not the same living only with an attendant...
...compensate for the lack of accessibility to some forms of socializing, Mattlin has "put forth an effort to be social--I always have. Because I care about that, I'm willing to get to know people. And the only way to do that is to go out there and get to know them." Sometimes his efforts at friendliness are misinterpreted, Mattlin says. He often asks friends to come over sometime or give him a call; but occasionally his suggestions make women feel uncomfortable, Mattlin admits, saying, "I mean well...
...limitations of his rooming situation and his disability have caused problems for which his extroverted character and sense of humor have been unable to compensate. For example, Mattlin is currently employing his third fulltime attendant for this year. The problem that caused Mattlin to relieve the first two attendants--one in December and the other in March--relates directly to his desire to have friends living with him. When Mattlin sought his first two attendants, he looked for companionship qualities--he wanted a full-time friend as well as a full-time attendant. But he found that that arrangement does...
Marc Fiedler '78, a quadriplegic who lived in Quincy House with an attendant after becoming disabled before his junior year and who is currently deputy director of the Office of Handicapped Affairs of Massachusetts, sympathizes with Mattlin's problem. "The relationship with the attendant is a very difficult one. It's imbalanced by the fact that he's always doing things for you and you can't reciprocate," Fiedler says...
...Mattlin believes he now knows how to avoid problems with attendants, and he expects to employ his current attendant next year. "I realize my need for professional competency is greater than my desire for companionship," he says. But he adds that, with roommates, the strains of having an attendant would lessen because he would only need the attendant for professional attention. "I think if I had roommates it might ease things. I could just hire somebody who was professional and efficient--even if I couldn't stand him," Mattlin says wryly...