I am a caretaker for a girl with special needs. She can’t walk on her own, has a trach (breathing tube), is non verbal, has a feeding tube, and is sometimes drools. I take her to therapies and our dayhab program and we just hangout and have fun together everyday. I think she is amazing! However, when I tell people what I do for a living, people don’t know how to digest it, they don’t really express any interest, or they make her out to be some vegetable with no thoughts. I often get called a babysitter! I am in no way a babysitter! I know how important I am in her life and for her family. But when people act disinterested or belittle what I do, or the girl I work for it is infuriating! I take it way more personally than I should. How do I separate their inability to see the beauty in someone different, or their discomfort, from my own emotions and self worth?