Fundamentals of Caring

A friend of mine actually found this movie, and asked me to watch it with him. He saw it and said that it opened his eyes to how it is working with somebody with special needs. I watched it with him and then watched it again over this last weekend when I saw that it was on the list of what we could write on.

This movie, Fundamentals of Caring, is based on somebody taking care of a person with MD. In the beginning of the movie Trevor, the teenager with MD, is negative and doesn’t feel like he can do anything because of his diagnosis. As the movie goes, his caretaker, Ben, is able to really connect with Trevor and help him see the purpose of living his life to the fullest. Ben even takes Trevor on a trip to meet his dad and to go to “the world’s biggest pit” (Burnett), which at first Trevor didn’t want to go on but he ends up really enjoying the trip. One thing that Ben did towards the end of the movie which shows how much he cares about Trevor is he got a stretcher from an ambulance and strapped Trevor to it. He then stood up the stretcher allowing Trevor to pee standing up, which was something he said he had always wanted to do, since he had never been able to do that. This is something that I thought was neat because Ben saw something in a new way that allowed Trevor to do something that he had never done. This relates to occupational therapy because that is what we do as therapist, we look at ordinary things and see new or other ways that they can be used.

This movie shows why encouraging a person to live their life to the fullest is important. Trevor went from living a bitter life and not seeing a point in doing anything to enjoying his life. Not only does Trevor’s life become better but so does Ben’s. Ben started the job because he needed a new job and did it more out of obligation. Throughout the movie, you can see how he begins to embrace and have a connection with Trevor as more than a caregiver. I think this movie does a great job of showing how not only are you able to help a person in their life but how they can help you without really trying. It also does a good job of showing the process that person with any disease, specifically MD, may go through as they accept their diagnosis. I would definitely recommend watching this movie to other people, in a health profession field or not.

Burnett R., Gigliotti, D., Spies, J. (Producer), & Burnett, R. (Director). (2016). Fundamentals of caring [Motion Picture]. United States: Worldwide Pants.