How to deal with client rejection
Hi there,
I (23 F) have been a support worker for 3.5 months now, i’ve absolutely loved it, my company is lovely and i’ve received great feedback consistently. I’ve never heard anything negative in terms of the support i give, and not even received any constructive criticism either, rather praise.
I took on a new client three weeks ago (under10, F) who is a little girl with ASD level 3, i definitely felt challenged especially as it was an early morning get ready for school shift and mum was very particular (very strict -asian household, very particular about clients care) which is more than fine, she watched everything and was quick to correct little things, but i thought i had been doing great and was building a great rapport with both parents. I made a mistake two weeks ago where i thought i started at 6.00 am but it was 6.30 am, and turned up at the house and only realised once the dad said something about me being keen that morning, i’m wondering if that had something to do with it. Anyways, i really thought i had a great connection with mum and my client, we had similar interests, and as i supported her daughter more, she started to ask details about myself, how old i was and my other job outside of support work. Mum never gave me any negative feedback, she only corrected me on small things like when i placed her daughters bag on her car seat rather than the car floor. All my shifts with the client went well and i left every shift happy that i was learning more and getting even better and felt a sense of accomplishment.
A month in to supporting the client, today i have recieved an email from my team leader stating that mum no longer would like me on the clients team or working with client. The email read to not take it personal, not in regards to the support i gave and that it was in regards to wanting a worker “more mature in age”. I feel like if that was the case in the first place, mum would have requested someone older in age anyways, i’m overthinking that they have just said this to not let me down.
I’m just a little crushed i guess, i’m new to all of this and this is the first time i’ve been rejected by a client / family. I’m wondering if anyone has any words of advice. I can’t lie when i say i’m a little bit upset over this as i put my whole heart and soul into this job and love my clients and build a great bond with all of them. I’m a little bit embarrassed as well and wonder if my company now views me as immature.
Thankyou
TLDR; 3 months into being a support worker and clients mum has decided to no longer want me to support 6yo asd daughter due to age and maturity reasons, feeling upset and don’t know how to deal with rejection