An "explainectomy"?

No, it is not my word. I wish it was. It is clever. 

It comes from Emma Darwin's excellent writing blog."This Itch of Writing" on Substack.

She was using it for another purpose but I like the word. It would be a particularly good word for doctors to learn and use - especially with the young. 

We really do sometimes need things to be explained to us. We need them explained in simple, factual terms. It seems to me our world is full of words but so much of it is opinion and not fact. It is all too often opinion presented as fact. It can actually be difficult to find facts. Facts should be accurate of course - and that's the problem. There are increasing difficulties in finding actual facts.

Yesterday I saw the mother of a profoundly disabled girl. K.... can do absolutely nothing for herself. She has severe intellectual and physical disabilities. Her father died several years ago and her mother is carrying on alone. K.... is "in care" only because her mother, now in her eighties, cannot physically handle her. I have known them both for around forty years. K... has never improved in all that time, indeed the situation is now worse. She is fed through a tube. Recently she has developed some pressure sores. There are other issues too. 

I was not shocked when her mother told me, "I wish K... would die before me. I'd miss her dreadfully but I worry so much about what will happen to her when I am not here to watch out for her."

K... is loved. If I think about it I have to be honest and say I am also fond of K...  Why? Because, despite everything, K... is apparently happy. She smiles a lot - genuine smiles where her eyes light up if you talk to her. She laughs if you say something silly. It is difficult to tell how much she understands but I know it is more than most people believe. We can have a "conversation" of sorts. I can tell her simple things and know she understands. 

K... needs more "explainectomies" in her world. I have seen her carers give her basic physical care while talking to someone else. They will take her for an "outing" to the local shops but the outing is for them, not for her. If she sees me her face will light up but the "carers" don't always want to stop even for a moment. They have no time for any sort of explanation to her...and often no time for me either. Perhaps I am a threat to them. 

K... needs facts in her world. It is a small, limited world but it is her world. Things should be explained to her. They need to be explained in simple language and by simple actions - explained so she feels safe and secure.  Her carers, apart from her mother, need training in "explainectomies".