It's not his behaviors, it is the other caretaker's inability to cope. She may have trouble coping with other things as well. My guess is that she's ready to quit. Or she *should* quit. She's simply not cut out for the job, and you are doing magnificently. Everyone handles stress differently, and she simply doesn't handle things well. But in your situation, I think I'd be stern about not taking calls from her on YOUR time off. That isn't fair to you at all. You are doing a wonderful job, and your client is fine with you. As long as you think that there are no health/safety/abuse issues when the other caretaker is with him, don't worry. It sounds like her problem, not the patient.

Sorry to chime in so late. DH has retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), nystagmus, and had heart surgery at 5 or 6. It's amazing that he lived, much less that he functions so well. He has light perception in one eye and can see vague shapes up to a few feet in the other. He can also read enlarged text with a 12x magnifier, but it gives him headaches. He is a braille reader. That's not a given for blind people. Most people never had the tactile sensitivity in the first place. Most braille readers (as opposed to decoders) learned as children. His main compensatory skills are hearing and amazing spatial awareness. It doesn't hurt that he's naturally athletic. Please don't underestimate how hard it is to be blind. Even before the economy tanked, employment was tough. Only about 30% of blind people were employed and many of those worked in sheltered workshops. DH has been a B/VI teacher for more than 20 years. It pays well for teaching job, because of his education (Masters+60), seniority, and difficulty of the job (itinerant teacher who serves 40+ blind/visually impaired students distributed among 16 to 20 schools each year). We know a couple of professors and a few other people with jobs that sighted people would consider desirable, but we know far more who make ends meet by a combination of low-wage jobs and SSI for disability. A couple of the people in the former group had good educational experiences prior to college. Most, including DH, did not. Only the professor who is a Harvard grad would test extremely high on a traditional IQ test. What they all have in common is extraordinary determination and the ability to self-advocate. Sadly, people do make all kinds of judgments based on eyes and faces. Nystagmus (involuntary eye movement) can be interpreted as "goofing around" or as low mental functioning. Sometimes it gets old. Food server: "What does he want?" Me: "I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" (I want to say, "he's blind not stupid."). Sometimes it's funny: The hairdresser who acted like a toddler had escaped when he left and went to the bank while she finished my hair. His spatial ability is nothing short of amazing, so people forget that he's blind. His mother and sister still try to show him photographs. "Oh, but you can't see this can you?" "Umm, not really." Two people have thrown things and hit him in the head because "they forgot." Both should have known better. One was a sighted B/VI teacher and the other was a sighted coach of a beep baseball team! On the other hand, this is a man who does make the occasional birdie playing golf ... Some things we've noticed: People aren't working with blind kids to help them with personal presentation. That means everything from grooming to learning to "look at" (turn head and eyes toward) people during conversation. Personally, I don't know that I'd go the tinted glasses route unless it really appeals to your GD. She should be prepared for Stevie Wonder jokes, if she does. I'd actively work with her on softening her facial expression, and learning to laugh at the absurdities. Yes, I know that's much easier said than done. Few younger blind people know where they are in space. They need to get outside more in all kinds of weather and practice walking and listening. Sports help. DH did Olympic style weightlifting until he torn his shoulder in a fall on ice outside a school a few winters ago. It's a great sport for learning where you are - balance and moving your knees and feet. It builds self-confidence. Unlike body building, it doesn't make a woman look masculine. There's beep baseball - softball for blind people. I've also taught yoga to blind people. Lastly, attitude matters greatly. I doubt that a week goes by that there isn't someone I'd like to shake until they rattle. Fortunately, DH is much more easy-going about it than I am. That and a sense of humor are huge assets.

I always wondered what would have happened if he would have lived.

This is project we completed last season. The coping stone, steps and the patio are Indiana Limestone. We use this material quite a bit for a number of reasons. It's cool in the direct sunlight, the colors are neutral and match well with most other materials and the coping we purchase is in lengths that are 6' minimum. This gives a clean. modern, classic look to a pool. There are several other photos on our Houzz site with pools using the same material. We have used travertine for coping in the past .Stock material usually is 12"x24" with a bull nose. Not a fan of any bull nose. IMO, it's dated. We have though had custom pieces fabricated in long lengths and custom widths without a bull nose, but with a straight edge. Travertine should be honed and filled type. Small depressions and holes in others present an issue with freeze damage in certain climates, like NJ. A contractor on my project about 10+ years ago, dry laid travertine pavers for the patio. They were about an inch thick and were terrible. They were not thick enough and had a lot of movement. Most cracked over the winter. We did wet lay travertine for a patio on a project in NYC around the same time frame, and looks great to this day. The photo you posted is in a year round climate (palm tree). It's hard to tell the material used. Some pre-cast material can look nice, but we prefer natural stone over any man made materials. Glass tile is a big seller for our projects especially on raised walls or spas.