http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece
This is beyond anything I have ever read. This is beyond horrible. There's no describing it.
Yiz
The girl in the window - A Horrible Child Abuse Story. *Not For The Faint Of Heart*
by Yizuman 20 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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daniel-p
Wow.
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Colton
She looks like a very young Jessica Harper. Wow!
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Mickey mouse
There are no words.
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StAnn
Yiz, this is not really that out of the ordinary. I've seen several very similar cases. I used to work in group homes with the mentally retarded. One man was MR because of a lack of human interaction. His home didn't have indoor plumbing so they all went out and used the yard as a toilet. If it was cold or raining, they just used the corners of the rooms in the house. It took years for him to become comfortable with sheets on the bed because he'd slept on the same dirty uncovered mattress in the floor all of his life. He came to live at the group home because neighbors ~finally~ called Adult Protective Services, who took him away after his mother died. He was so skinny.
Often times, the people I took care of had been born to people who were borderline mentally retarded themselves and simply couldn't care for a child. But, they have the "right" to sexual activity and we were always lectured in the group home that all we could do was try to teach them about wearing condoms, not try to discourage them. Again, liberal laws that were concerned with their "rights" completely ignored their inability to care for themselves, let alone the children they brought into the world.
In the group homes, when the women get pregnant, they usually make them have abortions. In the outside world, these women carry and deliver these babies and you have cases like Danielle.
It is very, very sad and tragic. I have little hope Danielle will ever function even semi-independently.
StAnn
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drwtsn32
Damn. This story made me sick.
Again, liberal laws that were concerned with their "rights" completely ignored their inability to care for themselves, let alone the children they brought into the world.
I see what you're saying, but do you really want to go down the path of the government/someone else deciding who should not be able to have sex? Or perhaps who should be sterilized?
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StAnn
No, DRWTSN. My proposal would be to teach them that they shouldn't be having sex outside of marriage. I think they should be taught to be celibate. The MR/DD population is the most sexually active group of people I've ever met and they don't understand the consequences at all.
They have to accept that, in many other ways, they will never be "normal" and, tough as it is, they should accept that they're not responsible enough for sexual activity. None of the people I'm thinking of would be permitted to have a driver's license or to handle their own finances or to make their own medical decisions. Yet trying to guide them re: their sexuality, which could result in the birth of another human being they can't care for, or the contraction of a disease that could kill them, is considered completely out of bounds in our society.
StAnn
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StAnn
DRWTSN, keep in mind that I also have two MR/DD stepsons ages 13 and 18, and they can be taught about their sexuality.
StAnn
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drwtsn32
My proposal would be to teach them that they shouldn't be having sex outside of marriage.
And you think that will work when trying to teach them safe sex (contraception) does not work as per your previous post? And how will getting married magically enable someone to care for a child?
It's pretty hard to protect people from doing things that hurt themselves, but we can certainly help children that are not being well cared for.
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StAnn
Drwtsn, let me rephrase this. I think it would benefit them to teach them that sexual activity should be confined to marriage and that they aren't capable of married life. Right now, people in Dani's condition are being told by the people who work with them that they have the right to be married and the right to sexual activity and the right to have children. However, these same people will tell them that they aren't intellectually capable of procuring a driver's license. I think that's irresponsible. I think that we should stop telling mentally handicapped people they can do everything that "normal" people do. There are lots of things they can't do and they have to learn to accept those limits over the course of their lives.
I'm not advocating cruelty. Merely reinforcing, "Yes, I know that you're a young woman with natural urges. But if you indulge them, you could very easily end up having a baby that you can't take care of. Babies deserves a chance to be born in good health with parents who can care for them. They're not baby dolls. There is a lot more to caring for them than just changing diapers and feeding them. So you're going to have to learn to deal with your feelings in ways other than most people do."
Most of the MR/DD people I know just know that sex "feels good" so it's okay with them. They do not and cannot understand the consequences of being sexually active. It's no different than having them find out that taking certain kinds of drugs makes them "feel good", so do we stand back and let them destroy themselves with meth or cocaine? They will not understand that the drugs are bad for them and can cause them long term damage. They cannot provide the minimum care for any children they give birth to.
Do you really think that Dani's mom should have been having children?
StAnn
