Munchausen syndrome by proxy - nightmare for children

Recently Danish teachers have been under pressure by parents because they demand special care for their child among 25 other students.

They bring in lawyers to school meetings and expect the teacher to be able to teach reading and math so the child is Niels Bohr within months.

Also among 25 percent of the public schools budget is utilized to special education, which is all time high.

Never has so many children been diagnosed with all kind of mental illnesses.

Something is wrong. Why does the society not allow a child to be a quiet child who is doing the work and then choosing to go home instead of hanging out with friends?

Why do we have a society where everyone should be forced to socialize instead of reading books, concentrate on arts at home and just enjoy pets and family at home?

Every parent does worry about their child. They do want their child to outlive the child’s potential. Of course they ask for advice by professionals, but are they given the right advices?

In some countries the parents ask private educational consultants. In other countries they ask social workers and psychologists paid by the schools. Can they expect to receive a real answer which serves the child best or will they receive an answer which would suit the system or whatever party who is paying most of the salary for the person they ask?

In the United States parents often learn the hard way that whatever they pay the educational consultant the real salary is paid by schools and programs which the educational consultants refer the children to. There are no ways they can ensure if the recommendation of a specific solution will be in the best interest of their child.

In systems where the payment is done over the taxes there are no insurance also. There are no way the parents can check if the caseworker is referring their child to a specific school due to the political interest of the city council, the case worker has a colleague which is corrupt or the psychologists is basing the recommendation on her possible other job as psychologists for the school or group home, which is recommended.

Parents are often confused by all those who want allot of things for their children and mixed with possible ambitions they have, some of them can get sick. In extreme cases the parents can be suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

One such case is the case of 13 year old Ben Barnhard who was gunned down by his own mother.

From the very start of his life, his mother had ambitions on behalf of him. Ambitions he might had achieved if she hadn't been hammering on the doors of various experts all his life.

A divorce court filing lists 18 specialists involved in Ben's care, and Jensvold's own suicide note hints at some of the child's difficulties: "writing problems, migraines, hearing things" - and "a bit paranoid."

He was overweight. It is well-known that a lot of medication causes weight gain. Instead of implementing a diet and start exercising with her child the mother instead send him to a special boarding school - Wellspring Academies - which treat such things for the sum of $50,000.

It is not known who the mother consulted. Did some of them even suggest that the mother sought treatment herself instead? She had a history of lawsuits even before she got her child which had no basis.

Because the mother wasn't examined before this tragedy happened it is not possible for me to claim that she suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy or her constant search for treatment options was pushed by the advices she got.

We must urge the parents to seek second opinions when it comes to the recommendations they receive from case workers and educational consultants.

Based on the fact that residential treatment includes increased risk of sexual molestation, crime and increased difficulties becoming integrated with the normal life outside, this option should always be the very last used.

As relatives we must also enforce ourselves on family members which tend to isolate themselves with their children. Check in on them in a soft way where you don't impose your ideas of how they should live their lives but state that you are ready to listen.

Maybe a combination of such second guessing of external advices and tighter bonds in the family could have saved the life of 13 year old Ben Barnhard. It is not to know but can we let the next child slip too? Should we at least not make the try?

Sources:

• »Du hører fra min advokat, hvis Emilie ikke snart kan læse«, by Christian Kloster, 24 timer (Article in Danish language)


• Hver fjerde krone går til specialundervisning, by Jesper Kappel, Lokal-avisen, August 9, 2011 (Article in Danish language)


• Md. mom who killed son agonized over school costs, by Eric Tucker, NBC 29 news, August 9, 2011


• Münchausen syndrome by proxy, Wikipedia article

Last Chapter of Hidden Lake Academy / Ridge Creek School?

We have just learned that Ridge Creek School in Dahlonega has closed its doors. Any plans to let the school open under a new name seem not to be emerging any time soon.

Hidden Lake Academy did open its doors back in 1994. Very soon it became one of the most well-known therapeutic boarding schools in Georgia.

They opened a wilderness program which they used for evaluation of coming boarding school students. Maybe too many were "diagnosed" as suiting for the regime the school wanted to use in order to treat the students.

It didn't take many years before the first complaints became public. After the internet became widespread it was no longer possible to keep former unsatisfied students from communicating with each other.

Lawsuits were in the making. Change of staff and management over the time did not improve the situation. The rather isolated environment which the school had established itself in made it rather difficult to attract employees with the right type of education. Sometime the employees who had to deal with the students on daily basis were only just out of high school.

Were there power trips executed by the employees? According to various testimonies it was very often the case. Inexperienced and uneducated staff given too much power in such an environment is an explosive combination no management should allow but what does the management do when the shareholders demand profit?

As result suicide or suicide attempts is an all too common thing happening to the alumni’s.

The news station FOX5 did cover the last months of the timeline up to the closure. 10 to 15 years too late after many opinions. It is not a pretty sight.

What do the future hold for the local community in now where one of their larger workplaces is closing down? It doesn't look good. All too many group homes and therapeutic boarding schools are establishing themselves out in the countryside where they force the local communities to become dependent of them.

Was there something overlooked by the local authorities due to this marriage of pure need between the school and the local authorities? Did the political establishment and law-enforcing agencies try to play some of their more extreme occurrences at the school down in order to save jobs for the local community?

Many things indicate that it was the case.

And when it comes to cover-ups in scandals in group homes, foster care families and therapeutic boarding schools it is rather common. Even as far away as in Denmark we have learned that local teachers and other locals did complain about violence at a foster care family in the Danish hamlet named Mern. 20 years some knew that something was very, very wrong. Reports were made and they were lost - by whom? The police investigation by the local police is not targeted at other than the accused parents. None want to investigate such a cover-up. Everybody knows that thousand of DKK exchange hands between social services, foster care families and group homes.

• Should Denmark be anything different than Pennsylvania known for the Kids-for-Cash scandal?


• Should Denmark be anything different that just the next educational consultant which are paid both by parents to find the best treatment for their child and the various schools and programs for sending the child to their school?

It would be naive to believe so!

But back in Georgia everybody are now waiting to see whether the closure is the end of 17 years of suffering among teenagers or it will be the start of a new chapter under a different name.

Only the future will tell.

Sources:
Hidden Lake Academy on Fornits Wiki
I-Team: Ridge Creek School, Fox 5 news, July 8, 2011
I-Team: Ridge Creek School Closes, Fox 5 news, August 1, 2011
Children abused for 20 years, by Jes Højen Nielsen, Denmarks Radio, August 1, 2011

Minors in residential placement research center will feature the Swedish foster care system

Over the next 6 month on their main blog we will see a number of posts covering the defunct Swedish foster care system.

World over the Swedish system has been admired. The Danish minister of social services once asked the Danish social workers to look at what is working in Sweden and try to incoporate into the Danish system.

In reality it is very difficult to achieve that because the Swedish system is to place youth far out in remote places in their numerous forests isolated at foster families without the proper skills to deal with the problems the youth may suffer from. It does work because the youth become too demoralized to act out when there are none to act out in front and they cover their problems up until they are adults where they then can start earning money enough until they can afford treatment for themselves unless they have committed suicide before or fallen victim to some kind of substance abuse they have started to get away from their painful memories.

Here is the link to the blog of Minors in residential placement research center