Posted on 08/08/2011 4:32:11 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Ben Barnhard finally had reason to be optimistic this summer: The 13-year-old shed more than 100 pounds at a rigorous weight-loss academy, a proud achievement for a boy who had endured classmates' taunts about his obesity and who had sought solace in the quiet of his bedroom, with his pet black cat and the intricate origami designs he created.
But one month before school was to start for the special-needs teen, his mother, psychiatrist Margaret Jensvold, shot him in the head, then killed herself. Officers found their bodies Tuesday in the bedrooms of their home in Kensington, Md., an upper-middle class Washington suburb. They also found a note.
"School — can't deal with school system," the letter began, Jensvold's sister, Susan Slaughter, told The Associated Press.
And later: "Debt is bleeding me. Strangled by debt."
Although family members said they were stunned by the killings, they also said Jensvold had become increasingly strained by financial pressure and by anguished fights with the county public school system over the special-needs education of her son, who had an autism spectrum disorder. They said the school district — apparently believing it could adequately educate Ben — had refused to cover tuition costs for the boy to attend a private school for special-needs students. Jensvold didn't have the money herself and didn't want to return her son to public school, where relatives said she felt harshly judged and marginalized and where Ben had struggled.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
“may not be a matter of “want to,” but rather, can’t.
I know three people in local schools and they say “mainstreaming” hurts everyone in the classroom.”
Kids with a degree of Asperger’s don’t have an issue being “mainstreamed”. They are usually much smarter than average; in fact mostly genius level kids. They have an issue with creep kids brought up by creep parents who don’t give a damn that they have raised a bully, and with schools too lazy to enforce discipline and also bother to teach anyone who might not instantly pick up on the material.
Husband works in bankruptcy. He’s always willing to help anyone who is honest with him in his investigation. Years ago, before some of the more recent bankruptcy laws were enacted, he helped people reorganize their businesses. One family he worked with was able to keep their house, trim off the waste, reorganize, and keep doing what they loved
to do for a living. He was on the outside looking in and was able to identify in the books what was sinking them. They eventually remodeled their house and kept their land. - Some are not honest; but most are. He makes sure to help people retain their dignity. Many people are struck with huge medical bills and other things beyond their control.
I was mainstreamed and it was huge for me.
They wanted to shuttle me in ‘special ed’. Where I would have been locked away for all my life.
“Said that psychology was crap and she did not believe in it any more.”
My son quit half way through his Masters in family counseling and told me that you really can’t “fix” most people who are broken.
55,000-75,000k a year tuition?
She should have moved to a different (cheaper) part of Maryland, put the child in a $6,000 a year Catholic school, and told the father to sell his “restored boat” he cruises around DC in to help out more.
Seems the problem she feared was teasing from the hoodlums (illegals) in the Montgomery County (the San Francisco of Maryland) government school system.
Have a friend who is a leftist. Years ago she lied and had all her school loans forgiven. Today she has a family memeber who is gravely ill. She owns a house and they have monies, substantial monies. They spend at leas four months a year in europe. Not in class A hotels but good enough.
Her family member is now getting free care because their income is low and hidden. It is frustrating. I like her but I really dont like that she steals.
I completely agree. Psychology and psychiatry....most of the practitioners are looney tunes. And they contribute to the demise of the fabric of our society by their creation of damaged people.
Too bad this mother is a murderer and not a Christian.
[From the linked article]
Jensvold had co-edited the book "Psychopharmacology and Women: Sex, Gender, and Hormones" and contributed to the book "Psychopharmacology from a Feminist Perspective."
She had previously practiced at the Premenstrual Syndrome Clinic on St. Elmo Road in Bethesda, according to records.
Jensvold once sued the National Institutes of Health for sex discrimination. She and another doctor claimed that they were forced to work in a male dominated, sexist atmosphere, and that they had been denied mentoring opportunities considered essential to advancing in their careers. But in 1996, U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow tossed out the claims, saying they were in part "exaggerated" and "fabricated."
An online review by an anonymous client wrote, "She seemed to be a very caring person and took notes during sessions, however in a crisis situation she was very difficult to get in touch with....It seemed as if she only worked part time. She was kind but ineffective
When you are nuts you are nuts.
Every psychologist/psychiatrist I’ve ever known has been unbalanced.”
Over the years several hundred in and around our area have been my business clients. Of all of these, there are only two that I think are wonderful, skilled and really able to help families through crisis times. They are also awesome parents and their five children are all smart, polite and wise in practical ways. They are also the only two that are very conservative politically.
Like a public school principle is medically qualified enough to read and MRI and make a determination of the condition?
What arrogance. Who the heck does he think he is?
The same was true in Ohio. My solution finally has been to yank all of them out of public school and enroll them in Virtual Academy. The schools are nothing more than indoctrination camps for the left anyway. Hell with ‘em!
It's all about $$$$$'s.
The public skrewels bag 2 more victims...
Maryalnd “Freak State” PING!
Me? I'm praying for the kid. The woman can burn in hell.
You'd be surprised. I had a young guy work for me who had aspergers, a form of autism. He couldn't hold a job elsewhere but was fantastic at what he did for me. You work with peoples strengths, not their weaknesses.
Or you could put them in a hospital and pretend they don't exist. Kinda like they used to do. That seems to be where your comment is heading.
You can’t fix them the way they try, which is drugs, drugs and more drugs.
There are different kinds of mental illness, some is a chemical imbalance and some is due to trauma. Prayer and love are good treatment for both.
I’d have told the principal to produce a medical degree or you would report him to the state for practicing without a license.
That’s pretty close to what I did say...... :-)
It absolutely is not a science. True sciences consider the quantifiable and yield reproducible results. Multiple psychiatric evaluations will produce multiple, even contradictory, results which are all somehow supposedly valid. Psychiatry is a system of commentary which is subjective and rhetorical and, therefore, an art.
Jeez...
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