I never was sure what was wrong in the beginning.
Jamie was withdrawn, and really had no friends.
She liked to stay at home alone and then she also liked to wander the town we lived in.
People would tell me they saw her at the library, at a store, on a highway..
they would ask why I allowed her to go those places...
How did I stop her? Did I tie her to the bed? Did I lock her in her room?.
She started writing on her bedroom walls, throwing things out the second story window.
She would invite guys in.
She would become verbally abusive.
We visited Psychiatrists, therapists, Doctors.
She was sick,but not sick enough.
I would have her put in the hospital..
they would let her out.
I vowed some times not to get her but I had heard accounts of other parents in Florida going to jail for abuse because they refused to pick up their child from a treatment facility.
Therapists came to the house..
one refused to turn his back on her for fear of what she would do.
I would wake up at night with her sitting on the floor watching me, just staring.
I was afraid for my life at times.
I never knew who I was coming home too.
She was sweet or she was violent.
She attended a special school for severely emotionally disturbed teens, but it was more babysitting.
Jamie had fallen in a large crack that society had created.
She dropped out of school and today works but is a full blown alcoholic with severe relationship problems leaning towards men who abuse her.
Is society any better today? I don't think so.
What a parent goes through with a mentally ill child is unspeakable.
Sometimes we as parents are blamed for our lack of parenting skills which of course makes us even more frustrated and upset by the system.
What we want for our child is for them to have a "life"...
to live with a disability and be able to adapt and function; to grow and raise a family; to love; to have fun.
These are the same things any parent wants for a child and for us it is only sad that society does not step up to the plate and care more for these children who, through no fault of their own ,were born with a chemical imbalance just as if it was a child with cancer or a heart problem.
If you are a parent of a disabled child or mentally ill child, please, oh please take a pro-active role in seeing that that child is not lost in the system.
Fight with all your soul and your heart.
I know how hard it is but for all the children, you must do it.
Jamie was withdrawn, and really had no friends.
She liked to stay at home alone and then she also liked to wander the town we lived in.
People would tell me they saw her at the library, at a store, on a highway..
they would ask why I allowed her to go those places...
How did I stop her? Did I tie her to the bed? Did I lock her in her room?.
She started writing on her bedroom walls, throwing things out the second story window.
She would invite guys in.
She would become verbally abusive.
We visited Psychiatrists, therapists, Doctors.
She was sick,but not sick enough.
I would have her put in the hospital..
they would let her out.
I vowed some times not to get her but I had heard accounts of other parents in Florida going to jail for abuse because they refused to pick up their child from a treatment facility.
Therapists came to the house..
one refused to turn his back on her for fear of what she would do.
I would wake up at night with her sitting on the floor watching me, just staring.
I was afraid for my life at times.
I never knew who I was coming home too.
She was sweet or she was violent.
She attended a special school for severely emotionally disturbed teens, but it was more babysitting.
Jamie had fallen in a large crack that society had created.
She dropped out of school and today works but is a full blown alcoholic with severe relationship problems leaning towards men who abuse her.
Is society any better today? I don't think so.
What a parent goes through with a mentally ill child is unspeakable.
Sometimes we as parents are blamed for our lack of parenting skills which of course makes us even more frustrated and upset by the system.
What we want for our child is for them to have a "life"...
to live with a disability and be able to adapt and function; to grow and raise a family; to love; to have fun.
These are the same things any parent wants for a child and for us it is only sad that society does not step up to the plate and care more for these children who, through no fault of their own ,were born with a chemical imbalance just as if it was a child with cancer or a heart problem.
If you are a parent of a disabled child or mentally ill child, please, oh please take a pro-active role in seeing that that child is not lost in the system.
Fight with all your soul and your heart.
I know how hard it is but for all the children, you must do it.
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