United Bates of America Episode Descriptions

[Maude]

I see UBOA is being advertised on the 19KAC FB page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater

[pomology]

Gil's brother and family:

http://bumpinalongtheroadlesstraveled.blogspot.com.au/

They live next door to Gil's parents and Gil's brother is a farmer. The family, as FloraDoraDolly said, seem like a nice, normal family. The eldest son has Downs Syndrome but the family seem to have him involved in a lot of activities. He is followed by three beautiful girls. The mother set up a home school group music program which includes a band, string group and choir. There was a great blog about the eldest daughter learning Trumpet. So nice to see a Bates child wearing jeans and playing Trumpet instead of in a praire dress playing Violin.

I'm pretty sure the oldest son does not have Downs Syndrome. He has Aspergers or some other thing that puts him mildly on the autistic spectrum.

[lilwriter85]

I think TLC is going to really play up the "country" element with the Bates. They present the Duggars as a 50s style family values suburban family that idealises a culture that never existed, and i think they'll present the Bates as simple country folk and try to evoke a peaceful rural utopia without the corrupting influences of urban life, another idealized culture that never really existed.

I also think TLC will go with that angle.

[Miggy]

Sorry. The son does have Aspergers not Downs. I wasn't paying enough attention when I wrote.

I always worry when I see kids with disabilities being home schooled. A lot of parents do not seem capable of teaching speciaal needs kids. This family is the exception. They seem to be putting in a lot of effort to help their son develop normally. (Yesterday my 15yr old Aspergsrs student threw a chair at another student because he was frustrated. I can' t see this boy ending up in that situation.)

[Buzzard]

I'm really fascinated by the "campaign" to pull honey boo boo off TLC but the Duggars and Bates are totes kool? Honestly, I'd rather see honey boo boo trash up the screen all day long than the mind control of the gothardites. Atleast she's being herself...

[PennySycamore]

The only one I'm curious about is Gil's parents....I have to wonder, are they fundies too? I'm guessing probably not, Gil and Kelly didn't join Gothard until after they were married. They have a farm...hmm, wonder why Gil didn't think to go into farming rather than the tree business, if that's what he grew up with.

Gil's dad is a low-level judge of some type. Of course, in South Carolina that doesn't mean jack. He could still be a farmer as well or be as dumb as a sack of hammers and still be a judge.

[Deleted07]

I totally just had a flash of a teeney-tiny country town where you have the 1 guy who is everything in town, Sheriff, Judge, Coroner, Funeral Director, Farmer, Minister - EVERYTHING! :lol:

[Jezebel Duggar]

Even though Gil is a freak, I think his parents are going to be normal southerners.

[DifferentGurl]

Sorry. The son does have Aspergers not Downs. I wasn't paying enough attention when I wrote.

I always worry when I see kids with disabilities being home schooled. A lot of parents do not seem capable of teaching speciaal needs kids. This family is the exception. They seem to be putting in a lot of effort to help their son develop normally. (Yesterday my 15yr old Aspergsrs student threw a chair at another student because he was frustrated. I can' t see this boy ending up in that situation.)

I have Aspergers, was homeschooled, and I don't throw chairs ( or do anything else violent ) when I'm frustrated. Then again, before I was homeschooled, I had therapy and was in regular school. My parents ( both then and now ) worked to help me be as independent as possible.

All I can say about homeschooling kids with disabilities is to make sure they still get the therapy they need and are given the chance to socialize outside the house.

[DifferentGurl]

I'm really fascinated by the "campaign" to pull honey boo boo off TLC but the Duggars and Bates are totes kool? Honestly, I'd rather see honey boo boo trash up the screen all day long than the mind control of the gothardites. Atleast she's being herself...

Yea...Honey Boo Boo's older teenage sister is pregnant for goodness sakes! And the women wear *gasp* jeans and shorts! She definitely has more freedom. As much as I think the show seems like it will be stupid, this family deserves more attenion than the Bates and Duggars...they are more "unique" and we will not watch stuff as boring as "going shopping" or "visiting a museum" or anything else like that.

[Miggy]

I have Aspergers, was homeschooled, and I don't throw chairs ( or do anything else violent ) when I'm frustrated. Then again, before I was homeschooled, I had therapy and was in regular school. My parents ( both then and now ) worked to help me be as independent as possible.

All I can say about homeschooling kids with disabilities is to make sure they still get the therapy they need and are given the chance to socialize outside the house.

I think the big thing is accepting that if a child has special needs then you have to get them help. My son has mild Aspergers and severe ADHD and has been in therapy since he was five. He is now in his late teens and still struggles. I know there is no way I could have educated him myself. My student has the most severe form of Aspergers. Therapy has helped him function socially in some situations but he can't cope with changes to rountine, hence the chair throwing.

I teach in three schools and also teach home school students music lessons and so, mix with a large community of evangelical Christian home schoolers. Many do not believe conditions like ADHD or Aspergers are real but are just excuses given by parents who can not manage their own children. It scares me that these people home school.

Differentgurl, I'm glad your parents did a good job home schooling but in my experience, your parents are rare. I think the other Bates family are also one of the rare families. This is just based on my personal experience. Maybe I am wrong. I hope I am.

[DifferentGurl]

I think the big thing is accepting that if a child has special needs then you have to get them help. My son has mild Aspergers and severe ADHD and has been in therapy since he was five. He is now in his late teens and still struggles. I know there is no way I could have educated him myself. My student has the most severe form of Aspergers. Therapy has helped him function socially in some situations but he can't cope with changes to rountine, hence the chair throwing.

I teach in three schools and also teach home school students music lessons and so, mix with a large community of evangelical Christian home schoolers. Many do not believe conditions like ADHD or Aspergers are real but are just excuses given by parents who can not manage their own children. It scares me that these people home school.

Differentgurl, I'm glad your parents did a good job home schooling but in my experience, your parents are rare. I think the other Bates family are also one of the rare families. This is just based on my personal experience. Maybe I am wrong. I hope I am.

I don't know if parents like mine or the other Bates family are rare. Also, I'm glad you got him therapy. Therapy is a life-saver.

At my old church, this one pastor wanted to help this ADHD kid. How did he do this? By having the kid kneel in front of him and apologize for having ADHD. ?! Luckily, my parents got me and my sister out of there. In a similar church, the mother of my sister's friend was yelled at for having ADHD.

Enrolling a special needs kid in a parochial school should be done with caution. My parents did so knowing I was independent to learn and get along with the other non-disabled students. The school also allowed my therapy to sit in the class with me. But several teachers in the school did not know and were not willing to learn how to handle a special needs student. My fourth grade teacher at that school was just horrible, both to the non-disabled and disbaled students like me. I heard later on after I left the school that when she had to deal with a kid with Tourette's that had a tic that involved looking at the clock, she yelled,"Looking at the clock will not make it go faster!". And he also had fine motor issues that made it hard for him to write neatly. When he finally did, the teacher yelled at him and accused him of having his mother write for him! Oh, and the school kept this teacher around for thirty years. :evil:

Keep trying with your son and your other students and don't give up.

[Miggy]

Just to be clear: I know many wonderful, supportive families. They just don't tend to be the ones who home school. It is home chool parents who accept extra help for their kids that I have found to be very rare.