Josie's Sensory Issues

[cjsmom]

If a child has sensory issues and receives no therapy, how would this impact the child's development?

For over-arousement (too much going on in an environment):

The child may be anxious at anticipating environments where they have an ecological mismatch between the level of noise/smell/light and their ability to cope. The child may withdraw (covering ears, closing eyes, putting hands over eyes, be unable to speak) or the child may experience 'meltdown' behaviours when in an environment that they don't know how to handle. All sorts of behaviours can develop as a child seeks to avoid or deal with an environment where they cannot handle the stressors.

For under-arousement (too little going on in an environment):

The child will seek self-stimulating ways to increase sensory input - how many people do you see who need to listen to music and play games on their devices at the same time (for example)? Or the individual may bite/chew/suck on self or clothing. if a sibling is around, the person whose sensory organs are under stimulated can easily go bother their sib to get a bit more sensory input. They may tap nails on tables, chew gum really loudly, or press too hard with their pencil on the page to the point where it gets ripped.

So in terms of how it impacts an individual's development, there are a number of maladaptive behaviours that can develop. Once one of those has set in, it can take a very long time, a lot of patience, and a pretty comprehensive plan to replace the undesired behaviour with a new one (you cannot simply eliminate a behaviour; you have to replace. Think the smoker who gains weight because they replace cigarettes with candy, or a person with unhealthy eating habits who picks up new healthy ones).

Depending on the impact of the maladaptive behaviours, the individual's quality of life can be impaired. My son for example, can't handle restaurants where the ceiling is really high because sound just carries and that's too much for him. We can't take him to one of those, but we can take him out to eat in places where the ceiling doesn't have exposed pipes, has a bit of soundproofing, and where the chatter of voices and clinks of glasses/utensils don't 'carry' across the room. He also has extreme taste and texture aversions, so his diet is very limited. Thankfully, he's healthy and developing fine, but feeding him is a challenge.

[So Says I]

I just always think about the fact that the lost girls have been videotaped for pretty much their entire lives. What kind of effect has that had on them? It sucks that they don't really have a choice in the matter.

[Mama Mia]

I just always think about the fact that the lost girls have been videotaped for pretty much their entire lives. What kind of effect has that had on them? It sucks that they don't really have a choice in the matter.

Yeah, one of the things that I think is the worst about the Duggar's and their lifestyle is this.

All of the little kids are destined to have a completely bizarre life change when the show ends. They must be close to the crew and they will just suddenly no longer be around. They also will likely not take a bunch of trips and have all the same variety of activities.

The worst part though is that the set up of the "Sister Mom" system means these poor kids are going to lose the person who they have their primary bond with as soon as the sister mom gets married. I would think it would be devestating for them.

Very sad.

[MamaJunebug]

Yeah, one of the things that I think is the worst about the Duggar's and their lifestyle is this.

All of the little kids are destined to have a completely bizarre life change when the show ends. They must be close to the crew and they will just suddenly no longer be around. They also will likely not take a bunch of trips and have all the same variety of activities.

The worst part though is that the set up of the "Sister Mom" system means these poor kids are going to lose the person who they have their primary bond with as soon as the sister mom gets married. I would think it would be devestating for them.

Very sad.

I strongly suspect - and it isn't a new theory - that Jimchelle realize this and will keep the sister-moms home as long as possible. I mean, seriously: just think of the energy the two of them would have to exert to deal with devastated young/pre-teen/teen howlers of either gender!!!! :evil:

[Miggy]

There are several ex-fundy bloggers who have written about the sistermum-younger sibling bond and how hard it is on both when it is broken. There is guilt on the side of the older sibling at abandoning their siblings and resentment by the younger ones at being abandoned. Libby-Anne of "Love, Joy, Feminism" has written some very insightful pieces on this topic. (IIRC She has also written about her younger siblings seeing her as a bully because she was expected to assist her parents will discipline. It may have been another blogger but I'm pretty sure it was Libby-Anne.)

I think it is so unfair on all the children to be put in this situation. There is nothing wrong with siblings helping out but it should never reach the point where they take over the parenting role.

[Knight of Ni]

I just looked at Sarah Pope's recent blog posts and was amazed at the differences between Samuel and Josie. There was really no comparison. By looking at the pictures she posts you would never be able to tell that he had so many problems earlier in his life. I bet it would be the same if we were able to see a more recent video of him. This just shows the obvious differences that therapy and paying attention to your child's needs makes.

A post also said that their family was complete and were done having children. This is a smart move based on her past two experiences. This is another difference between her and J'Chelle.

[longskirts]

In the episode about Josie's birth, Jim Bob said, "We don't know yet if she'll need therapies" so I conclude that they are open to treatment for developmental problems and are getting her help if she needs it. It could be the therapists do not consent to be videotaped and that's why her therapy is absent from the show. Not every medical professional is as willing to be filmed as the Duggars' obstetrician.

[slickcat79]

In the episode about Josie's birth, Jim Bob said, "We don't know yet if she'll need therapies" so I conclude that they are open to treatment for developmental problems and are getting her help if she needs it. It could be the therapists do not consent to be videotaped and that's why her therapy is absent from the show. Not every medical professional is as willing to be filmed as the Duggars' obstetrician.

It's true that they could be more open to therapies than they seem on the show. But even if we don't get to see any therapy sessions, there's no reason why they couldn't mention going. Plus therapy is not just performed by a doctor or specialist in a medical facility-parents have to continue the exercizes on their own time to establish a routine.

[formergothardite]

Maybe it just seems this way, but they seem to be on the go all the time, so when would they have time for months of consistent therapy?