All Things Dillard - Part 6

[NotALoserLikeYou]

I am very uncomfortable with Jill practicing midwifery in her own, and I'm a homebirther! If the baby just slides out then she can probably catch it. But if a mom has problems like Jill had, she better just send them to the hospital instead of just hoping for the best, because she is not knowledgable enough to diagnose and treat medical complications.

[gemma]

Didn't they start out in El Salvador? Now I'm reading they are in Guatemala. Is it common for missionaries to jump countries like that? I've never heard of doing that, but I don't really know.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

Maybe it's a bribe so Jessa or Ben wont write a tell all

There is no way in hell Jessa and baby boytoy will be able to pay the taxes and insurance on that house let alone the utilities. They need to stay put, no matter how much of a special snowflake Princess Jessa is.

[karen77]

I am very uncomfortable with Jill practicing midwifery in her own, and I'm a homebirther! If the baby just slides out then she can probably catch it. But if a mom has problems like Jill had, she better just send them to the hospital instead of just hoping for the best, because she is not knowledgable enough to diagnose and treat medical complications.

Well since JIll went through all of those issues, she obviously knows about all of it!

[Fundie Bunny]

Well since JIll went through all of those issues, she obviously knows about all of it!

Yes, she did a great job...

*irony mode off*

[MamaJunebug]

I think Jill is slow. Maybe because having a pleasant disposition and memorizing a little Bible verse was more valuable at the SOTDRT ... [snip] For all we know Jill has taken the midwife exam and failed more than once.

That would make a lot of things make sense. If It's difficult for her to learn, JB might have developed more of a soft spot for her; and if it's gratifying for her and her parents that she accept every tenet willingly and with a childlike trust ... all the more endearing.

Said with absolutely no prejudice against, nor contempt for, people who have significantly different learning abilities than the mainstream. Just an "ah-ha and mm-HM!" moment.

[socalrules]

I don't think Jill is "slow". I think she is extremely undereducated, with little knowledge of the outside world. Most eight year-olds have received a better education than Jill. The fact she could not do the minute rice math is not surprising. She received a substandard education from parents who look down on education. I don't think James is slow, if anything he seems to be bright and curious, yet he was learning his multiplication tables at 13.

After years of watching the show, I never saw any of the kids say anything particularly intelligent or show that they had developed critical thinking skills. Jill may very well be capable of passing the midwives exam with proper education and training. I just do not believe she has been given that opportunity.

[ClaraOswin]

I am very uncomfortable with Jill practicing midwifery in her own, and I'm a homebirther! If the baby just slides out then she can probably catch it. But if a mom has problems like Jill had, she better just send them to the hospital instead of just hoping for the best, because she is not knowledgable enough to diagnose and treat medical complications.

But duh...God will make it all okay.

[Fundie Bunny]

Actually I could see her as slow. She talks like my 4 year old cousin, how can some one be so unarticulated?

[princessmahina]

I could see her being slow, but I'm also a little uncomfortable diagnosing her with delays via the internet. I think she's just undereducated with a "Valley girl" way of talking that makes even the smartest people sound like idiots.

And I grew up Catholic (now identify just as a christian....but not THEIR kind of christian.)

Catholics are Christian. Do you mean that you're a non-denominational Christian now?

[2manyKidzzz]

I do not think I understand.....are Jilly and Dilly bring Jesus...or are they bringing Gothard to the people of Guatemala, or maybe El Salvador.

And I don't understand how it is safe for them if gangs are threatening the people they are "ministering" to, I don't get this as all.

[gemma]

I do not think I understand.....are Jilly and Dilly bring Jesus...or are they bringing Gothard to the people of Guatemala, or maybe El Salvador.

And I don't understand how it is safe for them if gangs are threatening the people they are "ministering" to, I don't get this as all.

I think the whole thing is deliberately very, very vague. If I were a donor I'd want concrete answers as to what they are doing with the money. No matter what they do down there, when they come back, it'll all be proclaimed as a big success because they can say they "saved so many souls".

[sophrosyne]

So they moved all their stuff out of the Stoneybrook house ... I wonder if JB is selling it or giving it to another child. I guess this means they have an actual house in CA and they're shipping all their stuff down there. Long term?

I'm thinking that Anna and the M-kids are moving into Stoneybrook (if not there already). Photos from Pris and Pecan Thief's visiting Josh and Anna mid-summer showed the Siloam Springs house still very much undergoing major renovation and J&A living in what looked to me to be the Duggar's guest house (or maybe the downstairs of Stoneybrook.)

I doubt the Siloam Springs house was ready for move in when the AM scandal hit. Josh seemed to be doing the renovation work himself, maybe with some help from his brothers and sisters. And PT 'helped' while he was there. But it didn't look to me like things were zooming along then (remember how long it took the Bates to finish their remodel, with Duggar kids, Bates kids, and TLC subcontractors on the job?--not to mention the three year TTH project, brought to completion by Clark Wilson and TLC money and hands).

And I don't think JB would have paid to finish out the Siloam Springs house quickly after the AM scandal broke, wanting instead to keep Anna close. At Stoneybrook, there's room for Duggar sisters to live in (Jana, Jinger, Joy), all to help Anna.

So bottom line, I'm thinking Anna is the next Stoneybrook resident.

[magicmeyers]

Jill is a little dumb, but I think Derick likes her that way. I was always weirded out by the fact that he got to go to a real college and have a normal upbringing, but purposefully sought out Jim Bob as a prayer partner....I think Derick banked on being set up with one of Jim Bob's fundie daughters so he could have a guaranteed virgin/submissive, easily controllable wife (with a multi-million dolar tv show). Derick just creeps me out. Plus the cat/sled thing. Plus the "you must always be available or your spouse will cheat" sermon he linked. I'm actually slightly worried about Jill being so far away from her family/friends... :(

[QueenB]

I do not think I understand.....are Jilly and Dilly bring Jesus...or are they bringing Gothard to the people of Guatemala, or maybe El Salvador.

And I don't understand how it is safe for them if gangs are threatening the people they are "ministering" to, I don't get this as all.

I am very unclear on this, too. Also, people are paid for this kind of missionary work? Who generally funds this type of thing? ATI? Gothard?

[ChestHugger]

Re: Jill having a learning disorder.

I know Michelle wrote about some of the kids writing words/letters backwards so maybe she actually does have a learning disability. Something does just seem off with her. I read the girl's book and one story really stuck out to me as odd. They were talking about how a dad got angry at Jill and a group of kids for throwing water balloons and it scared Jill so she ran and hid from him. She was like 16 not 6 when that happened if I remember correctly. That just seemed so weird that a teenager couldn't handle seeing someone get upset about water balloons.

[sophrosyne]

Re: Jill having a learning disorder.

I know Michelle wrote about some of the kids writing words/letters backwards so maybe she actually does have a learning disability. Something does just seem off with her. I read the girl's book and one story really stuck out to me as odd. They were talking about how a dad got angry at Jill and a group of kids for throwing water balloons and it scared Jill so she ran and hid from him. She was like 16 not 6 when that happened if I remember correctly. That just seemed so weird that a teenager couldn't handle seeing someone get upset about water balloons.

JB and M often said she had an especially "tender heart."

And as a baby, her eyes were wonky. Izzy's are a little wonky that way too but less than Jill's. And I surmise that JB is dyslexic. He doesn't read well (speeches and Bible time reading on 19Kids wasn't easy, smooth, or confident).

[singsingsing]

Oh, so Jill is the latest one we're diagnosing with random and inexplicable things? Cool.

Jill has always struck me as one of the more intelligent kids, and she probably would have had a lot of potential if her emotional growth and education hadn't been so stunted. I definitely think she could have handled higher education. She wanted to be a nurse at one point. She could have done it. I'm amazed that people suddenly think she's 'slow' or that she has a learning disability. I can't remember anything like this ever coming up before with regards to Jill, and she's always been one of the more vocal ones on the show.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Oh, so Jill is the latest one we're diagnosing with random and inexplicable things? Cool.

Jill has always struck me as one of the more intelligent kids, and she probably would have had a lot of potential if her emotional growth and education hadn't been so stunted. I definitely think she could have handled higher education. She wanted to be a nurse at one point. She could have done it. I'm amazed that people suddenly think she's 'slow' or that she has a learning disability. I can't remember anything like this ever coming up before with regards to Jill, and she's always been one of the more vocal ones on the show.

You keep saying everything I'm thinking tonight so I'll just follow you around and agree with you. Saves me typing.

There's a reason diagnosticians need a little more to go on than seeing a stranger on highly edited TV and posts on social media.

[artdecades]

i think people are confusing uneducated with being dumb or having a disability. ATI is not educationally focused, its "character" focused. The Duggars probably have a middle school level education. They are only allowed to socialize with others with similar backgrounds/education.

Jill likely has a poor vocabulary because she was never allowed to read anything but the bible, wisdom booklets, and before you meet prince charming.

Jill probably doesn't have good reasoning or critical thinking skills because she was taught to believe everything the bible (or gothards interpretation of the bible) says and never question or defy her parents.

Jill was taught that, as a woman, she must only aspire to marriage and motherhood. education wasn't important, being a good helpmeet was.

In these circumstances, even the brightest person would be stifled. The fact that Jill had ambitions to do anything is impressive in that oppressive culture.

[OodOnTheLoo]

Oh, so Jill is the latest one we're diagnosing with random and inexplicable things? Cool.

Jill has always struck me as one of the more intelligent kids, and she probably would have had a lot of potential if her emotional growth and education hadn't been so stunted. I definitely think she could have handled higher education. She wanted to be a nurse at one point. She could have done it. I'm amazed that people suddenly think she's 'slow' or that she has a learning disability. I can't remember anything like this ever coming up before with regards to Jill, and she's always been one of the more vocal ones on the show.

Totally agree with you but I want to add that sometimes highly intelligent people can have learning disabilities, like dyslexia. The backward writing could be suggestive of this as can James' late learning of times tables (typically difficult for dyslexics to retain). However, like you said, the small bits we see can make us wonder but we can't come anywhere near a definitive, or even likely, diagnosis.

What is especially sad is if they are dyslexics, they need a different approach to learning. Traditional ways don't work for these kids but all the research has given us many, wonderful curricula for thes guys. Not sure JB and MEchelle would ever consider the, though.

[JillyO]

Didn't they start out in El Salvador? Now I'm reading they are in Guatemala. Is it common for missionaries to jump countries like that? I've never heard of doing that, but I don't really know.

I'm typing this from memory, because I can't stand Jill's OR Derick's writing, so I really don't want to go through their blog now, but here goes:

When they left Arkansas two months ago, they went to El Salvador for about a month, maybe a little less. This seems to have been with a larger group from SOS ministries. They took a couple of pictures with brown children, left the compound only with armed guards and preached at said armed guards (who had no way to escape) in English. Presumably, they realized that no one understands them and they need to learn Spanish before they can convert the Catholics heathens. At this point, they moved to Guatemala and started attending a legitimate language school (and pestering their teachers about finding Jesus). Of course, they went home to film their wonderful appearance on TLC's child sexual abuse special, and also to attend Michael Bates' wedding. They also subsequently brought Joy Anna and Carlin Bates with them for some sight-seeing/child-caring services. Then, less than three weeks later, they came back for cousin Amy's wedding and are apparently planning on staying here for an entire month. Allegedly, they are planning on going back to South America after a month (back to language school, that is, not to their so-called ministry). We'll see if that ever happens. Does that sound about right?

[Sunshine1491]

I want to go to a language school in another country! And the price of tuition is chanting Jesus at people who won't understand me? Sign me up... :wink-kitty:

[MatthewDuggar]

Was it truly a Minute Rice box she struggled with? If so, they do have chart that can be confusing if you're rushing only because most on-the-box instruction are less complicated. Yes, it i something a child would learn in early elementary school, but she probably only ever saw something like that one time considering the minimal education. Once I mixed up the amount measurements. What episode was this in? I'd like to see what she did. I've seen mastered degreed professionals not able to make Kraft mac & cheese.

[Fundie Bunny]

I just would like to clarify than when i earlier said that i think jill is slow, i wanted to say that i just think she is dumb as fuck, although not mentally challenged, and her enviroment just doesn't help. I was not trying to make a diagnosis as i am not medical professional with contact with her. Just a disclaimer before we start losing our shits again