Turpins 4: 2 Monsters, 13 Victims and Now an Interview!

[libgirl2]

On 4/29/2019 at 6:54 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I’ve read a few stories about children who were never taught language until they were older. Usually due to neglect. I’m not an expert or even that knowledgeable on the topic. But the people who study language and these cases seem to think that even if you are taught language later on, you never fully “catch up.” There will still be some issues present. Of course there aren’t that many cases of this to study so nothing is definite. It’s just what it seems to happen no matter how much people work with the children into adulthood. 

that makes me think of Genie. Its an awful, awful story.... she was basically tied to a potty chair or caged in her crib since she was an infant. No one spoke to her. I only say if you want to see more about the story, be prepared. 

[FiddleDD]

I have to say, one thing that really creeped me out was what I read about one of the boys:  

“The 15-year-old boy had difficulty walking, vitamin D deficiency, and visible scoliosis. He told the doctor that he wanted to kill animals and could predict the future Morris testified.”

if I remember correctly he was one of the ones who was chained up the most. 

 

[OyHiOh]

On 4/29/2019 at 5:54 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I’ve read a few stories about children who were never taught language until they were older. Usually due to neglect. I’m not an expert or even that knowledgeable on the topic. But the people who study language and these cases seem to think that even if you are taught language later on, you never fully “catch up.” There will still be some issues present. Of course there aren’t that many cases of this to study so nothing is definite. It’s just what it seems to happen no matter how much people work with the children into adulthood. 

I have some experience in this area.  My son was extremely slow to talk.  He could say 6 words at his 3rd birthday, everything else was nonsense "gah" syllables.  And not for lack of trying either!  His dad and I worked with him all the time.  We're readers so books were always around, we talked with each other, we talked with our kids.  We mentioned the minimal language at doctor's appointments but were constantly reassured that boys are slower to pick up language (not THAT slow!!!) and he'd be fine.  Until he hit his third birthday and still only had the six words we'd been reporting for years at that point.  Then it was suddenly everybody panic time.  

He has a pretty specific speech diagnosis that, as a childhood condition, is strongly tied to autism.  Between his 3rd and 4th birthday, with quality speech therapy and lots of practice at home, he developed an adequate functional vocabulary and started putting phrases together.  By kinder, he had an age appropriate vocabulary but very low intelligibility.  It took months for his teacher and class to acurately understand him most of the time. 

Fast forward a few years and the lack of early comfortable speech reappeared as dyslexia (this is very common with his speech disorder).  Dyslexia not treated at school for two years (can we see a pattern developing at all?) until suddenly it's a gigantic problem that I've been mentioning for years.  Dyslexia bad enough and crossing from english language into mathmatics badly enough that he was held back a year.  So at this point, we have a child who is 11/in 4th grade who speaks clearly 95% of the time.  After two years of intense language intervention, he's reading - although at 1st/2nd grade level.  He's made massive improvements in math this year as well.  It's been incredibly frustrating to say to experts - for years - that there are problems, pay attention, only to be brushed off until the problems turn into developmental or academic emergencies.

All this said, if you listen to this kid for more than a few sentences at a time.  If you watch how he interacts with people, you quickly realize that in spite of all the therapy and social classes he's attended, his use of language is . . . . . let's call it unique.   He doesn't have the innate understanding of grammar that most kids learn when he was just trying to say /milk/ and /please/.  More importantly, he strongly resists "correct" grammar.  His approach to starting conversations is a little off beat too.  He will probably surprise me.  He screened out of intensive speech therapy by the end of first grade (he still receives limited speech at school, but no longer 2 private appointments a week and hours of homework a week), years ahead of prediction.  Give him a few more years and you may genuinely not be able to tell at a quick listen that this kid had so much trouble speaking.  Or, on the other hand, he may struggle with his use of language for the rest of his school career.  It's impossible to know.

This is a kid with educated parents, who read, who talked and interacted with a struggling child, who looked for resources, and when we finally got resources, used them to full extent.  And talking at age four is not "late" by the extremes of the abusive cases that have been studied here and there.  But it still makes a really significant difference in how easily a child acquires language and how comfortable they are using language. 

[PinkGreyBrown]

So, two things to share on this thread. One, Turpin's hair put me in mind of Phil Spector's hair (which is weirdly apt), pic below.

The other thing was that I suspect the precipitating factor to the increased severity of abuse was the developmental milestones the children were going through regardless of the parents' preferences in the matter. Developmentally, children, teenagers, & young adults are gonna individuate, it's what they do*. & that prolly enraged the Turpin-monsters. & the individuation & boundary testing would only get 'worse' as they got older, so the abuse perforce 'had' to increase as the children continued to push at the many artificial boundaries the parents were imposing.

* I am mulling the Arndts. I have thoughts on that beyond 'individual data points vary widely' but for the moment that's the relevant observation to be made in this topical time & place.

[MamaJunebug]

ABC’s “20/20” program apparently features an interview with 2 Turpin daughters this week. 

[Knight of Ni]

I just saw that and would be interested to watch it. I hope nothing but the best for them. 

Turpin's hair reminds me of Captain Kangaroo. 

[MamaJunebug]

Poor Capt. Kangaroo!!!

[libgirl2]

2 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

ABC’s “20/20” program apparently features an interview with 2 Turpin daughters this week. 

I saw a clip. They are lovely, God bless them and their siblings. I can't even begin to imagine the hell they went through. 

[PumaLover]

15 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

ABC’s “20/20” program apparently features an interview with 2 Turpin daughters this week. 

I have DirecTV and tried to do a search but couldn’t find it. Do you happen to know what day and time it is? I really would like to watch it.

[libgirl2]

4 hours ago, PumaLover said:

I have DirecTV and tried to do a search but couldn’t find it. Do you happen to know what day and time it is? I really would like to watch it.

It is supposed to be on this Friday. I don't know what time yet. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

It looks like it’s on ABC on Friday. I’m recording it. I think start times are different depending on time zones. But I would check around 9pm. 

[smittykins]

Thanks for the heads-up!

[MamaJunebug]

I’ve read elsewhere that the actual date is next Friday. I’ll also be setting yo record on both evenings. Bless those kids!! 

[quiversR4hunting]

This is what Yahoo says about it: https://www.yahoo.com/news/turpin-sisters-escaped-house-horrors-185316442.html

“Escape from a House of Horror — A Diane Sawyer Special Event” airs Nov. 19 at 9:01 p.m. on ABC

[libgirl2]

56 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

This is what Yahoo says about it: https://www.yahoo.com/news/turpin-sisters-escaped-house-horrors-185316442.html

“Escape from a House of Horror — A Diane Sawyer Special Event” airs Nov. 19 at 9:01 p.m. on ABC

Probably Eastern time. 

[quiversR4hunting]

11 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Probably Eastern time. 

correct

[EmCatlyn]

I am glad we are getting an update.  I followed the case closely until the parents were sentenced.    The two sisters being interviewed are, I believe, the eldest (Jennifer) and the one who successfully escaped and got help back in 2018 (Jordan).

It is worth noting that Jennifer herself tried to run away back when she lived in Texas but was stopped.  She was apparently seen by the younger kids as a supportive figure.   I am very glad she is doing okay.  (I think she was 28 when they got out, so I think she is 32 or 33 now.)

[JermajestyDuggar]

Ok I just saw it is definitely November 19. And it’s usually on Hulu the next day.

[EmmieJ]

18 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Ok I just saw it is definitely November 19. And it’s usually on Hulu the next day.

I hope so, because I have a subscription to Hulu.

[WiseGirl]

People article is here https://people.com/crime/jordan-turpin-recalls-harrowing-911-call-saved-siblings-abuse/

[CarrieBeth]

This is already breaking my heart.

[Anne Of Gray Gables]

I'm not sure when I'll be able to stop crying.

Those young women have blown me away.  I have no other words. 

[JDuggs]

This is a must watch. I cannot believe how the government has let these kids down. The kids deserved the best social services that our society could offer and they haven’t gotten it. And it’s all hidden “to protect their privacy” while it’s only protecting the government from public scrutiny. If Justin Bieber has a soul, he needs to reach out to Jordan Turpin. She freakin deserves it.

The conversation between the 911 operator and Jordan and the deputy and Jordan were so eye opening. This 17 year old girl was unfamiliar with the words “medication” and “injuries.” But she had such incredible courage to escape. It was riveting.

[CrazyMumma]

3 hours ago, JDuggs said:

This is a must watch. I cannot believe how the government has let these kids down. The kids deserved the best social services that our society could offer and they haven’t gotten it. And it’s all hidden “to protect their privacy” while it’s only protecting the government from public scrutiny. If Justin Bieber has a soul, he needs to reach out to Jordan Turpin. She freakin deserves it.

The conversation between the 911 operator and Jordan and the deputy and Jordan were so eye opening. This 17 year old girl was unfamiliar with the words “medication” and “injuries.” But she had such incredible courage to escape. It was riveting.

Would love you to clarify your thoughts. How do you feel they have been let down? I would have thought privacy would be a good thing for these kids?

[libgirl2]

9 hours ago, JDuggs said:

This is a must watch. I cannot believe how the government has let these kids down. The kids deserved the best social services that our society could offer and they haven’t gotten it. And it’s all hidden “to protect their privacy” while it’s only protecting the government from public scrutiny. If Justin Bieber has a soul, he needs to reach out to Jordan Turpin. She freakin deserves it.

The conversation between the 911 operator and Jordan and the deputy and Jordan were so eye opening. This 17 year old girl was unfamiliar with the words “medication” and “injuries.” But she had such incredible courage to escape. It was riveting.

It seems like the kids were set out and left to drift away. I don't know all the details but couch surfing? Living in bad neighborhoods? Sexual assault? What the hell is going on? 

6 hours ago, CrazyMumma said:

Would love you to clarify your thoughts. How do you feel they have been let down? I would have thought privacy would be a good thing for these kids?

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/4-years-rescue-turpin-children-100043292.html