A boy's year in isolation: 12-year-old kept in what his mother calls a 'private jail'

In a house in the woods, deep in Sunbury County, a 12-year-old boy with behavioural disorders has been living apart from his family for one full year.

At least two dozen workers come and go in shifts around the clock.

A minimum of two people must be on site at any given time.

Workers are there to feed the boy, give him his medication, document his behaviour and, often they have to restrain him.

"He's in his own private jail," said the mother, who cannot be identified because it would identify her son. "It's inhumane."

She's never seen any educational materials on site, and he's not getting any schooling, she says.

"This is the harshest environment I have ever experienced," she said. "The bottom of the barrel."

A boy's year in isolation: 12-year-old kept in what his mother calls a 'private jail'

"It's not as satanic as it sounds," said the mother, who feels the school system did not do enough to support her son when he was in a state of high anxiety, confusion, and agitation. 

Well, I can't say I've ever heard of a method of treatment quite like this for a child, but then again, according to the article, the child sounds very unique.
I've read about and heard of some unorthodox techniques and ideas, but this seems a bit concerning to me. Perhaps I have it all wrong?

Any Canadian members here familiar with this in any way? I'm quite curious as to what the plan is. Aside from what's going on at that property.
🤨
Thoughts anyone?

**Edit: found source link
www.cbc.ca...**

Never heard this one, will check it out. Link is dead.

a reply to: vonclod

Link works for me, takes me straight to the Yahoo source. Strange.
Original source site is CBC, but I couldn't find the story and thier format sucks.



**EDIT: SOURCE LINK LISTED ABOVE**

a reply to: vonclod

Ditto to bump - would like to see that link

a reply to: vonclod

Linky no worky for me either.

a reply to: Gravelbone

Might be able to remove a lot of the link and try again. Interesting story for sure.

Ok, OP added a CBC link that works for me.

Digging into it..wow. This kids life is doomed, very horrific conditions

a reply to: Gravelbone

Dear lord that was hard to read.

Honestly I have to try to comprehend this a little more. Lots of questions.

What in the hell? That is nightmarish.

a reply to: Gravelbone

Part of me wonders if this child suffered any abuse before any of this. Or did, and is currently experiencing more. Ugh, I never like reading about these happenings.

The link works for me.

I wonder if his head spins around, while spewing green vomit

At 11, he was 5'8" 265lbs and uncontrollable.

What the hell do you do here..whats happening cant be right.

a reply to: Gravelbone
How does an 11 year old hit 265lbs, then again..food may placate him.

a reply to: vonclod

You got me on that one, but I've never raised a giant. I can't imagine him being much different than an Andre the Giant/Shaquille O'Neal type physique upon adulthood. At least that's what I'd guess.
That's a big lad, no matter how you size it.

Riiiiight... the schools fault. Okey doki.

The boy is broken happens all the time. Sucks but sometimes when things are severely broken there is no fixing them.

How much is a straight jacket and padded room? Boy sounds like a real life Micheal Myers might be a candidate for the cheapest most effective treatment of all.


a reply to: Gravelbone

originally posted by: Athetos
Riiiiight... the schools fault. Okey doki.

The boy is broken happens all the time. Sucks but sometimes when things are servers broken there is no fixing them.

How much is a straight jacket and padded room? Boy sounds like a real life Micheal Myers might be a candidate for the cheapest most effective treatment of all.


a reply to: Gravelbone

Wow. That seems to presuppose a lot for such a strong contention.

originally posted by: Athetos
Riiiiight... the schools fault. Okey doki.

The boy is broken happens all the time. Sucks but sometimes when things are servers broken there is no fixing them.

How much is a straight jacket and padded room? Boy sounds like a real life Micheal Myers might be a candidate for the cheapest most effective treatment of all.

Probably less than the 1/3 to 3/4 million dollars a year that is being spent to put him up in a 4 bedroom house with 2 babysitters onsite at all times, working shifts to make him take his meds etc.

When I read the article, it occurred to me that some things that are broken can't be fixed as you suggest. The mother wants him back now, but she's not demonstrated she can handle him, so apparently they are reluctant to return the boy to the mother as they fear for the safety of the other children in the mother's house.

I think babysitting that boy sounds like a terrible job; no wonder there's a lot of turnover for the positions.

a reply to: Gravelbone

I've only once heard of anything like it, and that's with kids who have a level of attachment disorder. But even then, you strip everything of theirs away and demand that they stay "attached" to the parent. You don't isolate them with an ever-growing, ever-changing cast of staff.

The idea of removing all the stuff from their life and demanding they attach to the parent is to begin to foster that interrupted bond, and the stuff returns to them via that parent gradually and over time and as you have evidence of that attachment reforming.

I only ever heard it in cases where you had children who would try to murder parents and siblings without any remorse because they'd never properly attached or bonded after birth. It was a problem you saw in foreign adoptions from kids who lived in terrible orphanages where they had lack of human contact for too long as babies.

a reply to: ketsuko

Geez, that sounds horrible for a child to have to cope with. I can't imagine.

Yea it sure does some mental illnesses manifest in quite dangerous ways. Often to no ones fault they are simply born that way. Sometime there isn’t anything that can be done and attempting to give them any quality of life often serves to lower the quality of life of those around them as well put other in danger.

a reply to: ColoradoJens

originally posted by: Gravelbone
a reply to: ketsuko

Geez, that sounds horrible for a child to have to cope with. I can't imagine.

It's no fun for anyone in those families. I don't even know if it's still being done anymore, but this story reminded of reading about it. It sort of sounds similar except I can't see that they're doing anything except rubber-rooming this kid.