I think McCain’s vote no saved Lindsey Graham and Dean Heller from having to vote no. It was likely discussed, at least between Graham and McCain. One more was all that was needed and with McCain they had it. So they can still toe the line for their conservative base and not cause a problem for them in elections. I’ve…

Well la di dah, LW 3, so fancy with your real life friends. WELL, SOME OF US HAVE TO COMMENT ON THE INTERNET FOR HUMAN INTERACTION, OK????

I have friends who have children, and I *used* to purchase/look at baby gifts - clothes, diapers, strollers, etc. on line. I was flooded with advertising for all things baby-related, even though I was looking at items for other people. I can’t deal with the onslaught, so I started to shop in stores, or send my…

Uh, not meaning to be rude, but can you point me to the study that concludes soccer players have a higher incidence of CTE? Because I have paid access to pretty much every major medical journal and I could only find two studies on soccer players of note, that had minute sample sizes, and came to no such conclusion.…

...the Sand Snakes have consistently been some of the most interesting and compelling characters on the show...

“ the Sand Snakes have consistently been some of the most interesting and compelling characters on the show,”

Everyone knows about the lime juice in guacamole. Please!

I don’t think you understand the situation at all. People with an IQ that low can’t just learn things easily. I don’t think you really get it. You’re being extremely naive. I said nothing about “throwing them away”, so stop putting shit in my mouth. Calm the fuck down.

Can never post this enough

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide and are in the US, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. They are open 24/7.

People with an IQ in that range have serious difficulty adapting to new situations and applying lessons learned to multiple situations. Having a child is entirely about adapting to new situations and constantly being uncertain. You can’t just teach them all the tools they might and say “go raise your child”, you need…

Reading through the comments I see a lot of common reactions to child protection. I work in that field although in a different country. I can honestly say that over the 12 years I have been doing this work I have never met a social worker who wants to remove children from their families. We take those steps after…

So here’s the thing., my wife works for CPS. So when Aimee here writes an article that essentially says “People that work for CPS are baby snatchers” She does so knowing full well that due to confidentiality, you can’t hear CPS’s side of the story. That’s cowardly reporting, hitting people when you know they can’t…

Exactly. The commentary is very reactionary, and based in idealism. I have seen very little that I would qualify as coming from a place of lived experience, or even well researched opinion.

Yes, but the foster parents are being selfless in their own homes.* Not being asked to go live with the family of their foster kid. That’s the thing I have a hard time believing would happen. Sure, someone somewhere might do it but in my career, I’ve had over two thousand kids on my foster care caseload. And I’m from…

Frankly, I can’t imagine who would go to work as a full time live-in educator for these families. It wouldn’t matter how much they were paid, it’d be a nightmare as an employee. Would you, a social worker, have lived in your clients’ houses 24/7? I wouldn’t have. I can’t think of anything more stressful than that.…

As anyone who has cared for a small child knows, those little buggers can move like the wind. If the parents are unable to move swiftly and correctly, disaster can result. Have some family members who have low IQs, I have seen how slowly they can react to mishaps. One stood staring at her child after he fell off a…

I have some thoughts on this—I live in Oregon, and used to work as a direct care provider for developmentally disabled adults, but in a city much larger than Redmond. I also have a number of friends who work in children protective services as well providing legal representation trying to prevent their parental rights…

I don’t think “low IQ” should be criteria for removal by itself. Now, if they were neglegent or somehow otherwise compromised on some other criteria, and it just so happened that it was due to their low IQ, it would still be ok.

I’m a home visitor. I’ve done this work for about 5 years. Twice, I have had parents with low IQs and also twice, I have wished mightily that the children could be placed out. It didn’t happen in either case, even with both parents having histories of older children being placed into care. In both of these cases,…