Victoria

[threeplusfire]

The Austin American Statesman has a photo feature running on their front page currently about Victoria Barr. The feature article will be published Sunday. It is a very interesting story, and one I hadn't thought about since the first coverage ten years ago.

Briefly, Victoria Barr was the victim of one of the ugliest neglect cases in Austin. The photos of the home are pretty horrifying. Rats, filth, mold, the whole house was falling down. Victoria couldn't speak, wasn't toliet trained, and was so severely developmentally delayed it was mind boggling. It was the sort of case that is now a part of my general work.

Victoria Barr graduated from high school this year. Her outcome is a happier one than perhaps could have been imagined ten years ago. I almost never see the outcomes of cases, but it does my heart good to see this one.

Comments

[akemi42.livejournal.com]

I read a book about another case like this in the 1970's...it's called the forbidden experiment, right? That case did not have a happy ending as the girl ended up back with her abusive mother, in foster care, and is now institutionalized. It is good to hear that another case has a better outcome.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Crikey that is awful. Poor girl. I had forgotten about that case.

I'm hoping the sunday article will go into what they did to help her regain so much functional ability.