It’s fascinating that the person trapped inside the non-verbal body unlocked with FC is an intellectual genius and not someone who is interested in movies or tv or anything more typical for someone his age and who hadn’t been exposed to academia. If FC worked then it would be valuable even if the ideas communicated weren’t deep insights to the nature of disability. If the things communicated is stuff like “I’m too hot” or “this sweater is itchy”. But instead FC believers seem to think that they only have value if you are unlocking the next Shakespeare. It is so ableist in its own way to suggest that communication is only valuable if the output is a certain academic style.
It's projection of her elitist politics. She's an ideologue. In her view, people are just a means to an end for ideas to propogate. We are vehicles for ideas, and people like her are anointed with the knowledge of this reality. Her politics are a huge aspect of this case.
It also doesn’t escape my notice that both were white women targeting male children of colour. I believe Letourneau’s victim / husband, Lau (?), was the child of immigrants and had a large number of expectations placed on him at an early age. Derrick was physically dependent on others. Letourneau was a school teacher with wealthy parents and Stubblefield was a professor. There’s this really frightening and predatory intersection of sex, race, citizenship, and class. Derrick’s disability may have put him and his family in a situation where, due to financial hardships, difficult choices would have to be made. Letourneau’s victim was primed to see himself as a provider for his younger siblings and mother. It would not surprise me if both women entertained fantasies of using that wealth to their own advantage. Letourneau may have fantasized about adopting Lau’s siblings and becoming the patria familas (matria?). Before her whole “romance” scheme, Stubblefield may have fantasized about DJ’s family sending him to live with her because she would be a better caregiver or something. It’s all so ominous. I’m also fully convinced that Letourneau got knocked up to keep her victim trapped, once he was getting older and she was facing scrutiny. I’m fairly certain Letourneau did something particularly crazy like hit Lau up when she was on furlough or parole or something, and that’s when one of their kids was conceived. So, in that train of thought… was Stubblefield on birth control? Was she using condoms? She allegedly performed both oral and PIV sex. Did she use a condom? What exactly what her plan if she got pregnant?
At a certain point FC becomes blatantly ableist, because it assumes (or hopes?) that every nonverbal individual has some secret vast mind and hyper-intellectual capabilities that just need to be "unlocked" by an able-bodied, neurotypical person. It assumes that the neurodivergent, intellectually disabled, and/or nonverbal are "just like us" on the inside, and even though the rhetoric is well-intentioned, it represses the very real, unique personalities and quirks about disabled individuals. Derrick does not need to be a neurotypical intellectual in order to be loveable, interesting, and important.
this is absolutely true! but i would also like to add onto this and say that plenty of neuroplural individuals absolutely do have vast intellect, and it’s honestly not a secret to anyone who takes the time to listen and accommodate their special way of communication, but it’s discounted and ignored *because* those methods of communication aren’t more widely seen as “acceptable.”
yup. I’m autistic and I have an autistic sister who’s nonverbal. I heard about FC when I was 12ish from my parents, and we were all so excited by the prospect that she might finally be able to talk to us. It didn’t work out, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that that’s completely okay. I love her for exactly who she is.
I think it's auto-erotica. She's in love with herself: her ability to love and heal. Even her abilities to love someone who is disabled and non-communicative. I don't think any of it was about him. She has narcissistic traits that are off the charts!
@@lisabrightly yes, this. Plus a huge chunk of White Savior Complex thrown in. I’m glad the family ended this “relationship.” My husband was like “How much would it suck for him if he can actually think intellectually and they took her away from him?” I said “Look at how he’s missing a chunk of his head. This man isn’t saying these things.” The fact is that she had an entire relationship with someone after faking him “speaking” says that she’s got a weird ego problem. The family knew she’d eventually leave him and they’d have to pick up the pieces.
Agree 💯! She was completely in love with herself and using Derrick was a way for her to weirdly have an intimate relationship with herself! Fascinating and weird and gross 😂
I love how the brother was able to find her out by asking something only Derrick could know. So simple, but also symbolic of the fact that Anna didn't truly know Derrick like his family did.
@@mah3223alia yes, it is. This is exactly why facilitated communication (FC) was debunked in the first place. There were individuals who were using FC to accuse people of sexually abusing them. The accusations were thrown out and they seem to have occured due to the FC workers' need to find out if abuse was happening to their clients (similar to the way that Satanic Panic seized certain parts of the US in the 1980s-90s...)
What got me the most, was her insisting that HE seduced HER. And she does it more than once. You hear abusers like PDF files saying the same thing. “It wouldn’t have happened if they didn’t want it, they seduced me…”
There was definitely the air that it was insulting HIM to not believe HER. How dare we common, uneducated, uninformed people think that he isn’t capable of having these thoughts and desires!
I can't get over how, for lack of a better word, "cringe"her view of Derrick as a black man is. Of course she had him sign up for African American studies and had him read black authors. In her mind he MUST be interested in these things. It really says a lot about her reductionist view of him. She basically turned him into a cliche of a black intellectual because that's what's she's most familiar with.
I’ve had a few meddlesome friends, who tried so hard to “know” me, even better than I know myself. It boosts their ego and self importance, typical narcissist behavior. I have to say, though, that the mom and brother did seem to treat Derrick like a child. It is quite possible he yearns to be more independent.
I noticed that too. Why African American studies? Derrick had very little experience with school, he could have picked anything. Science, Seminary, Math, Architecture, Car mechanics.
The thing that really chilled my spine was when she found out that Dman had seemed really distressed since they “consummated” their romance - she said she knew it was because he “missed” her and she felt the same, when actually he was more likely very traumatised by what had happened and wasn’t able to say or fully process it 😱
@shortyp1000 Not on her own, it was a recorded phone call, the police were listening. It's how they got her. Daisy made her believe that she had had a change of heart due to Derrick being "upset". From there she asked Anna to be honest about what happened between them so they could "get past it". I didn't mean to imply Daisy was a deceptive person in any way, she was working with the police
It also bothered me that when she was trying to make him lie down to get on top of him, she said he was tense and kept sitting up. I think that is evidence that he did NOT like it and was trying to get her off him.
the first red flag is when she shooed the parents out of the room when working with him. As someone who worked in disability services, a parent who is not only willing but excited to get involved with the treatment is an absolute BLESSING and can make a world of difference- of course that is only if you're operating under non-bogus methodology.
And if you cared about helping a disabled person communicate, you’d want them to get to communicate with their loved ones. If I was in his position, I wouldn’t want to talk to some random lady- I’d want to talk to my mom.
@@queenbeemimi exactly! A lot of my work was about getting our client to be able to ask his parents for something, like being able to communicate with those we directly live with is an incredibly important function of life
It is not completely true. Sometimes you want them out of the room or far away Parents can be a cause of stress and presssure. For assessment, you need the parents out of the room instead of them waiting for every answer the patient says. It is essential to include the family, i agree.
Yeah but you actually work in this field. I'm not sure how much care-giver training this person actually had. She studied disability academically, but that's different from being trained as a nurse or teacher. You are qualified to do what you do, this person was doing a larp.
@@justinperron4709 she is a dangerous woman. I searched what was wrong with Facilitated Communication (FC) as i thought it was just another name for the adapted Communication methods. Oh boy was I wrong, it really is a sort of ouija board. The hand of the abled is put on top of the hand of the disabled to guide them. This opens to so many bad interpretation and abuse. Academics are not qualified to be on the field (just like a phd student doing research on cultural dances is not automatically qualified to breakdance). This monster is elitist and ableist. Why would it be better if he had intellectual hobbies? Anyway, i am rambling lol
For me, one of the biggest red flags is that she was married and her husband testified against her in court, calling her a narcissistic liar. I am sure her failing marriage also helped motivate her bizarre behavior
I LOVED the brother. I actually laughed out loud when I read that in the statement he read at her trial, he said to Anna, "you are not Sandra Bullock, and this isn't The Blind Side." LOL
The thing about this communication that was a red flag for me, is that individuals who cannot even read are suddenly writing like highly educated people. If FC was actually working, the responses would likely be just a few words, with frequent misspellings, rather than grammatically correct sentences.
Right, he can't point to pictures to communicate (expressively or receptively) but he can write on a college level after just a little bit of practice. I work with people with profound intellectual disabilities, and teaching communication (in whatever modality works best for the person) is always a top priority. Really delusional to think all they need is a keyboard and a little support on their hand and they would be writing out their thoughts like a true scholar. Also infuriating to think they should either have those hidden abilities or else they are 'stupid' and have 'nothing going on in their heads' like she said. Reality is that the ability to communicate gives them a better life, but the level of their communication doesn't have anything to do with their value as people. This lady really ticked me off. So glad he had a truly supportive family who obviously loved him for himself.
He had an inability to focus or fixate his gaze. (Much like an early-stage infant cannot) So how on earth could he “read?” It would’ve made more sense for her to claim his visual limitations necessitated him listening to, rather than reading, books.
I truly don't understand how there wasn't more skepticism with these individuals - who had never been taught how to read, write or ANYTHING in academics - suddenly being capable of enrolling in and completing college level courses. Like, you could take someone of normal functioning who never received any prior education and they wouldn't be able to adequately participate in college level courses. And that's without having any cognitive disabilities....how the HELL could people who are severely disabled do that??? The whole thing is so absurd. I just can't imagine how uncomfortable these people must have been while they were forced to go to these classes, forced to type stuff, having no idea what was going on. I think a lot of the motivation for "facilitated communication" was the facilitators' own narcissism. They wanted to be seen as pioneers, and as magicians, who could harness these special powers and "unlock" a disabled individual's intelligence and ability to communicate. It's just another example of the "white savior" complex.
At the beginning of the documentary it was kind of painted to show Anna as kind and loving. But when she was talking about her childhood and growing up around disabled people. She sounded like she had a fetish.
43:35 The exhibitionism thing is also really accurate. The whole “he’s a man in every sense of the word” is just so creepy. Like it never even occurred to her that maybe she should omit that detail. I guess you could say that demonstrates a sense of moral correctness, but even in healthy sexual relationships people will omit the banging when talking to family members. It really does seem like she wanted to rub what she did in everyone’s faces. Hell, even the fact she jumped to sex before, like, going on dates or cuddling. That would still be morally wrong given her position, but my point is that this doesn’t even seem like a normal romance. It went from “do you love me” to sex in her office. That’s not normal. Especially for Derrick, who is ostensibly new to romance. Wouldn’t he have wanted to go slow, if he was really into it?
Agree, as soon as they declared their love for each other she jumped right into sex. Why? Wouldn't you want to take it slow if you truly believed the conversations were real, this guy wasn't ready for sex. At least talk to someone else about this for perspective?
As a mom to a non verbal child this documentary was terrifying. That mom really believed she was getting her son some help & this monster assaulted him. When they talked about how scratched up his back was after the assault it just made me sick to my stomach. She didn't deserve freedom.
The fact she took that man’s diaper off and then assaulted him I was so angry he couldn’t even undress himself but said he seduced her WTF I was enraged
It is a sad reality that women tend to get much lighter sentences than men in sexual assault cases such as this. (But you already know that, I am sure.)
@@snu3877Review the sentences of female teachers convicted of sexually assaulting underage students compared to male teachers convicted of the same crimes. It's appalling.
@@stephenpmurphy591 Definitely a double standard. I'm sorry because I know this is a serious subject matter, but this South Park clip on the issue is hilarious: th-cam.com/video/ksTYuLNFvow/w-d-xo.html
@@stephenpmurphy591The only *tiny* justification I can begin to think of is that at least this way, it's the predator who takes on all the risks of getting pregnant, but she's still human garbage, so...
She kept calling Derrick D'man despite hearing someone call him D-Man, and maybe she heard it more than once, but still mispronounced it all throughout the documentary. There's something off-kilter about her whole being, from her childhood story of using crutches to see what it felt like to be disabled to her cluelessness about Derrick's nickname
It wasn’t clueless. It was deliberate invalidation. Undermining his sense of self in front of the only people who could do anything about it 1) gained his trust under false pretenses and 2) showed him who was boss ahead of any distrust he’d be less likely to even try communicating to them. And she reinforced it by sexually abusing him. It’s weird her own children were never examined by a forensic psychiatrist.
@@ZarathustranYES! YES! You put it in a way I couldn’t articulate. I just kept saying “disrespectful” but you really pinpointed why. I completely agree.
@@Knowhere6969 it’s definitely disrespect too, weaponized. I had to think about it too. She may not have explicitly thought it out in terms of eroding his sense of self to destroy confidence, but I do think asking him for a piece of his identity and then trashing it so reflexively was probably a groomed abusive behavior she happily ran with either way. The thing about her footstep-following is it’s a solicitation of parental approval by flattery that probably indicates her own interests were undermined. Bad enough to never get an attaboy, but a competitive/envious parent of the same sex invents pseudosavior ways to make sure an ego-threatening kid doesn’t outshine them.
From solely the sexual component of the dynamic- I think that Anna had a fetish for those that are disabled in the way that D-man was, because of her background and the situation that manifested into her being in his life to “help” him, Anna also has to be in the role of the savior to justify her actions and her ego. Everything about the way she went about the sexual relationship and obviously, the fact that he couldn’t consent, screams to me that this was a fantasy of hers possibly for awhile cognitively or not and she acted upon it. Knowing well that fetishizing someone who is the level of disabled is arguably unethical, Anna lied to everyone about their romance but even more disturbing is that I think she even convinced herself.
Yes, this predatorial behavior on her part was fueled by her aggrandizement fantasies as if she would discover this genius, a Stephen Hawking buried beneath the disabilities. Truly one of the sickest power displays I've seen outside pedophilia.
I kept telling my Roomate this while watching , her mama had her around this her whole life it’s like your parents being Mortician and your around dead body’s your whole life some ppl may start to grow a weird sexual infatuation she probably always wondered what’s it’s like and finally found the perfect victim to act her sick fantasies out on
Omg thank you the D-man / D'man thing drove me CRAZY. I was like....so assuming he can hear and understand everything you're saying, he's hearing you absolutely butcher his nickname each and every day
A form of control over him. I think just about everyone saw the typed out Dman and in their head said Dee Man...as in "D"errick ... or like calling a boy "little man". She was demeaning Derrick by refusing to pronounce his name the way it was meant to be said....separating herself from the family and special people in his life he was comfortable with. Carving out a place where only she could influence Derrick's life.
@@letusgather...7820 I think it was also her way of emphasizing “He is a Man.” Because she wanted so badly to sexualize him. So emphasizing the word “man” reiterates that.
she was *definitely* projecting her white woman interests onto this black man who had lived a life LONG before he ever knew her. even anna calling derrick “deman” instead of “d-man” was just immediately indicative that she knew NOTHING about this man and didn’t care to learn anything about who he *actually* was beyond his “potential” to be an intellectual (which he did NOT have, and that’s perfectly ok and did not make derrick any less worthy of the unconditional love he got from his family)
She completely ignored Derricks use of body language to communicate his discomfort and unwillingness to participate, further isolating him, and removed all of his personal agency. To Anna speaking and writing are the only existing forms of communication
Definitely, this same type of thing happens with abusive partners even when both are of full mental capacity. This same story sounds exactly like what abused partners go through before they’re isolated from their families
Stubblefields (mom and daughter) assume language is the only form of expression and communication. This is ableism, and in a very expanded form: they assume there's an aspirational norm that would inevitably involve the use of highly-evolved and particular verbal communication, e.g. via English syntax and vocabulary. This leaves aside twins who communicate via gibberish, sign language, human infants who scream distinctively to reflect different feelings or needs, Navajo code-makers, etc. Stubblefields' biases also sidestep the VAST array of alternative human communications, such as by savant mathematicians solving equations on a blackboard, and gifted pianists, or the world of ballet. The latter examples are not just communicators, but have a syntax and vocabulary, just not language, let alone a specific, English language model. In other words, the Stubblefields' thesis lacks critical integrity from its very foundation. How, in the world, are they getting tenured at major universities? They might as well be basing an academic career on a Ouija board.
yup this occurred to me too. it's a really odd stance. given all the other forms of communication - as this points out - if one doesn't want to eat chicken one can pull away, for example.
So well said...thank you for this. And not just in the human realm, but with animals as well. i can easily communicate with my cat, and she with me. Very rudimentary -- but it's there. I've even heard of plants communicating as well..responding to human encouragement or music...or between each other. So much we don't know...best to tread very carefully.
In a weird kind of way it feels like a weird mirror image of Munchausen's syndrome by proxy. Using someone else's condition, or indeed non condition, for your own ends.
@@katyfrazier8788that’s EXACTLY what I saw as her aspirations of what to come … that’s a whole other level of narcissistic behavior. All her dreams were about to come true in her mind … becoming famous… and her sick sexual fetish.
If FC truly worked, you could have an English-speaking-only facilitator teamed with a Brazilian subject, and the FC Ouija board would produce Portuguese. Easy test for viability. I think we can guess how that would work out.
@@sleuththewild Yes. These facilitators were acting like predictive text, assuming what the subject was going to say without the subject actually “saying” it. The fact that Derrick kept supposedly going on about how wonderful it was to be able to finally communicate really told me a lot. It was like an advertisement for FC.
39:15 I totally agree with the interpretation that spite and revenge motivated this. Her parents focused all their time and attention on disabled kids? So she, as a child, LARPed as a disabled child to get their attention and connect with them. Mommy and Daddy didn’t have time for her, so she obsessed over their academic interests in a desperate bid to connect. She grows up, continues her parents obsessions and wants to best them at the things they love. She sees a disabled and abled pair of siblings. She sees how their mother loves them both and does so unconditionally. The able brother loves his baby brother and is constantly looking out for opportunities to improve his quality of life. Bitter and resentful, she attempts to destroy this happy family, and appropriate his disability (and the corresponding attention) for herself. “Look at me! I’m basically the Miracle Worker! I’m oppressed because I am married to a disabled black man! I’m so good! Look at me!” Meanwhile, Derrick sits in the corner away from his siblings. I want to point out that treachery - betraying the love and trust of others - condemns you to the deepest pit in Hell, according to Dante.
I'd argue that her upbringing involved little or no issue with her parents, and that she developed a genuine affinity for helping the disabled through being exposed to that at a young age and perhaps some inherited predisposition. I think she perhaps had an active imagination and less of a social life, missing out on the benefit of peer feedback and observation. She likely felt that the noble preoccupation of trying to aid the disabled meant that her thoughts and actions along those lines would always be pure and positive in nature, and recognized as such. Because of this , I doubt there was much self-auditing going on and soon she was so committed and optimistic about her perceived discoveries that her identity had to protect itself by preventing her from realistically contemplating the possibility of self-deception, delusion, and failure. She would become nothing if that was the case. I don't think she had any ill intentions, being as she came from an environment of exceptionally good intentions. Under other circumstances , a person in her position entering a relationship with a person in his position would be the epitome of admirable anti-superficiality by overcoming of the typical self-centered instinctual pursuits of physical attraction, financial security, and social promotion. I think she likely may not ever let this identity die off and be replaced with something new.... and come to think of it, had D-man's parents been approving of their relations, there would be no case and they would likely still be together. It could have gone either way. I'm sure D-man had no objections to getting laid, if we want to reduce things to the simplest of human capacity.
This was INSANE! She dragged a poor mentally handicapped man to conferences and even pretended he was giving speeches. It’s terrible what the mom has to deal with now with his burgeoning sexuality, I’m sure that’s a nightmare
I mean. Disabled or not, he is a MAN. The thought he isn’t supposed to be sexual, when it’s a very human urge is so incredibly backward to me. It’s a human right and very normal for someone to need sex.
@@effie3798I think what she is saying is not that he wasn’t at all sexual but the fact that he had been exposed to sex in the way he was. He clearly didn’t have the capacity to consent so how can he have the capacity to understand what is and is not appropriate regarding it? If he was never exposed to it that way by the crazy lady then certain things would probably never be an issue which may arise in the future.
Yep, like the mom said “she struck a match which flame cannot be extinguished now” (something like that), he could unfortunately think any woman who helps him is fair game in the future
As a mother of special needs children, this documentary infuriated me. I don't think a documentary has ever left me so angry, so upset, so devastated for Derrick, his brother and their mother. The total injustice, that she is a free woman, that her conviction was overturned without the families input or evidence is horrific! One of my children is completely nonverbal, my other child's vocabulary is severely limited, both rely on me for everything in life, they will never lead independent lives, take a bus, learn to drive, have a job or have intimate relationships. Even reaching adulthood they will mentally still be children, innocent and need 24 hours care. The though... the reality actually of how vulnerable they are, that like Derrick, could not even tell me if someone abused them, gives me an deeper insight into the devastating anger Derricks brother and mother feel. The way this person (I can't even bring myself to say her name) raped this innocent, vulnerable, sweet human being deserves a life long prison sentence as far as I'm concerned. I cannot fathom how she is a free woman. Total injustice! I hope Derrick and his family heal, my heart goes out to them so much.
@ir9567 women actually statistically get wayyyy shorter sentences though. Like her gender had more to do with the verdict than her race for sure. I'm not saying there's not a race disparity btw there is but statistically the most impactful feature for her verdict was being female
the whole time i watching the documentary, i did not realize how small derrick was. seeing him at the end made my jaw drop. he was so short, and to take advantage of his mental state on top that is just absolutely crazy.
I was so angry when, during the Netflix documentary, Anna's mother said that Derrick's mother purposely walked him into the courtroom in such a way as to exaggerate how disabled he was. She sounded annoyed that the mother was 'manipulating' the jury.
My perspective as someone with cerebral palsy: you have to understand how large the spectrum of what CP can do actually is. CP itself doesn't cause intellectual disabilities, but there are higher odds of comorbidities. My twin and I both have CP, but she's affected differently than I am; I use mobility aids and she doesn't. We were both in mainstream classes in school and we both have master's degrees (I know we're not the norm, but I digress). I'm a curious person and I enjoy learning, but I know I'm not gonna be winning a Nobel Prize or anything. People without ID **can** use AAC (augmented and alternative communication), for sure. Their intellect is the same as their peers, but the tightness in their facial muscles (or lack of muscle tone as well) makes speaking difficult and tiring. Using picture or letter boards, or even iPads and eye-gaze can do for them what FC supposedly does. I won't harp on points other people have already made, but it's clear to me that Anna was the one infantilizing and honestly dehumanizing Derrick. She didn't acknowledge his actual personality or temperament at all, or treat him like a multifaceted human being. He still had likes and dislikes and opinions and feelings; being disabled doesn't take that away, however severe. A good educator with a crumb of respect and awareness would understand that and acknowledge how he gets that across. I'm studying for teaching certification starting in the fall and I'm hoping the empathy I have will be helpful.
Right, my brother has cerebral palsy and we weren’t sure he would even survive and if he did we weren’t sure what his life would look like. He was in the nicu for months but after lots of physical therapy, surgeries, Botox , medication, he lives a fulfilling life. He struggles with communication but he’s very smart and he’s so funny. We have a close friend who also has cerebral palsy and he cannot walk and struggles with other health issues. You’re very right on how large the spectrum is
@@danielleherrmann3279 I was born 30 years ago at 26 weeks and went through a lot of the same things. It’s taken a lot of work but I’m finally getting close to being independent and having my own life.
I’m a developmental psychologist in Australia & I have always had an extremely sceptical perspective of facilitative communication”😞 Fortunately most of my peers in the disability sector have the same opinion, especially when hand over hand is used with a person who is non verbal & who has a severe to profound intellectual disabilities. Unfortunately, when I was managing a disability support organisation, I have had a similar experience with a support worker who developed a physical relationship with a 46 year old man who was in the late stages of severe early dementia - his family & I were mortified & I was very concerned about her sexual predatory behaviour; the support worker’s employment was terminated & the family implemented a protection order. I burnt out over the complexity of managing the situation & changed career to organisational psychology, it was a far less stressful role. Edited to add - that woman went into that environment with the misguided intent to isolate that young man. In my professional capacity I have witnessed too many people who work in the disability sector with the implicit intention to groom & isolate the people that they “purportedly” support 😢
Sexual abuse of individuals with disabilities by supposed “caregivers” is horrendously common. There’s a older NPR series on the issue in America but it paints a horrible picture.
That is horrendous 😢. Thank you for sharing - I have a 20 year's old daughter with autism, who also is non-verbal and has profound learning difficulties. This is why I don't feel confortable accepting respite and dread the day I cease to exist because of her safety - Thank you.
But a 46 yr old man with dementia still wants to have sex and has sexual feelings. People forget. Just because my dad is 80 with dementia doesn’t mean he is devoid of sexual thoughts and desires. They aren’t babies.
@@Julie-7605The patient wants sex, it’s up to the worker to be a responsible adult and know their place. Maybe sometimes a care worker might grow feelings for a patient. They know it’s reciprocated and where else would a patient who can’t drive or use internet find love? But professionalism should override any actions of course. Dementia doesn’t stop a man from having sexual feelings.
I am a Speech and Language Therapist and I had ever even heard of facilitative communication in all my years of training and practice. It makes no sense at all to any rational mind. How could anyone think that a non verbal person with no expressive linguistic experience could be hiding the ability to formulate complex sentences using English spelling, which is not phonetically predictable. The written form of langauge is not how a trapped intellect would first show itself. Caretakers would first see the signs of langauge understanding and definative self assertion in daily life before any higher level expressive langauge capabilities could be developed and written langauge cultivated. These facilitstive communication people were ignoring the logical steps of langauge development. I wonder if they noticed how much thier subjects’ opinions and world views resembled thier own as they painstakingly drew out these full written sentences from thier previously non-linguistic wards. What a scourge on disabled society this practice must have been. Everyone needing to ignore thier own good sense to promote cult logic.
Oh my god, yes, absolutely. There are SO many ways people can learn to communicate. If Derrick could communicate beyond what he was already capable of (as evidenced by him tapping the fridge when he was hungry), his family and other caretakers would have found it by then!
Yes! I was wondering why they wouldn't try a device like AAC that uses buttons with pictures and voices saying what the pictures are before attempting something that requires one to be literate.
Yep, the things she said and did infuriated me on so many levels. It's such an annoying little addition that she got up on her high horse (as usual) about wanting to give him the respect of calling him what he supposedly wanted to be called. Then she proceeded to mispronounce the name continuously even though the mother told her the correct pronunciation.
My husband and I laughed EVERY time she said it. She’s so self righteous and so oblivious at the same time!! It was almost a microcosm of the case-she was so confidently incorrect.
I don’t think that your theory is crazy at all. I think you’re probably spot on. Edit: She reminds me of Mary Kay Latourneau with how giddy she gets in the retelling of this very inappropriate subject matter… it’s eerie.
Not same scenario as Stubblefield and Letourneau (very much agree with the eerie similarities and nature of the two), but I thought of Elizabeth Holmes, too. Holmes didn't use her position of power nor impose classism and racism to sexually abuse someone who could not consent. It's fair to say, though, that Stubblefield, Letourneau, and Holmes felt a deep sense of *entitlement*... incredible entitlement... to abuse systems and vulnerable people for their own ends. I need to rewatch Andrew's explanation of the delusion / ethics continuum... but for these three predators, whatever degree delusion with which they operate(d) is mitigated by an ingrained intellectual notion of right and wrong that they chose to ignore.
Me too but it was kind of predictable when they said the judge didn't let in testimony about FC. If she had let the testimony in, it would have been clear this delusional person was just using Derek as a oijia board (having conversations with herself like the brother said). Then hopefully she would still be in prison.
I'm having trouble understanding how all of d-man's life he wasn't educated to read or write but suddenly with fc, he can read at a college level and literate with sophisticated articulation. That was suspicious immediately.
Yes, like Daisy proved what a good mother she was by prioritising Anna's children more than their own mother did, but Anna still had the audacity to criticise Daisy and pick apart her care of Derek.
@@purltwotogether8218 LITERALLY. Anna traumatized her children. She cuckholded their father - and if you think kids won’t be angry about the abuse of one of their parents, you’re wrong. She denigrated her ex-husband by lying to and cheating on him. She blew up their marriage which undoubtedly created problems in her daughters (?) life. This woman did nothing but wreak havoc amongst her family and she had the audacity to mouth off at Daisy because _Daisy wouldn’t leave her alone with her disabled son._ She’s such a mean-spirited bully. This case is raising my blood pressure. And, to make it even worse, there’s the racial aspect. Anna was married to a black man and had mixed-race children. That’s not an issue when the parents love each other, but Anna _ditched her husband for another black man._ There’s some weird gross racial nonsense floating around this case, and I seriously get the vibe that Anna had jungle fever or some weird preoccupation with black people. When she was married, whatever weird sexual preoccupations she has with black men would be private, but she publicly blew up her marriage. How does this make her ex-husband and kids feel? Knowing that mommy just saw their race as some sort of kinky afterthought? I heard that Anna’s daughter spoke in court and (allegedly) cussed out Daisy and Derrick’s side of the courtroom. No wonder she’s pissed off. Imagine if you found out that your parent _fundamentally_ sees black people as sex objects? How is that going to affect that young girl’s self-esteem? I knew racist white men who married Asian women and then had sons who looked Asian. Those sons had a lot of pain in their hearts because they can see the racism and misogyny in their own parents. It destroys them because it poisons what should be pure parental love. The amount of damage this one woman did is truly astounding. I’m just so sad for Daisy, Anna’s ex-husband, poor Derrick for having to deal with this on top of his disability, his brother for the guilt he probably feels for introducing Anna to everyone, etc. I’m just so angry and sad at how one woman’s narcissism hurt so many people.
@wormwoodcocktail Your comment is pretty fucking weird. All of your points pretty much boil down to interracial couples or romantic attraction to someone of a different race is a racist fetish and mixed race children rightfully feel ashamed of being the byproduct of racist fetishist parents. Honestly you come across like a creepy eugenics/ segregation apologist.
I disagree with the vengeance hypothesis. I think she wanted to break up their family so that she could have him all to herself, without the input of his caregivers so that she can have absolute control over him.
I think, as well, that rather than feeling jealous that her mum neglected her in favour of kids with disabilities, she idolised her mum & wanted to emulate her.
She said that Derrick was a vegetarian. How? his mom and brother feed him every meal. Babies refuse food all the time with less motility. She had to have known she was projecting on to him. He was the perfect man to control and project herself onto. Look at me! In the struggle Olympics! I’m with a black disabled man!!!! How could he type if we weren’t even sure he could read. that’s not a spontaneous skill people just generate let alone those with disabilities. She was smirking during sentencing and didn’t start crying for her daughter until AFTER the judge finished speaking about her sentencing. Not at all a genuine reaction.
Yeah, this is indeed a thing. My partner is black and disabled (physically only, we have the same disability but for me it affects my upper body and for him his lower body so he's in a wheelchair and I look normal unless I try to carry something) and he said he's had friends who are weirdly quick to introduce him to others like a trophy. Ofc those ppl are nowhere to be found in our actual personal lives in a true supportive friend way (not support for his disability needs, I just mean a reciprocal intimate relationship that shows you see someone as a person like you).
Yeah, this is indeed a thing. My partner is black and disabled (physically only, we have the same disability but for me it affects my upper body and for him his lower body so he's in a wheelchair and I look normal unless I try to carry something-- anyway this is how we got to know eachother bc it's a rare condition) and he said he's had friends who are weirdly quick to introduce him to others like a trophy. Ofc those ppl are nowhere to be found in our actual personal lives in a true supportive friend way (not support for his disability needs, I just mean a reciprocal intimate relationship that shows you see someone as a person like you).
Well if nothing else, Anna made a contribution to the field of disability ethics by providing a case study of what not to do. Glad you didn't edit out the detour into epigenetics, I really enjoyed it.
I’m a veterinarian and it’s ridiculous how much “facilitated communication” runs rampant in the animal world. It’s impossible to have a sensible conversation with pet owners who believe in it.
@@wormwoodcocktail Do you really think explanation is necessary when a pet owner pays a self-proclaimed psychic to “communicate” with her pet? Every single thing I’ve ever seen said by those people can easily be read if you have even the most basic understanding of animal body language. There’s nothing psychic about it and these frauds relieve people of their money.
@@Debbie338I meant “explain” in the sense of “tell a story from your practice”. I don’t doubt they’re nuts. Are there actual people who make money off this? Like the whole “Koko the gorilla” thing?
@@wormwoodcocktail Ah, okay! This will be a little bit long. First, a bit of background. The worst part of pseudo-medicine occurs in the equine world. For example: horse chiropractors, homeopathic preparations, magnets, essential oils, quantum healing-you get the picture. So, many horse owners are already in the mindset of believing scientifically unlikely or impossible things. “Quantum healing” is my favorite. It’s really just a form of facilitated communication. For the low, low price of $50-75 per horse, you can get a quantum healer to infuse quantum energy into your horse by him/her touching it all over. Once the healer does that, he/she can tell you all about whether your horse likes you, whether it likes its stablemates, the grass, whether it’s lonely, etc. You get the picture. So…a client I’ve known for several years brought her dog in. While we were waiting for some blood tests, she proceeded to tell me how she’d gotten a “Facilitated Animal Communicator” to help her with her horse, who seemed to hate her pole barn. If you don’t know, pole barns are a few wooden posts with a roof. They’re to help horses stay out of direct sun when it’s really hot. But, her horse never wanted to stay in the pole barn and seemed frightened by it. So, this animal communicator came out, touched the horse, yada yada, then stood in the pole barn. Told the owner the horse felt “negative energy” in the pole barn, because at some time in the (presumably) distant past, a horse had died there. She told the owner to build a new pole barn and that would solve the problem. Turns out it did solve the problem. The owner herself stood in the old pole barn for a couple of hours in the mid-late afternoon. The sun reflecting on a sliding glass door just over the fence was blinding the horse if it stood in there. She moved the pole barn and viola, the horse started using it. She sheepishly told me this story of how she fell for the “communicator” scam and we both had a good chuckle.
It's so funny you say this because after watching the documentary John watched on FC (prisoners of silence), I joked to my boyfriend we could essentially get our cat to communicate with us the same way. It would be no different. 😅 who's to say there isn't a red wine loving little man person waiting to write his first thesis in there?
SLP here. I graduated in 1994. At our annual conference in 1995 (American Speech-Language-Hearing Assoc.) ASHA made a statement finding FC had been discredited. For a nonverbal communicator, SLPs fade prompting as soon as possible. I am horrified by what Anna did to Derrick and simultaneously morbidly fascinated by her possible delusion that this was legitimate communication.
Derick was so loved by his family. It is so wonderful to see that. We see video after video where this is not the case. Anna was delusional and predatory. Totally. Out of prison now she still says she committed no crime.
the fact she doesnt clock how ableist it is to think everyone views derrick as a vegetable. like hes still concious and intelligent, he just cant comprehend and understand things that most other people can and thats ok. he still has thoughts and a personality and loves his family. its not black and white, brain dead or totally able minded
One of the biggest issues I had with the documentary is the fact that they never discuss that the woman with cerebral palsy from the video that went to university after using FC, had ataxic cp, compared to Derrick's spastic diplegic cp. With ataxia, most of the time coordination, depth perception and speech is effected, not intellect. The fact that it was even suggested that Derrick and the girl from the video could be developmentally the same was a leap. That aside, even if Derrick was cognitively capable of giving consent, because he is non verbal and physically unable to motion or impede Anna during sex, he cannot give consistent consent throughout the sexual encounter. And even if he could, because she was in a position of authority, and as a philosophy professor whose core studies revolve around the ethics of disability and consent, its ironic that she had absolutely no qualms with the ethical dilemma of entering a relationship with a disabled student that she had direct authority over. At best, this relationship is unethical and wades into non-consensual interactions, at worst she raped a disabled person who could not consent to anything that happened to him while she was in a position of power. Where it becomes really dark is the fact that the FC interactions were basically just conversations she had with herself. She fulfilled a saviour complex fantasy. He was basically just an instrument she used for auto-erotica.
This is so scary. I have a son with disabilities and I want him to be happy, but the fact that there are people around who would put him in danger mentally or physically caused by their delusions or pure malice scares me so much. I can't deny him the world, but the world just isn't safe for defenceless people. 😢
Apparently his mother has considered medication to limit DJ’s sex drive. A lot of parents of disabled girls consider the same thing to prevent SA and pregnancy. It’s disgusting that disabled people have to be hurt even more just to keep them safe from the pigs who would exploit them. Actually makes me feel violent.
It would be terrifying. I had to put my son in daycare at two and I was very nervous. I can only imagine how a parent with a disabled child must feel-the fear never leaves.
@@MetsterAnn you’ve got that feeling exactly right. The only difference is that the world knows kids are vulnerable and harmless. Disabled adults are forgotten and in the case of my son with the mind of a child and who at a glance appears well and normal is constantly suspect. Hes been attacked by a parent when he politely asked a child for a turn on the swing set. (Like he was taught to do as a kid) Or at the gym when a guy thought my son “was looking at him like a “slur for gay man” and got in his face like he wanted to fight. Hes bewildered and can’t de-escalate the situations. Hes naive and can be talked into doing things that aren’t good for him. Like giving away money. He’s a target or an opponent in the eyes of the world. There is no one but me and his dad and we won’t live forever.
@@LasPhoenix777 that is horrifying. I hope you can find a safe place for him as you get older, these are the vulnerable people we should be worried about.
What about the idea that she's believing that he's a savant or something so that she can clain ownership of the "discovery" and also that she played "disabled" as a child and coped with the "disabilities" knowing that she could and would return to her able-bodied self at any given moment. Kind if like, "I could do *the thing* when I handicapped myself, so they can do it too". Seems like she can't tolerate him being unremarkable like most of us are.
It was all just a way for her to seek adulation: not only was she able to teach him to communicate, but she uncovered a great intellect & sexually liberated him.
Anna wants full control of Derick, she can have that in a facility & away from family. They can go on tour and be famous. It's ridiculous Derick would have a vocabulary and tastes he had never been exposed to.
Actually for me it’s Sheronda Jones that best damns Anna. Because she is getting paid to produce this essay BUT it’s imperative that she doesn’t read the course work… so who better then the roommate of another student in the course. This way she doesn’t necessarily have to lie, she can maneuver around the truth. No, she never read the course work. But she obviously read her roommates paper when she testifies that “they wrote similar things”. What she didn’t specify is when she read the roommates paper… probably when she was helping write Derrick’s paper that she was being paid to produce.
I feel ridiculous for not catching that her roommate was another student in the course! ugh, even though I felt like she was the best "outside," non-expert evidence Anna was making things up. Derrick had a completely different writing style and tone when Ms. Jones (mistakes common for anyone who hasn't already graduated college, or isn't a strong writer) was FC'ing vs when Anna's creepness was blatantly speaking for him. If anything could or should be considered 'his own words,' Sheronda's were the closest non-family could get to full sentences. They were so unlike anything produced by Anna's aid it was stomach-churning.
16:45 The part about him reading 10 pages per minute is so blatant it's funny. She just wanted to incorporate her favorite books into her fantasy world, so she could pretend to have "deep conversations about literature" with him and have him make references to her favorite authors... Oh, I know, let's make him a speed-reading savant!
Yes. Privileged white professor starts a profoundly disabled black man off on Maya Angelou as his first exposure to literature. This poor man couldn’t even understand “See Spot Run.” But she begins with Angelou, naturally. Cue eye roll.
My first behavioral health job was in a no-touch facility where we had pretty strict rules about touching clients. When I go into other clinical settings, I am astonished when psychiatric or psychotherapy professionals touch their clients as if there were no boundary violations in this. No, even years later, I limit physical touch to a handshake. You should not be pressing your torso up against someone while holding their hand. This is mind-blowing.
This reminds me of a Ouija board phenomenon that is so obvious to me but some people believe in it 100%, when I seen a picture of Anna's husband it is clear to me she is attracted to African American Men. Later in the video someone also compared FC to an Ouija board. This is very Disturbing to me
@@em83998In Oujia boards, it is commonly believed that they "work" by people unconsciously putting pressure on the pointer-thing to make it go in the direction they want. Or they intentionally do that.
I also find it interesting her ex husband was a classical music composer….thinking back to her changing the station to classical music in the car and imposing it as a preference of Derrick…she was literally grooming him to the man she wanted
@@britt383348 just one that could never tell her no, or I want to leave, or ask for help from anyone outside of her.. without going through her. Just terrifying and disgusting behavior.
Very true, he is so insightful. You can see the "fanatisicm" in her eyes, those glowing eyes when talking, like she sees something fantastical before her eyes.
I think it’s important to note that most cases of cerebral palsy don’t include intellectual disability. His case is different with additional disabilities but many abled people do not realize cerebral palsy doesn’t impact the intellect directly in most cases.
My mother was a SpEd Teacher starting around 1975. She couldn't finish the doc. She spoke about the inappropriateness of every step of this Annas behavior. I really struggled with watching this.
I was upset to hear a recounting of Derrick’s abuser talking about her sexual assault of him. He could not consent at the time the assault took place, so why he can consent to a major streaming service recounting his abuser’s version of events? I think if Anna had been Andrew and Derrick had been Denise, there would be an uproar over him having a platform to re-victimize his victim. Also, I hope that Anna’s children got whatever help they need/needed to come to terms with their mother’s predatory and criminal behavior. I cannot imagine the hurt that would come with learning that their mother was raping a mentally and physically disabled man.
this part felt so disgusting watching it. I found myself trying to scrub through any part she was talking during, it's OBVIOUS she's a remorseless rapist. Still, to this day, talking like she thinks she'll never face accountability or consequences.
I see your point about the re-victimization but on the flip side, I think it's important to create Documentaries like this, especially if it's a female abuser. Because female abusers are more rare, I think they get overlooked. The whole conversation around FC was something I didn't even know about. If I had a differently abled child, we would have been as vulnerable to an attack from a similar predator due to a lack of knowledge. And I think showing her POV really put on blast the logic of these kinds of predators and how convincing they can be. I don't know if I can get fully on board with not covering instances of ablelist abuse because the victims can't consent to it.
@@Dee_Dee216I really agree with you. Someone has to speak up for him, and frankly his brother and mother first did that, and this documentary works to amplify their voices. I think it’s important people know this story, because of how much it opens up opportunities for very important discussions and social changes.
I take your point about Anna wanting to break up a happy family, as ghastly as that is. I am also amazed by this woman's vanity. Interesting listening, thank you.
Waiting for someone to comment on her vanity. In the documentary she said that Derrick said to her things like “I long to hold you the way that men do” “She resisted valiantly” “May I touch your b*****?” Even the most romantic and lame of men do not say shit like this I’m sorry. Just blowing steam up her own behind.
I occasionally work with a client (I’m direct support) who has cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability and first of all, Anna enrages me, but that aside I noticed something really fascinating about his regular team of caretakers, my coworkers. I notice that everyone has a different version of this client in their heads, and it sort of dictates how they interact with him. They almost project certain aspects of themselves onto him, like a mirror or a blank canvas. Every one of his team are good people, and would never do something like this, but I feel like I should mention my observation because it seems to be a common occurrence. You can take any behavior of his, a laugh, a noise, a movement, and it seems our brain likes to fill in the gaps so to speak. You try to interpret something he does as one thing or another, and in doing so it’s easy to build a personality for him in your head that reflects your own thoughts and feelings. In someone who is highly disturbed and predatory, like Anna, the dynamic has the potential to become absolutely disastrous.
Great observations and thank you for sharing. Ppl probably don’t realize how prevalent that is and like you said most ppl don’t mean any harm they just interpret things differently.
@@Queenofdacastle yeah, exactly. I think it’s natural, just a part of the human experience. I mean we do it with babies too. I think it’s really important to put up safeguards though, because sometimes really twisted people can fall through the cracks. There is a certain caretaker code of ethics where we have to hold each other accountable and always speak up to our supervisors, the case workers, if something we notice seems off. In the case of Anna, I think she is someone who holds a lot of power and prestige and she was able to take advantage of that since there were no peers around to challenge her. It seems that everyone who could have said something was an underling of hers. That doesn’t really excuse the silence, or maybe people did speak out and were met with consequences. In any case the family themselves had to challenge her behavior and that can be quite a scary thing to do especially if they relied on her for so many things. She just took advantage of all of it. Makes me sick.
Very interesting. I don't know if this is related, but I've noticed that my sister (with whom I have a troubled emotional history) treats me very differently to other people. e.g. when I had to leave a family meal early to catch a train, she declared for all to hear that I was "ruining" the occasion, yet when my brother has done similar things, she has been accommodating.
Completely agree with you, she had the capacity to test whether or not Derrick was communicating on his own and did nothing to prove or disprove this because she was so invested in the fantasy and delusion that her mind created of this perfect pupil and next the perfect man. Even Derrick's brother devised this simple test to prove whether or not he was communicating by asking him intinmate questions that Anna did not know the answer to to prove to himself whether or not Anna or Derrick was the one communicating. I also really liked your mythology comparisons.
Gosh, imagine if Anna's mother was a wildlife naturalist instead, all of the squirrels in the neighborhood would have Anna's lipstick on their collars.
as someone "spiritual" , i really appreciate the care you took in discussing who is drawn to these kind of beliefs and why, it means a lot to hear from someone empathetic, who is at the same time (i assume) not a believer. and i also genuinely felt touched when you allowed for the possibility of a real paranormal entity moving the planchette lol, it's nice to not have your deeply held beliefs (of an afterlife, not of ouija boards lol) shat all over because science is the end all and be all.
I find the Stubblefields' assumption that without what human society has deemed 'spoken language,' one would certainly live a miserable life, consisting of feeling hopelessly 'trapped.' There is no irrefutable or absolute truth in the notion that people like Derrick need to be 'saved' by intellectuals.
Your tangents were genuinely perfect for my AuDHD. Informed, passionate, good relationship to the subject. They gave my brain an appropriate and useful break from the emotionally difficult subject matter.
I think Anna might have been envious of the sense of purpose in life looking after Derek was giving the family, and she wanted it to become her purpose. This case reminds me of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys who had some mental health issues after a very tough childhood and then doing loads of LSD in the '60s. His psychologist, Eugene Landy, basically took over Brian's life and ended up writing a whole album of songs with Brian, many about how wonderful his life now was. Brian also wrote an 'autobiography' including lots about how great Dr Landy was. The problem seems to be that Brian Wilson always lived in fear of his overbearing father, and has basically recreated that relationship over and over again (e.g. with Mike Love in the Beach Boys). He's a walking opportunity for a 'Pygmalion' project.
@@katelynbrown98 Landy was (is? not sure what he's doing now or if he's dead) a seriously unethical professional. What he did to Brian Wilson is profoundly disturbing.
I am skeptical of her motives. It bothers me that she is The One who can break through this perceived barrier and then she thinks of herself as special. Like people who pray and say their prayers were answered because they are Worthy of having their wishes fulfilled by a higher power. The flip side being I prayed but didn’t get my prayers answered with a yes so I must be less than. As a parent of a disabled adult I am insulted. What kind of Ethics professor throws away marriage vows like that. I do not give her any credit. Pygmalion indeed.
Pertinent to this is the case of 11-year-old Jonathan Bryan, "and his remarkable ability to write poetry, keep a regular blog, and communicate with his parents, in spite of his severe and debilitating cerebral palsy." (The Guardian, 2018). * Jonathan was the subject of a BBC documentary "My Life: Locked In Boy". I found this to be a moving and affecting film, but shared the doubts that were raised in the Guardian artcile, particularly around the mediation of his communication by his mother using Facilitated Communication. * 'Why communication from a ‘locked-in’ child is a miracle we must question.' - Christopher French and Michael Marshall, Feb 2018
Thank you, I watched lockedin boy years ago. And actually Jonathan went to to the same secondary school as me, although not at the same time as I’m much older. I am absolutely convinced it is FC in that case, if you watch carefully the mum is always moving his head. Additionally his eyes never really move. I have no idea if the mum knows she is doing or not, but you are the first person I have found who is actually talking about this.
@@GrapheneTransistors What tipped me over the edge from charitable questioning to outright scepticism was Jonathan's florid devotion to his Christian faith - a faith shared by his even more devoted parents, particularly his father, the Revd Christopher Bryan. Added to this mix is the idea of a 'Miracle Birth, Miracle child'... From an article by Madeleine Davies in The Chruch Times, 2018: "He was born by emergency caesarean in 2006, after Mrs Bryan and her husband, the Revd Christopher Bryan, had a car accident. She was 36 weeks pregnant, and, although they walked away, seemingly unharmed, the placenta had become detached. An early MRI scan of Jonathan’s brain was described by the technician as the worst he had ever seen. The Bryans were warned that he might never walk or talk, or even recognise them. "
@@sprink88 yes I agree about the faith, even those from faithful families aren’t that faithful at secondary school age. I also just can’t get over the sudden ability to spell it makes no sense. I have watched a few videos with him and his eyes aren’t evening moving it’s literally his mum moving his head if you watch. Idk if she knows she is doing it or not. But he is about to start university in September and it’s probably not even him doing it. The fact that he is going around talking about how disabled children should be educated when it’s most likely his mum doing it, well it just feels so wrong. Another thing that confused me was the whole “eye tracking isn’t good enough to track Johnathan’s eye” I work in an industry that develops technology that uses the same principles as eye tracking software. I am telling you right now, there is no way a human can track eye movements that a computer can’t. He isn’t moving his eyes that’s the issue.
I learned about the idiomotor effect from a children’s beginner magic book. It’s a neat magic trick that’s easy to set up, all you need is something heavy on a string. Usually for a show it’s something mystical like a crystal on fishing line or an antique pocket watch or an ornate key to “unlock the truth,” but it really can be anything (an old wives tale uses a nail on a hair from a mare’s tail to predict a foal’s gender.) Then you draw a + with ‘yes’ going horizontal and ‘no’ going vertical and maybe/uncertain going in a circle (or some variation, it doesn’t really matter and you can even change it to whatever answers you’ll be asking for.) The important part is to get the person who knows the answer to hold the string so the object is hanging above the center of the +. No matter how hard they try to keep their arm still their subconscious will make micro-movements that should swing the object in the direction of the answer, or at least the answer as they know it. So the next time you can’t decide on what to eat just whip out a weight on a string and hold it over a circle of options. You might not know what you want but your subconscious probably does.
She's basically typing for him, as him. I mean how obvious could it be?? The way to test this is to use a random person as the facilitator, someone other than Stubblefield. If the word production he types and the answers are consistent with what he said when Stubblefield was holding his hand, then it means he probably was typing it himself with her help. But I don't think he was.
Loved the Pygmalion take! Spot on!!! Thought the exact same thing about the mommy issues and desiring to be given a disability to gain mothers attention. It also made me wonder if as a curious child Derick wasn’t the first non-verbal child Anna found herself expressing her feelings and maturity on growing up.
Thanks for covering this so comprehensively! I work in this field but haven't found a colleague yet who has seen this documentary, and my mind has been spinning. Oh Anna, you just don't change Mom's gospel music. She was quite persuasive at the first part of the documentary, but it changed for me at that moment. I appreciate your regard for this family and pointing out their strengths - because they have so many of them! I appreciate your literary, philosophical, and spiritualism references as well. They are especially fitting as this whole thing began in academia and she was a department chair of this super specific area of philosophy and ethics. And let's not forget D Man/ not D'man 🤦🏻♀
Its just wild, if she really thought she was helping him ok fine, delusional but somewhat acceptable. But she had to make him fall in love with her, shes so in love with putting her ideas into him and see them reflected back to her. That final line crossing of making them be in love and have a physical relationship, because of some dark need inside her to be desired or be a sort of "creator of life" like Frankenstein. What a sick woman 😢
disabled adults are often treated as literal kids and the term “mental age” is thrown around a lot of diminish their autonomy but my god i really can’t imagine the justification behind this relationship. disabled people should be able to do things on their own terms and to commit such a gross violation on a patient is just robbing them of that choice. this “relationship” breaks every moral boundaries i can think of.
It’s kindof hard for society not to pump out people like this, when certain people are being constantly guilt-tripped and demonized. It’s like; what did you all expect?
@@sabrinatscha2554are they though? I'm white and I don't feel guilty at all. For what? I didn't do anything (at least not out of malice-- i've said some racist shit by mistake bc I didn't know better bc of where I grew up and not knowing black ppl as a kid, but when I got better exposure I changed my view-- it wasn't bc I'm mean so I'm not mad at myself). And I'm longterm partners with someone super interested in racial justice. A secure person is not threatened by others trying to better their situation.
One of the things never discussed is the process of learning to type includes spelling tests. One would have to learn the alphabet first, then definitions, then grammar before you can even put together a sentence. Even the blind and deaf require these steps. So when we talk about cognition goes way beyond simple processing like recognizing the need to go to the bathroom or expressing hunger.
Reminds me of the way those people who put the buttons down for their pets act. Like I don’t know if they actually believe their pets are talking to them through buttons or if they’re just deluding themselves.
Rule of thumb. If you see someone trying to sell a product like that, (Like Stubblefield) I believe it's best to presume they are lying. If they are not trying selling it to you and are not trying convince you they aren't crazy, they are deluded.
He was an object, to her. Some appliance that she could project the qualities of her ideal lover (herself) onto, and speak on his behalf. She disregarded his personhood, his rights, his discomfort, his agency, professional ethics, all to fulfill her fantasies. His family understood how he communicates because they paid attention to his behaviours, body language, facial expressions, etc. They have empathy.😢
A friend of mine has a son with a similar set of conditions. He's still pretty young but as he gets older, he's developed more and more of his own communication style. It's really interesting to see and hear about from his mom. Just watching them interact, you can tell they understand each other a lot more than anyone on the outside of that relationship. It's incredible. On the other hand, I have a relative with a far less severe set of conditions and their parents are seriously holding them back. Their parents baby the ever-loving crap out of them despite their desire and clear ability to do more. It's not something I can easily express in words, but there's still a pretty clear difference between someone who infantilizes the disabled person in their care and someone who really does just support them/meet them where they are. I'm sure dude's mom does "baby" him sometimes because like... that's what moms do because their moms.
@@wmijjministryshow2321i think they’re trying to say that his family never thought “he couldn’t speak because he just had nothing going on in his head”. they knew him very well because they didn’t dismiss him as being an empty vessel despite his lack of speech. they never *needed* him to speak to know him, which is how they could tell it wasn’t his words being written/spoken.
part 2 lol so while daisy was certainly nurturing and protective over him, the fact that they understood him so well goes to show that he had his own sense of identity and wasn’t being “babied” by them- at least not to the extent of being seen as “the disabled one” and treated as helpless.
first time being recommended your channel! what an excellent video! regarding the incredible speed and progress that D.J. was "making", i am reminded of the current trend of unschooling amongst crunchy granola parents and how so many people think language, speech, reading are inherent abilities.
that's a great point. people really overestimate how much english can be learned by simple exposure. maybe there's that 1/100 kid who can learn to read from watching captions on TV, but the vast majority will at best learn a few simple words and instead just learn to get by without knowing how to read at all. similar issue at hand with the "whole language" method of teaching to read.
It never even slightly occurred to me until recently that a therapist might not be doing their job FOR their potential clients, but to achieve a sense of control over other people, that they don't have in their own lives. I was so desperate for help at a certain point that I trusted a stranger with my best interests, without any reason, other than their position. If the person you are speaking to makes you feel off for any reason, consider the relationship. I now feel the therapy profession may be a magnet for covert narcissist types getting a delicious misery thrill. My experience not good!
Doctors/Therapists can have so much power over our lives. And they are just humans like everyone else, not above being manipulative, wanting to be right to save face, having petty power struggles with their patients. I am sure that MOST Doctors/Therapists aren't like that but YESSSSSS it does happen. (Learned the hard way)
The craziest man I ever dated had a PhD in Psychology and was a professor. Took me a while to realize that he only enjoys his role because it makes him feel superior and like students need and respect him. I don’t think he genuinely cares for anyone but himself. He’s the purest form of a narcissist that I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
ew, same... idk why I'm like "oh it's gotta be the same guy," because there's a lot of universities that hire quacks like these, but holy math, it is WEIRD. Thanks for validating that these types of folks exist (or that I didn't make mine up, on the off chance there's literally only ONE on the entire planet). It was a very brief dalliance. It was over when he asked if autism was even real, and if it was, how could it even possibly impact how someone communicates at all to begin with, "and what does that have to do with employment or school, anyways?" He asked this like he had been cooking that "GOTCHA" up all week, too, and I cracked. Hollywood style broke down and started laughing until tears were streaming down my face at the table. You're a whole ass professor of psychology at a somewhat okay uni, and you don't even... think autism is real? 56 year old boy, BYE
WoW. Dude, ya blew ma mind with this one! One of the best videos Ive seen, on a topic that would never ever even crossed my mind to even ponder, mkay. And as an hobby occultist, I really appreciate your take on Spiritualism and the link to FC. Fascinating how the brain works, eh? O_O' Thank you from Sweden!
What I found odd about Anna’s use of FC with Derrick is that for person to have no formal education…never been taught to read and write…that Derrick was automatically able to do those things with the communication device. That part of it was not believable to me. I think Anna wanted to be like her mom…not that she was necessarily trying to take this man away from his family, but growing up seeing her mom help people with disabilities, she wanted to be able to be like that too.
Right that floored me!! I didn’t realize he was in diapers until he said that. This sick person essentially did that to a freaking toddler!! So very heartbreaking breaking and when he described how much force had to be exerted to cause the bruising 😢 just so vile of her.
I’m in complete agreement with you and as a clinical psychologist for over three decades I classify the behavior I was seeing as narcissistic psychopathy- she cast her own image onto Derrick and then fell in love with that image she perceived.
I just watched the documentary a few days ago and honestly, this case disturbed me more than a good portion of the murder cases I've watched or listened to. Thanks for your in-depth analysis of it.
She was able to have him “say” what she wanted someone to say to her. She used him as a tool to satisfy her emotional and eventually physical needs while having “power” over him and his family( so she thought until they caught on). In my opinion she is no different than a person who groomed and s@xuwlly abused a child. And she should be treated as such
I have so many things to say about this woman but, I’m so glad you mentioned her saying DahMann 😭 the entire documentary I was thinking “no way I can take this woman serious when she doesn’t even know this man’s name” 😩
Its crazy to think he can write college level essays, ask to be independent, wants wine over beer, but still used a diaper. I would think he would want use an actual toilet before anything else. So when the brother mentioned the markings on Derek's back while changing his DIAPER, I cried. What a sick human being
It’s fascinating that the person trapped inside the non-verbal body unlocked with FC is an intellectual genius and not someone who is interested in movies or tv or anything more typical for someone his age and who hadn’t been exposed to academia. If FC worked then it would be valuable even if the ideas communicated weren’t deep insights to the nature of disability. If the things communicated is stuff like “I’m too hot” or “this sweater is itchy”. But instead FC believers seem to think that they only have value if you are unlocking the next Shakespeare. It is so ableist in its own way to suggest that communication is only valuable if the output is a certain academic style.
It's projection of her elitist politics. She's an ideologue. In her view, people are just a means to an end for ideas to propogate. We are vehicles for ideas, and people like her are anointed with the knowledge of this reality. Her politics are a huge aspect of this case.
Absolutely!
Yesss!!!! I’m like why not teach him how to use a choice board!?!?
This is so helpful. I think I've felt this way too, but I just couldn't find the words.
Extremely well put
She reminds me of Mary Kay Letourneau, same absolutely delusional vibes and smiling sweetly while saying completely unhinged predatory things
It also doesn’t escape my notice that both were white women targeting male children of colour. I believe Letourneau’s victim / husband, Lau (?), was the child of immigrants and had a large number of expectations placed on him at an early age. Derrick was physically dependent on others. Letourneau was a school teacher with wealthy parents and Stubblefield was a professor. There’s this really frightening and predatory intersection of sex, race, citizenship, and class. Derrick’s disability may have put him and his family in a situation where, due to financial hardships, difficult choices would have to be made. Letourneau’s victim was primed to see himself as a provider for his younger siblings and mother. It would not surprise me if both women entertained fantasies of using that wealth to their own advantage. Letourneau may have fantasized about adopting Lau’s siblings and becoming the patria familas (matria?). Before her whole “romance” scheme, Stubblefield may have fantasized about DJ’s family sending him to live with her because she would be a better caregiver or something. It’s all so ominous.
I’m also fully convinced that Letourneau got knocked up to keep her victim trapped, once he was getting older and she was facing scrutiny. I’m fairly certain Letourneau did something particularly crazy like hit Lau up when she was on furlough or parole or something, and that’s when one of their kids was conceived. So, in that train of thought… was Stubblefield on birth control? Was she using condoms? She allegedly performed both oral and PIV sex. Did she use a condom? What exactly what her plan if she got pregnant?
💯🚩🚩🚩
Word! Good catch
I couldn’t help but think the SAME thing when watching the documentary.
They seem so much alike!! It’s actually creepy how similar.
At a certain point FC becomes blatantly ableist, because it assumes (or hopes?) that every nonverbal individual has some secret vast mind and hyper-intellectual capabilities that just need to be "unlocked" by an able-bodied, neurotypical person. It assumes that the neurodivergent, intellectually disabled, and/or nonverbal are "just like us" on the inside, and even though the rhetoric is well-intentioned, it represses the very real, unique personalities and quirks about disabled individuals. Derrick does not need to be a neurotypical intellectual in order to be loveable, interesting, and important.
‼️
💯
this is absolutely true! but i would also like to add onto this and say that plenty of neuroplural individuals absolutely do have vast intellect, and it’s honestly not a secret to anyone who takes the time to listen and accommodate their special way of communication, but it’s discounted and ignored *because* those methods of communication aren’t more widely seen as “acceptable.”
yup. I’m autistic and I have an autistic sister who’s nonverbal. I heard about FC when I was 12ish from my parents, and we were all so excited by the prospect that she might finally be able to talk to us. It didn’t work out, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that that’s completely okay. I love her for exactly who she is.
I wish I could accept this premise because it would mean accepting myself.
I think it's auto-erotica. She's in love with herself: her ability to love and heal. Even her abilities to love someone who is disabled and non-communicative. I don't think any of it was about him. She has narcissistic traits that are off the charts!
This. Chick screams “sexually insane”.
Bingo
@@lisabrightly yes, this. Plus a huge chunk of White Savior Complex thrown in. I’m glad the family ended this “relationship.” My husband was like “How much would it suck for him if he can actually think intellectually and they took her away from him?” I said “Look at how he’s missing a chunk of his head. This man isn’t saying these things.” The fact is that she had an entire relationship with someone after faking him “speaking” says that she’s got a weird ego problem. The family knew she’d eventually leave him and they’d have to pick up the pieces.
@@goodgrief888Right, and it's so sad the way she used him up for her own benefit.
Agree 💯! She was completely in love with herself and using Derrick was a way for her to weirdly have an intimate relationship with herself! Fascinating and weird and gross 😂
I love how the brother was able to find her out by asking something only Derrick could know. So simple, but also symbolic of the fact that Anna didn't truly know Derrick like his family did.
This is so disturbing It's the intellectual equivalent of a ouija board. And it's abuse
@@mah3223aliathanks😂😅 tttt😅😮
I was half asleep while watching, what did he ask?
@@mah3223alia yes, it is. This is exactly why facilitated communication (FC) was debunked in the first place. There were individuals who were using FC to accuse people of sexually abusing them. The accusations were thrown out and they seem to have occured due to the FC workers' need to find out if abuse was happening to their clients (similar to the way that Satanic Panic seized certain parts of the US in the 1980s-90s...)
@@lenaramoon4617I was just coming to ask the same thing! I missed that!!!!
What got me the most, was her insisting that HE seduced HER. And she does it more than once. You hear abusers like PDF files saying the same thing. “It wouldn’t have happened if they didn’t want it, they seduced me…”
There was definitely the air that it was insulting HIM to not believe HER. How dare we common, uneducated, uninformed people think that he isn’t capable of having these thoughts and desires!
Many abusers say this even about children that somehow a 13 year old seduced a grown man.
made me think of Mary Kay Letourneau, and how adamant she was that a 12 year old boy seduced and pursued her 30 something year old ass
It’s frightening to think what could have happened if Anna succeeded in moving D’Man to an assisted living facility.
@@lyricsoftheart I've heard that excuse in cases of 5 year old girls 🤮 "she was flirting with me"...
I can't get over how, for lack of a better word, "cringe"her view of Derrick as a black man is. Of course she had him sign up for African American studies and had him read black authors. In her mind he MUST be interested in these things. It really says a lot about her reductionist view of him. She basically turned him into a cliche of a black intellectual because that's what's she's most familiar with.
That's a great observation
I feel like she was trying to turn Derrick into his brother, Wesley. However, Wesley probably wasn't interested or couldn't be controlled.
She likes that double digit size flesh vibe rator
I’ve had a few meddlesome friends, who tried so hard to “know” me, even better than I know myself. It boosts their ego and self importance, typical narcissist behavior. I have to say, though, that the mom and brother did seem to treat Derrick like a child. It is quite possible he yearns to be more independent.
I noticed that too. Why African American studies? Derrick had very little experience with school, he could have picked anything. Science, Seminary, Math, Architecture, Car mechanics.
The thing that really chilled my spine was when she found out that Dman had seemed really distressed since they “consummated” their romance - she said she knew it was because he “missed” her and she felt the same, when actually he was more likely very traumatised by what had happened and wasn’t able to say or fully process it 😱
Daisy made that up to get Anna on the phone and confess to the crime but I do imagine there may have been some truth to it
@@synesthesia.aesthetic His mother didn't make that up.
@shortyp1000 Not on her own, it was a recorded phone call, the police were listening. It's how they got her. Daisy made her believe that she had had a change of heart due to Derrick being "upset". From there she asked Anna to be honest about what happened between them so they could "get past it". I didn't mean to imply Daisy was a deceptive person in any way, she was working with the police
It also bothered me that when she was trying to make him lie down to get on top of him, she said he was tense and kept sitting up. I think that is evidence that he did NOT like it and was trying to get her off him.
@@bigmona2741I am sure it was frightening and confusing for him, she is a disgusting rapist.
the first red flag is when she shooed the parents out of the room when working with him. As someone who worked in disability services, a parent who is not only willing but excited to get involved with the treatment is an absolute BLESSING and can make a world of difference- of course that is only if you're operating under non-bogus methodology.
And if you cared about helping a disabled person communicate, you’d want them to get to communicate with their loved ones. If I was in his position, I wouldn’t want to talk to some random lady- I’d want to talk to my mom.
@@queenbeemimi exactly! A lot of my work was about getting our client to be able to ask his parents for something, like being able to communicate with those we directly live with is an incredibly important function of life
It is not completely true. Sometimes you want them out of the room or far away
Parents can be a cause of stress and presssure.
For assessment, you need the parents out of the room instead of them waiting for every answer the patient says.
It is essential to include the family, i agree.
Yeah but you actually work in this field. I'm not sure how much care-giver training this person actually had. She studied disability academically, but that's different from being trained as a nurse or teacher. You are qualified to do what you do, this person was doing a larp.
@@justinperron4709 she is a dangerous woman. I searched what was wrong with Facilitated Communication (FC) as i thought it was just another name for the adapted Communication methods. Oh boy was I wrong, it really is a sort of ouija board. The hand of the abled is put on top of the hand of the disabled to guide them. This opens to so many bad interpretation and abuse.
Academics are not qualified to be on the field (just like a phd student doing research on cultural dances is not automatically qualified to breakdance).
This monster is elitist and ableist. Why would it be better if he had intellectual hobbies? Anyway, i am rambling lol
For me, one of the biggest red flags is that she was married and her husband testified against her in court, calling her a narcissistic liar. I am sure her failing marriage also helped motivate her bizarre behavior
Maybe. I was thinking the other way around too.
@@djinn8729I guess what I meant too was that an unhappy marriage made her more likely to seek out love, in her case she developed a delusion
I assume she would’ve done this even with a thriving marriage.
Exactly @@Genam888
The husband testimony wasn’t surprising. I think most people would speak against their ex if something similar happened to them.
Credit to the brother for stepping up and taking control of what was happening. He was fantastic
I know people who would let it go on, I fear. I was so proud of him stepping up.
His fault 100%.
It’s only right since he got him into this situation 🙄
I LOVED the brother. I actually laughed out loud when I read that in the statement he read at her trial, he said to Anna, "you are not Sandra Bullock, and this isn't The Blind Side." LOL
The brother is great. Idk if he's married but he's a catch!!
The thing about this communication that was a red flag for me, is that individuals who cannot even read are suddenly writing like highly educated people. If FC was actually working, the responses would likely be just a few words, with frequent misspellings, rather than grammatically correct sentences.
Exactly! As a primary school teacher, that was my first question: how does he suddenly know how to read and write so well?
Right, he can't point to pictures to communicate (expressively or receptively) but he can write on a college level after just a little bit of practice. I work with people with profound intellectual disabilities, and teaching communication (in whatever modality works best for the person) is always a top priority. Really delusional to think all they need is a keyboard and a little support on their hand and they would be writing out their thoughts like a true scholar.
Also infuriating to think they should either have those hidden abilities or else they are 'stupid' and have 'nothing going on in their heads' like she said. Reality is that the ability to communicate gives them a better life, but the level of their communication doesn't have anything to do with their value as people. This lady really ticked me off. So glad he had a truly supportive family who obviously loved him for himself.
He had an inability to focus or fixate his gaze. (Much like an early-stage infant cannot) So how on earth could he “read?”
It would’ve made more sense for her to claim his visual limitations necessitated him listening to, rather than reading, books.
Precisely. Within a year Anna would claim Derrick is Shakespeare’s spiritual successor.
I truly don't understand how there wasn't more skepticism with these individuals - who had never been taught how to read, write or ANYTHING in academics - suddenly being capable of enrolling in and completing college level courses. Like, you could take someone of normal functioning who never received any prior education and they wouldn't be able to adequately participate in college level courses. And that's without having any cognitive disabilities....how the HELL could people who are severely disabled do that??? The whole thing is so absurd. I just can't imagine how uncomfortable these people must have been while they were forced to go to these classes, forced to type stuff, having no idea what was going on. I think a lot of the motivation for "facilitated communication" was the facilitators' own narcissism. They wanted to be seen as pioneers, and as magicians, who could harness these special powers and "unlock" a disabled individual's intelligence and ability to communicate. It's just another example of the "white savior" complex.
At the beginning of the documentary it was kind of painted to show Anna as kind and loving. But when she was talking about her childhood and growing up around disabled people. She sounded like she had a fetish.
It really did. Immediate red flags.
43:35 The exhibitionism thing is also really accurate. The whole “he’s a man in every sense of the word” is just so creepy. Like it never even occurred to her that maybe she should omit that detail. I guess you could say that demonstrates a sense of moral correctness, but even in healthy sexual relationships people will omit the banging when talking to family members. It really does seem like she wanted to rub what she did in everyone’s faces. Hell, even the fact she jumped to sex before, like, going on dates or cuddling. That would still be morally wrong given her position, but my point is that this doesn’t even seem like a normal romance. It went from “do you love me” to sex in her office. That’s not normal. Especially for Derrick, who is ostensibly new to romance. Wouldn’t he have wanted to go slow, if he was really into it?
Agree, as soon as they declared their love for each other she jumped right into sex. Why? Wouldn't you want to take it slow if you truly believed the conversations were real, this guy wasn't ready for sex. At least talk to someone else about this for perspective?
@@KatefilmNYC Exactly. If she really felt love, you’d think she’d want to explain to his mom first.
Oh fuck that’s so true, I hadn’t thought of it that way… Jesus
She's a predator.
@@absinthemindedJ eeeyup
The kiss in front of his family. She’s sick.
I wish she got 24 years and life on supervised parole!!!
Yes that is absolutely her wanting to rub it in their faces that she is/was physically involved (assaulting) him. Disgusting.
As a mom to a non verbal child this documentary was terrifying. That mom really believed she was getting her son some help & this monster assaulted him. When they talked about how scratched up his back was after the assault it just made me sick to my stomach. She didn't deserve freedom.
The fact she took that man’s diaper off and then assaulted him I was so angry he couldn’t even undress himself but said he seduced her WTF I was enraged
It is a sad reality that women tend to get much lighter sentences than men in sexual assault cases such as this. (But you already know that, I am sure.)
@@snu3877Review the sentences of female teachers convicted of sexually assaulting underage students compared to male teachers convicted of the same crimes.
It's appalling.
@@stephenpmurphy591 Definitely a double standard. I'm sorry because I know this is a serious subject matter, but this South Park clip on the issue is hilarious: th-cam.com/video/ksTYuLNFvow/w-d-xo.html
@@stephenpmurphy591The only *tiny* justification I can begin to think of is that at least this way, it's the predator who takes on all the risks of getting pregnant, but she's still human garbage, so...
She kept calling Derrick D'man despite hearing someone call him D-Man, and maybe she heard it more than once, but still mispronounced it all throughout the documentary. There's something off-kilter about her whole being, from her childhood story of using crutches to see what it felt like to be disabled to her cluelessness about Derrick's nickname
It wasn’t clueless. It was deliberate invalidation. Undermining his sense of self in front of the only people who could do anything about it 1) gained his trust under false pretenses and 2) showed him who was boss ahead of any distrust he’d be less likely to even try communicating to them. And she reinforced it by sexually abusing him. It’s weird her own children were never examined by a forensic psychiatrist.
@@ZarathustranYES! YES! You put it in a way I couldn’t articulate. I just kept saying “disrespectful” but you really pinpointed why. I completely agree.
@@Knowhere6969 it’s definitely disrespect too, weaponized. I had to think about it too. She may not have explicitly thought it out in terms of eroding his sense of self to destroy confidence, but I do think asking him for a piece of his identity and then trashing it so reflexively was probably a groomed abusive behavior she happily ran with either way. The thing about her footstep-following is it’s a solicitation of parental approval by flattery that probably indicates her own interests were undermined. Bad enough to never get an attaboy, but a competitive/envious parent of the same sex invents pseudosavior ways to make sure an ego-threatening kid doesn’t outshine them.
Yeh she got so animated/excited when she talked about 'seeing what it was like'- sounds like the start of a fetishization of disabilities.
She said it correctly and then deliberately chose to say it incorrectly 😢
From solely the sexual component of the dynamic- I think that Anna had a fetish for those that are disabled in the way that D-man was, because of her background and the situation that manifested into her being in his life to “help” him, Anna also has to be in the role of the savior to justify her actions and her ego.
Everything about the way she went about the sexual relationship and obviously, the fact that he couldn’t consent, screams to me that this was a fantasy of hers possibly for awhile cognitively or not and she acted upon it. Knowing well that fetishizing someone who is the level of disabled is arguably unethical, Anna lied to everyone about their romance but even more disturbing is that I think she even convinced herself.
Yes, this predatorial behavior on her part was fueled by her aggrandizement fantasies as if she would discover this genius, a Stephen Hawking buried beneath the disabilities. Truly one of the sickest power displays I've seen outside pedophilia.
Yip. She used him completely. It’s disgusting
I kept telling my Roomate this while watching , her mama had her around this her whole life it’s like your parents being Mortician and your around dead body’s your whole life some ppl may start to grow a weird sexual infatuation she probably always wondered what’s it’s like and finally found the perfect victim to act her sick fantasies out on
@@shakanuhglorie8444 she def had a weird energy in regards, sitting in wheelchairs and playing blind so that she can learn Braille
I really feel like she got off on the whole exchange even the seemingly “non-sexual” components.
Omg thank you the D-man / D'man thing drove me CRAZY. I was like....so assuming he can hear and understand everything you're saying, he's hearing you absolutely butcher his nickname each and every day
A form of control over him. I think just about everyone saw the typed out Dman and in their head said Dee Man...as in "D"errick ... or like calling a boy "little man". She was demeaning Derrick by refusing to pronounce his name the way it was meant to be said....separating herself from the family and special people in his life he was comfortable with. Carving out a place where only she could influence Derrick's life.
@@letusgather...7820 I think it was also her way of emphasizing “He is a Man.” Because she wanted so badly to sexualize him. So emphasizing the word “man” reiterates that.
She’s also see looks like pets . And that makes me so sick 🤢
Because it wasn’t his nickname. “D-Mon” was a version of her own name. She goes by “Onna” not Anna.
“he’s a vegetarian” oh brother she’s lost it.
And like’s red wine. Probably a burgundy 😂.
And classical music, not gospel
She’s insane. The audacity she had to tell his mother she was being too “controlling” and tried to persuade her into putting him in a home.
she was *definitely* projecting her white woman interests onto this black man who had lived a life LONG before he ever knew her. even anna calling derrick “deman” instead of “d-man” was just immediately indicative that she knew NOTHING about this man and didn’t care to learn anything about who he *actually* was beyond his “potential” to be an intellectual (which he did NOT have, and that’s perfectly ok and did not make derrick any less worthy of the unconditional love he got from his family)
@wooogie672 there's no such thing as "white woman interests" lol
She completely ignored Derricks use of body language to communicate his discomfort and unwillingness to participate, further isolating him, and removed all of his personal agency. To Anna speaking and writing are the only existing forms of communication
Right!! When she described his body language during her first “encounter”, immediately I thought that he didn’t want to do it!
I never throw this word around so this is my very first time. That sounds awfully like some coloniser way of thinking
Her kissing him in front of the family while having the 'we're in love' talk makes me think she's marking her territory.
Like changing the radio station and saying he liked red wine SMH
Definitely, this same type of thing happens with abusive partners even when both are of full mental capacity. This same story sounds exactly like what abused partners go through before they’re isolated from their families
Stubblefields (mom and daughter) assume language is the only form of expression and communication. This is ableism, and in a very expanded form: they assume there's an aspirational norm that would inevitably involve the use of highly-evolved and particular verbal communication, e.g. via English syntax and vocabulary. This leaves aside twins who communicate via gibberish, sign language, human infants who scream distinctively to reflect different feelings or needs, Navajo code-makers, etc.
Stubblefields' biases also sidestep the VAST array of alternative human communications, such as by savant mathematicians solving equations on a blackboard, and gifted pianists, or the world of ballet. The latter examples are not just communicators, but have a syntax and vocabulary, just not language, let alone a specific, English language model.
In other words, the Stubblefields' thesis lacks critical integrity from its very foundation. How, in the world, are they getting tenured at major universities? They might as well be basing an academic career on a Ouija board.
YES YES YES THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS.
yup this occurred to me too. it's a really odd stance. given all the other forms of communication - as this points out - if one doesn't want to eat chicken one can pull away, for example.
So well said...thank you for this. And not just in the human realm, but with animals as well. i can easily communicate with my cat, and she with me. Very rudimentary -- but it's there. I've even heard of plants communicating as well..responding to human encouragement or music...or between each other. So much we don't know...best to tread very carefully.
Their thesis is the epitome of privilege.
Thank you! This is fascinating to read!
she turned a grown man into a ouija board
It's scary but, yeah, she did.
(((magic)))
Bruh
😢
Ouija Board + Clever Hans.
In a weird kind of way it feels like a weird mirror image of Munchausen's syndrome by proxy. Using someone else's condition, or indeed non condition, for your own ends.
Really good connection, I didn’t think of that. In a way, pre-existing disability is “convenient” for this type of abuser
Anna was using Derek like a ventriloquist dummy.
Absolutely- she wanted to take him on a speaking circuit and have him write a book. (All things she wanted, or saw as successful).
@@katyfrazier8788that’s EXACTLY what I saw as her aspirations of what to come … that’s a whole other level of narcissistic behavior. All her dreams were about to come true in her mind … becoming famous… and her sick sexual fetish.
@@sorguinaziaunfortunately abusers like this love that the victim litterally can't tell anyone about the abuse 😢
If FC truly worked, you could have an English-speaking-only facilitator teamed with a Brazilian subject, and the FC Ouija board would produce Portuguese. Easy test for viability. I think we can guess how that would work out.
This. Except maybe for some people whose issues are specifically with their arms.
Exactly! I was thinking the same thing today - another good way to test this.
@@wormwoodcocktail in that case, a physical brace is probably a better option, as it's less likely to be abused.
@@kathrynturnbull990 Exactly my thought process.
@@sleuththewild Yes. These facilitators were acting like predictive text, assuming what the subject was going to say without the subject actually “saying” it. The fact that Derrick kept supposedly going on about how wonderful it was to be able to finally communicate really told me a lot. It was like an advertisement for FC.
39:15 I totally agree with the interpretation that spite and revenge motivated this.
Her parents focused all their time and attention on disabled kids? So she, as a child, LARPed as a disabled child to get their attention and connect with them. Mommy and Daddy didn’t have time for her, so she obsessed over their academic interests in a desperate bid to connect.
She grows up, continues her parents obsessions and wants to best them at the things they love. She sees a disabled and abled pair of siblings. She sees how their mother loves them both and does so unconditionally. The able brother loves his baby brother and is constantly looking out for opportunities to improve his quality of life. Bitter and resentful, she attempts to destroy this happy family, and appropriate his disability (and the corresponding attention) for herself. “Look at me! I’m basically the Miracle Worker! I’m oppressed because I am married to a disabled black man! I’m so good! Look at me!” Meanwhile, Derrick sits in the corner away from his siblings.
I want to point out that treachery - betraying the love and trust of others - condemns you to the deepest pit in Hell, according to Dante.
Kayso, you may be completely "out there", but I find your arguments very compelling, and in my mind, your hammer met "nail". TY for your insight.
@@wrmlm37 Thanks m8.
I'd argue that her upbringing involved little or no issue with her parents, and that she developed a genuine affinity for helping the disabled through being exposed to that at a young age and perhaps some inherited predisposition. I think she perhaps had an active imagination and less of a social life, missing out on the benefit of peer feedback and observation. She likely felt that the noble preoccupation of trying to aid the disabled meant that her thoughts and actions along those lines would always be pure and positive in nature, and recognized as such. Because of this , I doubt there was much self-auditing going on and soon she was so committed and optimistic about her perceived discoveries that her identity had to protect itself by preventing her from realistically contemplating the possibility of self-deception, delusion, and failure. She would become nothing if that was the case. I don't think she had any ill intentions, being as she came from an environment of exceptionally good intentions. Under other circumstances , a person in her position entering a relationship with a person in his position would be the epitome of admirable anti-superficiality by overcoming of the typical self-centered instinctual pursuits of physical attraction, financial security, and social promotion. I think she likely may not ever let this identity die off and be replaced with something new.... and come to think of it, had D-man's parents been approving of their relations, there would be no case and they would likely still be together. It could have gone either way. I'm sure D-man had no objections to getting laid, if we want to reduce things to the simplest of human capacity.
💯
@@NickKautz …. Did you just say that Derrick was cool with being SA’ed?
This was INSANE! She dragged a poor mentally handicapped man to conferences and even pretended he was giving speeches. It’s terrible what the mom has to deal with now with his burgeoning sexuality, I’m sure that’s a nightmare
I mean. Disabled or not, he is a MAN. The thought he isn’t supposed to be sexual, when it’s a very human urge is so incredibly backward to me. It’s a human right and very normal for someone to need sex.
@@effie3798I think what she is saying is not that he wasn’t at all sexual but the fact that he had been exposed to sex in the way he was. He clearly didn’t have the capacity to consent so how can he have the capacity to understand what is and is not appropriate regarding it? If he was never exposed to it that way by the crazy lady then certain things would probably never be an issue which may arise in the future.
Yep, like the mom said “she struck a match which flame cannot be extinguished now” (something like that), he could unfortunately think any woman who helps him is fair game in the future
@@effie3798 ummm, you’ve obviously never worked with mentally ill patients
@cortneyrens or he could be burning with desires he doesn't understand nor have the capacity to satisfy.
As a mother of special needs children, this documentary infuriated me. I don't think a documentary has ever left me so angry, so upset, so devastated for Derrick, his brother and their mother. The total injustice, that she is a free woman, that her conviction was overturned without the families input or evidence is horrific!
One of my children is completely nonverbal, my other child's vocabulary is severely limited, both rely on me for everything in life, they will never lead independent lives, take a bus, learn to drive, have a job or have intimate relationships. Even reaching adulthood they will mentally still be children, innocent and need 24 hours care. The though... the reality actually of how vulnerable they are, that like Derrick, could not even tell me if someone abused them, gives me an deeper insight into the devastating anger Derricks brother and mother feel.
The way this person (I can't even bring myself to say her name) raped this innocent, vulnerable, sweet human being deserves a life long prison sentence as far as I'm concerned. I cannot fathom how she is a free woman. Total injustice! I hope Derrick and his family heal, my heart goes out to them so much.
Well said❤
My daughter is mostly nonverbal and I had the same feeling. I couldn’t even finish it, I was just so angry and heartbroken
It makes me think had this had been a disabled non verbal girl and a male "caregiver" he would never be let out....
@@tierawilliams5736 Don't forget race AND Class. This woman was NEVER going to be treated equally under the system.
@ir9567 women actually statistically get wayyyy shorter sentences though. Like her gender had more to do with the verdict than her race for sure. I'm not saying there's not a race disparity btw there is but statistically the most impactful feature for her verdict was being female
the whole time i watching the documentary, i did not realize how small derrick was. seeing him at the end made my jaw drop. he was so short, and to take advantage of his mental state on top that is just absolutely crazy.
The brother describes the mysterious injuries on his back and it really hit me when I saw how tiny he actually was.
Yes, so small! And when his brother described his back injuries, that hurt my heart.
I was so angry when, during the Netflix documentary, Anna's mother said that Derrick's mother purposely walked him into the courtroom in such a way as to exaggerate how disabled he was. She sounded annoyed that the mother was 'manipulating' the jury.
Plus, it’s like… WHY? Gross, man.
@@snu3877 It just goes to show how prone humans are to creating false perceptions to fit their biases.
My perspective as someone with cerebral palsy: you have to understand how large the spectrum of what CP can do actually is. CP itself doesn't cause intellectual disabilities, but there are higher odds of comorbidities. My twin and I both have CP, but she's affected differently than I am; I use mobility aids and she doesn't. We were both in mainstream classes in school and we both have master's degrees (I know we're not the norm, but I digress). I'm a curious person and I enjoy learning, but I know I'm not gonna be winning a Nobel Prize or anything.
People without ID **can** use AAC (augmented and alternative communication), for sure. Their intellect is the same as their peers, but the tightness in their facial muscles (or lack of muscle tone as well) makes speaking difficult and tiring. Using picture or letter boards, or even iPads and eye-gaze can do for them what FC supposedly does.
I won't harp on points other people have already made, but it's clear to me that Anna was the one infantilizing and honestly dehumanizing Derrick. She didn't acknowledge his actual personality or temperament at all, or treat him like a multifaceted human being. He still had likes and dislikes and opinions and feelings; being disabled doesn't take that away, however severe. A good educator with a crumb of respect and awareness would understand that and acknowledge how he gets that across. I'm studying for teaching certification starting in the fall and I'm hoping the empathy I have will be helpful.
I'm sure you'll do great. Good luck!
Right, my brother has cerebral palsy and we weren’t sure he would even survive and if he did we weren’t sure what his life would look like. He was in the nicu for months but after lots of physical therapy, surgeries, Botox , medication, he lives a fulfilling life. He struggles with communication but he’s very smart and he’s so funny. We have a close friend who also has cerebral palsy and he cannot walk and struggles with other health issues. You’re very right on how large the spectrum is
@@danielleherrmann3279 I was born 30 years ago at 26 weeks and went through a lot of the same things. It’s taken a lot of work but I’m finally getting close to being independent and having my own life.
I’m a developmental psychologist in Australia & I have always had an extremely sceptical perspective of facilitative communication”😞 Fortunately most of my peers in the disability sector have the same opinion, especially when hand over hand is used with a person who is non verbal & who has a severe to profound intellectual disabilities. Unfortunately, when I was managing a disability support organisation, I have had a similar experience with a support worker who developed a physical relationship with a 46 year old man who was in the late stages of severe early dementia - his family & I were mortified & I was very concerned about her sexual predatory behaviour; the support worker’s employment was terminated & the family implemented a protection order. I burnt out over the complexity of managing the situation & changed career to organisational psychology, it was a far less stressful role.
Edited to add - that woman went into that environment with the misguided intent to isolate that young man. In my professional capacity I have witnessed too many people who work in the disability sector with the implicit intention to groom & isolate the people that they “purportedly” support 😢
Sexual abuse of individuals with disabilities by supposed “caregivers” is horrendously common. There’s a older NPR series on the issue in America but it paints a horrible picture.
That is horrendous 😢. Thank you for sharing - I have a 20 year's old daughter with autism, who also is non-verbal and has profound learning difficulties. This is why I don't feel confortable accepting respite and dread the day I cease to exist because of her safety - Thank you.
Predators come in all genders, shapes and sizes unfortunately. It’s so important to protect the people who can’t protect themselves.
But a 46 yr old man with dementia still wants to have sex and has sexual feelings. People forget. Just because my dad is 80 with dementia doesn’t mean he is devoid of sexual thoughts and desires. They aren’t babies.
@@Julie-7605The patient wants sex, it’s up to the worker to be a responsible adult and know their place.
Maybe sometimes a care worker might grow feelings for a patient. They know it’s reciprocated and where else would a patient who can’t drive or use internet find love? But professionalism should override any actions of course.
Dementia doesn’t stop a man from having sexual feelings.
I am a Speech and Language Therapist and I had ever even heard of facilitative communication in all my years of training and practice. It makes no sense at all to any rational mind. How could anyone think that a non verbal person with no expressive linguistic experience could be hiding the ability to formulate complex sentences using English spelling, which is not phonetically predictable. The written form of langauge is not how a trapped intellect would first show itself. Caretakers would first see the signs of langauge understanding and definative self assertion in daily life before any higher level expressive langauge capabilities could be developed and written langauge cultivated. These facilitstive communication people were ignoring the logical steps of langauge development. I wonder if they noticed how much thier subjects’ opinions and world views resembled thier own as they painstakingly drew out these full written sentences from thier previously non-linguistic wards. What a scourge on disabled society this practice must have been. Everyone needing to ignore thier own good sense to promote cult logic.
I was confused on how he was suddenly literate. Thank you for your explanation
Can’t read and write if you were never taught in the first place. Step skipping. Lady was a fraud and a abuser.
I'm also an slp. The fact that this facilitative communication could not be reduplicated with his family was a huge flag to me.
Oh my god, yes, absolutely. There are SO many ways people can learn to communicate.
If Derrick could communicate beyond what he was already capable of (as evidenced by him tapping the fridge when he was hungry), his family and other caretakers would have found it by then!
Yes! I was wondering why they wouldn't try a device like AAC that uses buttons with pictures and voices saying what the pictures are before attempting something that requires one to be literate.
her not knowing how to pronounce d-man is sending me💀💀💀
Or, it is her gross take on it. "You're the man!" You're de man. Its foul
Same!!
Yep, the things she said and did infuriated me on so many levels.
It's such an annoying little addition that she got up on her high horse (as usual) about wanting to give him the respect of calling him what he supposedly wanted to be called. Then she proceeded to mispronounce the name continuously even though the mother told her the correct pronunciation.
She was calling him demand without the d. That worked my nerves too
My husband and I laughed EVERY time she said it. She’s so self righteous and so oblivious at the same time!! It was almost a microcosm of the case-she was so confidently incorrect.
I don’t think that your theory is crazy at all. I think you’re probably spot on.
Edit: She reminds me of Mary Kay Latourneau with how giddy she gets in the retelling of this very inappropriate subject matter… it’s eerie.
Good point. Mary Kay is spot on.
Definitely!🎖
Yup the both said their victims seduced them smh
Not same scenario as Stubblefield and Letourneau (very much agree with the eerie similarities and nature of the two), but I thought of Elizabeth Holmes, too. Holmes didn't use her position of power nor impose classism and racism to sexually abuse someone who could not consent. It's fair to say, though, that Stubblefield, Letourneau, and Holmes felt a deep sense of *entitlement*... incredible entitlement... to abuse systems and vulnerable people for their own ends. I need to rewatch Andrew's explanation of the delusion / ethics continuum... but for these three predators, whatever degree delusion with which they operate(d) is mitigated by an ingrained intellectual notion of right and wrong that they chose to ignore.
My same thoughts when I seen this
This story made me physically sick…I cannot believe the conviction was overturned. Thank you for the analysis
Me too but it was kind of predictable when they said the judge didn't let in testimony about FC. If she had let the testimony in, it would have been clear this delusional person was just using Derek as a oijia board (having conversations with herself like the brother said). Then hopefully she would still be in prison.
@djinn8729 The Judge did a terrible job smh. She should have gotten 24yrs in prison with supervisor parole for life after her sentence in prison.
For me a crazy part of this is how the justice system turns a blind eye to female sexual abusive behaviour again and again.
I'm having trouble understanding how all of d-man's life he wasn't educated to read or write but suddenly with fc, he can read at a college level and literate with sophisticated articulation. That was suspicious immediately.
I agree. I am hyperlexic but when I read my childhood writing the development is clearly gradual over time. It takes practice to be fluent.
46:50 Mrs. J: “Anna, go home to your children.”
👏👏👏
Exactly. She never considered the effects on her own kids.
Yes, like Daisy proved what a good mother she was by prioritising Anna's children more than their own mother did, but Anna still had the audacity to criticise Daisy and pick apart her care of Derek.
@@purltwotogether8218 LITERALLY. Anna traumatized her children. She cuckholded their father - and if you think kids won’t be angry about the abuse of one of their parents, you’re wrong. She denigrated her ex-husband by lying to and cheating on him. She blew up their marriage which undoubtedly created problems in her daughters (?) life. This woman did nothing but wreak havoc amongst her family and she had the audacity to mouth off at Daisy because _Daisy wouldn’t leave her alone with her disabled son._ She’s such a mean-spirited bully. This case is raising my blood pressure.
And, to make it even worse, there’s the racial aspect. Anna was married to a black man and had mixed-race children. That’s not an issue when the parents love each other, but Anna _ditched her husband for another black man._ There’s some weird gross racial nonsense floating around this case, and I seriously get the vibe that Anna had jungle fever or some weird preoccupation with black people. When she was married, whatever weird sexual preoccupations she has with black men would be private, but she publicly blew up her marriage. How does this make her ex-husband and kids feel? Knowing that mommy just saw their race as some sort of kinky afterthought?
I heard that Anna’s daughter spoke in court and (allegedly) cussed out Daisy and Derrick’s side of the courtroom. No wonder she’s pissed off. Imagine if you found out that your parent _fundamentally_ sees black people as sex objects? How is that going to affect that young girl’s self-esteem? I knew racist white men who married Asian women and then had sons who looked Asian. Those sons had a lot of pain in their hearts because they can see the racism and misogyny in their own parents. It destroys them because it poisons what should be pure parental love.
The amount of damage this one woman did is truly astounding. I’m just so sad for Daisy, Anna’s ex-husband, poor Derrick for having to deal with this on top of his disability, his brother for the guilt he probably feels for introducing Anna to everyone, etc. I’m just so angry and sad at how one woman’s narcissism hurt so many people.
@@wormwoodcocktail good points. I’m confused though - Anna’s daughter cussed out Derreck’s family? What did she say, do you know? Thanks
OMG
@wormwoodcocktail Your comment is pretty fucking weird. All of your points pretty much boil down to interracial couples or romantic attraction to someone of a different race is a racist fetish and mixed race children rightfully feel ashamed of being the byproduct of racist fetishist parents. Honestly you come across like a creepy eugenics/ segregation apologist.
I disagree with the vengeance hypothesis. I think she wanted to break up their family so that she could have him all to herself, without the input of his caregivers so that she can have absolute control over him.
I think, as well, that rather than feeling jealous that her mum neglected her in favour of kids with disabilities, she idolised her mum & wanted to emulate her.
An ethics professor! OMG. 😳 I give up on humanity
chosen people ehics
She said that Derrick was a vegetarian. How? his mom and brother feed him every meal. Babies refuse food all the time with less motility. She had to have known she was projecting on to him. He was the perfect man to control and project herself onto. Look at me! In the struggle Olympics! I’m with a black disabled man!!!! How could he type if we weren’t even sure he could read. that’s not a spontaneous skill people just generate let alone those with disabilities. She was smirking during sentencing and didn’t start crying for her daughter until AFTER the judge finished speaking about her sentencing. Not at all a genuine reaction.
Yeah, this is indeed a thing. My partner is black and disabled (physically only, we have the same disability but for me it affects my upper body and for him his lower body so he's in a wheelchair and I look normal unless I try to carry something) and he said he's had friends who are weirdly quick to introduce him to others like a trophy. Ofc those ppl are nowhere to be found in our actual personal lives in a true supportive friend way (not support for his disability needs, I just mean a reciprocal intimate relationship that shows you see someone as a person like you).
Yeah, this is indeed a thing. My partner is black and disabled (physically only, we have the same disability but for me it affects my upper body and for him his lower body so he's in a wheelchair and I look normal unless I try to carry something-- anyway this is how we got to know eachother bc it's a rare condition) and he said he's had friends who are weirdly quick to introduce him to others like a trophy. Ofc those ppl are nowhere to be found in our actual personal lives in a true supportive friend way (not support for his disability needs, I just mean a reciprocal intimate relationship that shows you see someone as a person like you).
@@SpecialBlanket that’s so disappointing to hear. I hope y’all avoid them
@@SpecialBlanket It's probably just awkwardness & overcompensating.
Well if nothing else, Anna made a contribution to the field of disability ethics by providing a case study of what not to do. Glad you didn't edit out the detour into epigenetics, I really enjoyed it.
But at Derrick and family expense
@@ajordan1976yeah, they weren’t being serious. She’s a monster and didn’t contribute anything to society except a horrifying case study
I’m a veterinarian and it’s ridiculous how much “facilitated communication” runs rampant in the animal world. It’s impossible to have a sensible conversation with pet owners who believe in it.
Explain
@@wormwoodcocktail Do you really think explanation is necessary when a pet owner pays a self-proclaimed psychic to “communicate” with her pet? Every single thing I’ve ever seen said by those people can easily be read if you have even the most basic understanding of animal body language. There’s nothing psychic about it and these frauds relieve people of their money.
@@Debbie338I meant “explain” in the sense of “tell a story from your practice”. I don’t doubt they’re nuts. Are there actual people who make money off this? Like the whole “Koko the gorilla” thing?
@@wormwoodcocktail Ah, okay! This will be a little bit long. First, a bit of background. The worst part of pseudo-medicine occurs in the equine world. For example: horse chiropractors, homeopathic preparations, magnets, essential oils, quantum healing-you get the picture. So, many horse owners are already in the mindset of believing scientifically unlikely or impossible things.
“Quantum healing” is my favorite. It’s really just a form of facilitated communication. For the low, low price of $50-75 per horse, you can get a quantum healer to infuse quantum energy into your horse by him/her touching it all over. Once the healer does that, he/she can tell you all about whether your horse likes you, whether it likes its stablemates, the grass, whether it’s lonely, etc. You get the picture.
So…a client I’ve known for several years brought her dog in. While we were waiting for some blood tests, she proceeded to tell me how she’d gotten a “Facilitated Animal Communicator” to help her with her horse, who seemed to hate her pole barn. If you don’t know, pole barns are a few wooden posts with a roof. They’re to help horses stay out of direct sun when it’s really hot. But, her horse never wanted to stay in the pole barn and seemed frightened by it. So, this animal communicator came out, touched the horse, yada yada, then stood in the pole barn. Told the owner the horse felt “negative energy” in the pole barn, because at some time in the (presumably) distant past, a horse had died there. She told the owner to build a new pole barn and that would solve the problem.
Turns out it did solve the problem. The owner herself stood in the old pole barn for a couple of hours in the mid-late afternoon. The sun reflecting on a sliding glass door just over the fence was blinding the horse if it stood in there. She moved the pole barn and viola, the horse started using it. She sheepishly told me this story of how she fell for the “communicator” scam and we both had a good chuckle.
It's so funny you say this because after watching the documentary John watched on FC (prisoners of silence), I joked to my boyfriend we could essentially get our cat to communicate with us the same way. It would be no different. 😅 who's to say there isn't a red wine loving little man person waiting to write his first thesis in there?
SLP here. I graduated in 1994. At our annual conference in 1995 (American Speech-Language-Hearing Assoc.) ASHA made a statement finding FC had been discredited. For a nonverbal communicator, SLPs fade prompting as soon as possible. I am horrified by what Anna did to Derrick and simultaneously morbidly fascinated by her possible delusion that this was legitimate communication.
Yup!!!! I’m like this is not how specialists work with those who are nonverbal . There were so many steps missing in speak development
Derick was so loved by his family. It is so wonderful to see that. We see video after video where this is not the case. Anna was delusional and predatory. Totally. Out of prison now she still says she committed no crime.
the fact she doesnt clock how ableist it is to think everyone views derrick as a vegetable. like hes still concious and intelligent, he just cant comprehend and understand things that most other people can and thats ok. he still has thoughts and a personality and loves his family. its not black and white, brain dead or totally able minded
One of the biggest issues I had with the documentary is the fact that they never discuss that the woman with cerebral palsy from the video that went to university after using FC, had ataxic cp, compared to Derrick's spastic diplegic cp. With ataxia, most of the time coordination, depth perception and speech is effected, not intellect. The fact that it was even suggested that Derrick and the girl from the video could be developmentally the same was a leap.
That aside, even if Derrick was cognitively capable of giving consent, because he is non verbal and physically unable to motion or impede Anna during sex, he cannot give consistent consent throughout the sexual encounter. And even if he could, because she was in a position of authority, and as a philosophy professor whose core studies revolve around the ethics of disability and consent, its ironic that she had absolutely no qualms with the ethical dilemma of entering a relationship with a disabled student that she had direct authority over. At best, this relationship is unethical and wades into non-consensual interactions, at worst she raped a disabled person who could not consent to anything that happened to him while she was in a position of power.
Where it becomes really dark is the fact that the FC interactions were basically just conversations she had with herself. She fulfilled a saviour complex fantasy. He was basically just an instrument she used for auto-erotica.
This is so scary. I have a son with disabilities and I want him to be happy, but the fact that there are people around who would put him in danger mentally or physically caused by their delusions or pure malice scares me so much. I can't deny him the world, but the world just isn't safe for defenceless people. 😢
Yes. It is this thought that burdens my mental health.
Apparently his mother has considered medication to limit DJ’s sex drive. A lot of parents of disabled girls consider the same thing to prevent SA and pregnancy. It’s disgusting that disabled people have to be hurt even more just to keep them safe from the pigs who would exploit them. Actually makes me feel violent.
It would be terrifying. I had to put my son in daycare at two and I was very nervous. I can only imagine how a parent with a disabled child must feel-the fear never leaves.
@@MetsterAnn you’ve got that feeling exactly right.
The only difference is that the world knows kids are vulnerable and harmless. Disabled adults are forgotten and in the case of my son with the mind of a child and who at a glance appears well and normal is constantly suspect. Hes been attacked by a parent when he politely asked a child for a turn on the swing set. (Like he was taught to do as a kid) Or at the gym when a guy thought my son “was looking at him like a “slur for gay man” and got in his face like he wanted to fight.
Hes bewildered and can’t de-escalate the situations. Hes naive and can be talked into doing things that aren’t good for him. Like giving away money. He’s a target or an opponent in the eyes of the world. There is no one but me and his dad and we won’t live forever.
@@LasPhoenix777 that is horrifying. I hope you can find a safe place for him as you get older, these are the vulnerable people we should be worried about.
What about the idea that she's believing that he's a savant or something so that she can clain ownership of the "discovery" and also that she played "disabled" as a child and coped with the "disabilities" knowing that she could and would return to her able-bodied self at any given moment. Kind if like, "I could do *the thing* when I handicapped myself, so they can do it too". Seems like she can't tolerate him being unremarkable like most of us are.
It was all just a way for her to seek adulation: not only was she able to teach him to communicate, but she uncovered a great intellect & sexually liberated him.
Anna wants full control of Derick, she can have that in a facility & away from family. They can go on tour and be famous. It's ridiculous Derick would have a vocabulary and tastes he had never been exposed to.
Imagine if she'd gotten legal and financial guardianship! 😰
lol him listening to gospel music like "ugh i wish this was mendelssohn"
She's the same as a cult leader.
Actually for me it’s Sheronda Jones that best damns Anna. Because she is getting paid to produce this essay BUT it’s imperative that she doesn’t read the course work… so who better then the roommate of another student in the course. This way she doesn’t necessarily have to lie, she can maneuver around the truth. No, she never read the course work. But she obviously read her roommates paper when she testifies that “they wrote similar things”. What she didn’t specify is when she read the roommates paper… probably when she was helping write Derrick’s paper that she was being paid to produce.
I thought the roommate in the same class was the “smoking gun” as well 💯
I feel ridiculous for not catching that her roommate was another student in the course! ugh, even though I felt like she was the best "outside," non-expert evidence Anna was making things up.
Derrick had a completely different writing style and tone when Ms. Jones (mistakes common for anyone who hasn't already graduated college, or isn't a strong writer) was FC'ing vs when Anna's creepness was blatantly speaking for him. If anything could or should be considered 'his own words,' Sheronda's were the closest non-family could get to full sentences. They were so unlike anything produced by Anna's aid it was stomach-churning.
16:45 The part about him reading 10 pages per minute is so blatant it's funny. She just wanted to incorporate her favorite books into her fantasy world, so she could pretend to have "deep conversations about literature" with him and have him make references to her favorite authors... Oh, I know, let's make him a speed-reading savant!
Yes. Privileged white professor starts a profoundly disabled black man off on Maya Angelou as his first exposure to literature. This poor man couldn’t even understand “See Spot Run.” But she begins with Angelou, naturally. Cue eye roll.
My first behavioral health job was in a no-touch facility where we had pretty strict rules about touching clients. When I go into other clinical settings, I am astonished when psychiatric or psychotherapy professionals touch their clients as if there were no boundary violations in this. No, even years later, I limit physical touch to a handshake. You should not be pressing your torso up against someone while holding their hand. This is mind-blowing.
This reminds me of a Ouija board phenomenon that is so obvious to me but some people believe in it 100%, when I seen a picture of Anna's husband it is clear to me she is attracted to African American Men. Later in the video someone also compared FC to an Ouija board. This is very Disturbing to me
@@em83998In Oujia boards, it is commonly believed that they "work" by people unconsciously putting pressure on the pointer-thing to make it go in the direction they want. Or they intentionally do that.
@@rosesweetcharlotte thank you, I couldn't have explained it better Carly :)
I also find it interesting her ex husband was a classical music composer….thinking back to her changing the station to classical music in the car and imposing it as a preference of Derrick…she was literally grooming him to the man she wanted
@@britt383348 very good point indeed
@@britt383348 just one that could never tell her no, or I want to leave, or ask for help from anyone outside of her.. without going through her. Just terrifying and disgusting behavior.
Nobody makes videos like Dr Andrew honestly. The best of the best, truly
So true..my mind challenge fix. Don’t get to talk to very many super smart people anymore.
He needs to go off on tangents more😆 They're so interesting
His analysis is masterful
Very true, he is so insightful. You can see the "fanatisicm" in her eyes, those glowing eyes when talking, like she sees something fantastical before her eyes.
Best of the best of the best, sir!
I think it’s important to note that most cases of cerebral palsy don’t include intellectual disability. His case is different with additional disabilities but many abled people do not realize cerebral palsy doesn’t impact the intellect directly in most cases.
My mother was a SpEd Teacher starting around 1975. She couldn't finish the doc. She spoke about the inappropriateness of every step of this Annas behavior. I really struggled with watching this.
I was upset to hear a recounting of Derrick’s abuser talking about her sexual assault of him. He could not consent at the time the assault took place, so why he can consent to a major streaming service recounting his abuser’s version of events? I think if Anna had been Andrew and Derrick had been Denise, there would be an uproar over him having a platform to re-victimize his victim.
Also, I hope that Anna’s children got whatever help they need/needed to come to terms with their mother’s predatory and criminal behavior. I cannot imagine the hurt that would come with learning that their mother was raping a mentally and physically disabled man.
this part felt so disgusting watching it. I found myself trying to scrub through any part she was talking during, it's OBVIOUS she's a remorseless rapist. Still, to this day, talking like she thinks she'll never face accountability or consequences.
The daughter was testifying on her mother's behalf. 🤷🏽♀️. I couldn't believe it. The grandmother needs to be investigated too.
I see your point about the re-victimization but on the flip side, I think it's important to create Documentaries like this, especially if it's a female abuser. Because female abusers are more rare, I think they get overlooked. The whole conversation around FC was something I didn't even know about. If I had a differently abled child, we would have been as vulnerable to an attack from a similar predator due to a lack of knowledge. And I think showing her POV really put on blast the logic of these kinds of predators and how convincing they can be. I don't know if I can get fully on board with not covering instances of ablelist abuse because the victims can't consent to it.
@@Dee_Dee216I really agree with you. Someone has to speak up for him, and frankly his brother and mother first did that, and this documentary works to amplify their voices. I think it’s important people know this story, because of how much it opens up opportunities for very important discussions and social changes.
@royceroyce7715 She’s not ever going to suffer any consequences and she knows it.
I take your point about Anna wanting to break up a happy family, as ghastly as that is. I am also amazed by this woman's vanity. Interesting listening, thank you.
Waiting for someone to comment on her vanity. In the documentary she said that Derrick said to her things like
“I long to hold you the way that men do”
“She resisted valiantly”
“May I touch your b*****?”
Even the most romantic and lame of men do not say shit like this I’m sorry. Just blowing steam up her own behind.
Ah, the thinking man’s crime channel, glad to see you upload!
Me too, thank god for him. His videos are like a nice balm for my brain.
Oh nice name for the channel!
I occasionally work with a client (I’m direct support) who has cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability and first of all, Anna enrages me, but that aside I noticed something really fascinating about his regular team of caretakers, my coworkers.
I notice that everyone has a different version of this client in their heads, and it sort of dictates how they interact with him. They almost project certain aspects of themselves onto him, like a mirror or a blank canvas. Every one of his team are good people, and would never do something like this, but I feel like I should mention my observation because it seems to be a common occurrence. You can take any behavior of his, a laugh, a noise, a movement, and it seems our brain likes to fill in the gaps so to speak. You try to interpret something he does as one thing or another, and in doing so it’s easy to build a personality for him in your head that reflects your own thoughts and feelings. In someone who is highly disturbed and predatory, like Anna, the dynamic has the potential to become absolutely disastrous.
Great observations and thank you for sharing. Ppl probably don’t realize how prevalent that is and like you said most ppl don’t mean any harm they just interpret things differently.
@@Queenofdacastle yeah, exactly. I think it’s natural, just a part of the human experience. I mean we do it with babies too. I think it’s really important to put up safeguards though, because sometimes really twisted people can fall through the cracks. There is a certain caretaker code of ethics where we have to hold each other accountable and always speak up to our supervisors, the case workers, if something we notice seems off. In the case of Anna, I think she is someone who holds a lot of power and prestige and she was able to take advantage of that since there were no peers around to challenge her. It seems that everyone who could have said something was an underling of hers. That doesn’t really excuse the silence, or maybe people did speak out and were met with consequences. In any case the family themselves had to challenge her behavior and that can be quite a scary thing to do especially if they relied on her for so many things. She just took advantage of all of it. Makes me sick.
Very interesting. I don't know if this is related, but I've noticed that my sister (with whom I have a troubled emotional history) treats me very differently to other people. e.g. when I had to leave a family meal early to catch a train, she declared for all to hear that I was "ruining" the occasion, yet when my brother has done similar things, she has been accommodating.
Completely agree with you, she had the capacity to test whether or not Derrick was communicating on his own and did nothing to prove or disprove this because she was so invested in the fantasy and delusion that her mind created of this perfect pupil and next the perfect man. Even Derrick's brother devised this simple test to prove whether or not he was communicating by asking him intinmate questions that Anna did not know the answer to to prove to himself whether or not Anna or Derrick was the one communicating. I also really liked your mythology comparisons.
Gosh, imagine if Anna's mother was a wildlife naturalist instead, all of the squirrels in the neighborhood would have Anna's lipstick on their collars.
😂😂😂😂
Damn 😂
That is such a cute joke 😂
DAMN
I personally love the casual and open style of your speculative narrations.
One hour and twenty five minutes of intellectual bliss. Thank you.
Haha yes well said!
Exactly! Bliss!
First time I saw this channel, and I felt like I attended a class in a higher learning institution. Thsnk you for the quality of this content!
as someone "spiritual" , i really appreciate the care you took in discussing who is drawn to these kind of beliefs and why, it means a lot to hear from someone empathetic, who is at the same time (i assume) not a believer. and i also genuinely felt touched when you allowed for the possibility of a real paranormal entity moving the planchette lol, it's nice to not have your deeply held beliefs (of an afterlife, not of ouija boards lol) shat all over because science is the end all and be all.
The points you made about her relationship with her mother is so telling. The attention seeking, the vengefulness towards Derrick’s mother.
17:58 Omg! I was thinking the same thing about the way she said D-Man! It was very weird
Why didn't she just pronounce it the way the family said it to her?
@cindys9491 that would be to accept the family as an "authority" or experts about her "toy".
It’s the boujie pronunciation. She’s upscale.
I find the Stubblefields' assumption that without what human society has deemed 'spoken language,' one would certainly live a miserable life, consisting of feeling hopelessly 'trapped.' There is no irrefutable or absolute truth in the notion that people like Derrick need to be 'saved' by intellectuals.
Your tangents were genuinely perfect for my AuDHD. Informed, passionate, good relationship to the subject. They gave my brain an appropriate and useful break from the emotionally difficult subject matter.
I suspect I have the same condition. I loved the moment when he invited Freud to analyse why he calls his dad "D-man".
This is the most interesting and educational TH-cam I've ever found.
I wish he had more viewership/engagement so he’d have a better financial incentive to post more!
Agreed, just discovered this channel after deep diving after seeing the documentary, now I’m subscribed and gonna watch all his other videos.
You deserve millions of followers. 😊 Your commentary is just fascinating.
I think Anna might have been envious of the sense of purpose in life looking after Derek was giving the family, and she wanted it to become her purpose.
This case reminds me of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys who had some mental health issues after a very tough childhood and then doing loads of LSD in the '60s. His psychologist, Eugene Landy, basically took over Brian's life and ended up writing a whole album of songs with Brian, many about how wonderful his life now was. Brian also wrote an 'autobiography' including lots about how great Dr Landy was. The problem seems to be that Brian Wilson always lived in fear of his overbearing father, and has basically recreated that relationship over and over again (e.g. with Mike Love in the Beach Boys). He's a walking opportunity for a 'Pygmalion' project.
Omg. That's awful. :(
@@katelynbrown98 Landy was (is? not sure what he's doing now or if he's dead) a seriously unethical professional. What he did to Brian Wilson is profoundly disturbing.
I am skeptical of her motives. It bothers me that she is The One who can break through this perceived barrier and then she thinks of herself as special. Like people who pray and say their prayers were answered because they are Worthy of having their wishes fulfilled by a higher power. The flip side being I prayed but didn’t get my prayers answered with a yes so I must be less than. As a parent of a disabled adult I am insulted. What kind of Ethics professor throws away marriage vows like that. I do not give her any credit. Pygmalion indeed.
Pertinent to this is the case of 11-year-old Jonathan Bryan, "and his remarkable ability to write poetry, keep a regular blog, and communicate with his parents, in spite of his severe and debilitating cerebral palsy." (The Guardian, 2018). *
Jonathan was the subject of a BBC documentary "My Life: Locked In Boy".
I found this to be a moving and affecting film, but shared the doubts that were raised in the Guardian artcile, particularly around the mediation of his communication by his mother using Facilitated Communication.
* 'Why communication from a ‘locked-in’ child is a miracle we must question.'
- Christopher French and Michael Marshall, Feb 2018
Thank you, I watched lockedin boy years ago. And actually Jonathan went to to the same secondary school as me, although not at the same time as I’m much older. I am absolutely convinced it is FC in that case, if you watch carefully the mum is always moving his head. Additionally his eyes never really move. I have no idea if the mum knows she is doing or not, but you are the first person I have found who is actually talking about this.
@@GrapheneTransistors What tipped me over the edge from charitable questioning to outright scepticism was Jonathan's florid devotion to his Christian faith - a faith shared by his even more devoted parents, particularly his father, the Revd Christopher Bryan.
Added to this mix is the idea of a 'Miracle Birth, Miracle child'...
From an article by Madeleine Davies in The Chruch Times, 2018:
"He was born by emergency caesarean in 2006, after Mrs Bryan and her husband, the Revd Christopher Bryan, had a car accident. She was 36 weeks pregnant, and, although they walked away, seemingly unharmed, the placenta had become detached. An early MRI scan of Jonathan’s brain was described by the technician as the worst he had ever seen. The Bryans were warned that he might never walk or talk, or even recognise them. "
@@sprink88 yes I agree about the faith, even those from faithful families aren’t that faithful at secondary school age. I also just can’t get over the sudden ability to spell it makes no sense. I have watched a few videos with him and his eyes aren’t evening moving it’s literally his mum moving his head if you watch. Idk if she knows she is doing it or not. But he is about to start university in September and it’s probably not even him doing it. The fact that he is going around talking about how disabled children should be educated when it’s most likely his mum doing it, well it just feels so wrong.
Another thing that confused me was the whole “eye tracking isn’t good enough to track Johnathan’s eye” I work in an industry that develops technology that uses the same principles as eye tracking software. I am telling you right now, there is no way a human can track eye movements that a computer can’t. He isn’t moving his eyes that’s the issue.
I learned about the idiomotor effect from a children’s beginner magic book. It’s a neat magic trick that’s easy to set up, all you need is something heavy on a string. Usually for a show it’s something mystical like a crystal on fishing line or an antique pocket watch or an ornate key to “unlock the truth,” but it really can be anything (an old wives tale uses a nail on a hair from a mare’s tail to predict a foal’s gender.) Then you draw a + with ‘yes’ going horizontal and ‘no’ going vertical and maybe/uncertain going in a circle (or some variation, it doesn’t really matter and you can even change it to whatever answers you’ll be asking for.) The important part is to get the person who knows the answer to hold the string so the object is hanging above the center of the +. No matter how hard they try to keep their arm still their subconscious will make micro-movements that should swing the object in the direction of the answer, or at least the answer as they know it.
So the next time you can’t decide on what to eat just whip out a weight on a string and hold it over a circle of options. You might not know what you want but your subconscious probably does.
Will try this thank you
She's basically typing for him, as him. I mean how obvious could it be?? The way to test this is to use a random person as the facilitator, someone other than Stubblefield. If the word production he types and the answers are consistent with what he said when Stubblefield was holding his hand, then it means he probably was typing it himself with her help. But I don't think he was.
Loved the Pygmalion take! Spot on!!! Thought the exact same thing about the mommy issues and desiring to be given a disability to gain mothers attention. It also made me wonder if as a curious child Derick wasn’t the first non-verbal child Anna found herself expressing her feelings and maturity on growing up.
Thanks for covering this so comprehensively! I work in this field but haven't found a colleague yet who has seen this documentary, and my mind has been spinning. Oh Anna, you just don't change Mom's gospel music. She was quite persuasive at the first part of the documentary, but it changed for me at that moment. I appreciate your regard for this family and pointing out their strengths - because they have so many of them! I appreciate your literary, philosophical, and spiritualism references as well. They are especially fitting as this whole thing began in academia and she was a department chair of this super specific area of philosophy and ethics. And let's not forget D Man/ not D'man 🤦🏻♀
100% with changing the radio station, that is a red flag in any situation as a PASSENGER!!
She blew it big time right there.
It was one of her strategies to try to make them feel like she knew him better than they did.
D-Man doesn't align with her intellectual projection of him, so she calls him Dehmin.
This sounds right.
Wow, smart take. Didn’t even think about that.
That’s the French pronunciation 😂.
yeh that bouji pronunciation was ending me, the gentrification of his name/identity was wild.
@msstarshine84 his name was Derrick lol.
Its just wild, if she really thought she was helping him ok fine, delusional but somewhat acceptable. But she had to make him fall in love with her, shes so in love with putting her ideas into him and see them reflected back to her. That final line crossing of making them be in love and have a physical relationship, because of some dark need inside her to be desired or be a sort of "creator of life" like Frankenstein.
What a sick woman 😢
And possibly wanting to be his first partner as well as the first person to make him speak. Gross.
disabled adults are often treated as literal kids and the term “mental age” is thrown around a lot of diminish their autonomy but my god i really can’t imagine the justification behind this relationship. disabled people should be able to do things on their own terms and to commit such a gross violation on a patient is just robbing them of that choice. this “relationship” breaks every moral boundaries i can think of.
White Saviour Complex + Florence Nightingale Syndrome + Cluster B = Anna and her mother
Spot on plus an element of sexual fetishism
She's evil.
White?
It’s kindof hard for society not to pump out people like this, when certain people are being constantly guilt-tripped and demonized. It’s like; what did you all expect?
@@sabrinatscha2554are they though? I'm white and I don't feel guilty at all. For what? I didn't do anything (at least not out of malice-- i've said some racist shit by mistake bc I didn't know better bc of where I grew up and not knowing black ppl as a kid, but when I got better exposure I changed my view-- it wasn't bc I'm mean so I'm not mad at myself). And I'm longterm partners with someone super interested in racial justice. A secure person is not threatened by others trying to better their situation.
One of the things never discussed is the process of learning to type includes spelling tests. One would have to learn the alphabet first, then definitions, then grammar before you can even put together a sentence. Even the blind and deaf require these steps. So when we talk about cognition goes way beyond simple processing like recognizing the need to go to the bathroom or expressing hunger.
Reminds me of the way those people who put the buttons down for their pets act. Like I don’t know if they actually believe their pets are talking to them through buttons or if they’re just deluding themselves.
Rule of thumb.
If you see someone trying to sell a product like that, (Like Stubblefield) I believe it's best to presume they are lying.
If they are not trying selling it to you and are not trying convince you they aren't crazy, they are deluded.
I am always intrigued with what you speak about. I await your shows merci for all you do
He was an object, to her. Some appliance that she could project the qualities of her ideal lover (herself) onto, and speak on his behalf. She disregarded his personhood, his rights, his discomfort, his agency, professional ethics, all to fulfill her fantasies.
His family understood how he communicates because they paid attention to his behaviours, body language, facial expressions, etc. They have empathy.😢
A friend of mine has a son with a similar set of conditions. He's still pretty young but as he gets older, he's developed more and more of his own communication style. It's really interesting to see and hear about from his mom. Just watching them interact, you can tell they understand each other a lot more than anyone on the outside of that relationship. It's incredible. On the other hand, I have a relative with a far less severe set of conditions and their parents are seriously holding them back. Their parents baby the ever-loving crap out of them despite their desire and clear ability to do more.
It's not something I can easily express in words, but there's still a pretty clear difference between someone who infantilizes the disabled person in their care and someone who really does just support them/meet them where they are. I'm sure dude's mom does "baby" him sometimes because like... that's what moms do because their moms.
Are you trying to say Ana was right. Derrick is capable of taking college classes. Etc……
@@wmijjministryshow2321i think they’re trying to say that his family never thought “he couldn’t speak because he just had nothing going on in his head”. they knew him very well because they didn’t dismiss him as being an empty vessel despite his lack of speech. they never *needed* him to speak to know him, which is how they could tell it wasn’t his words being written/spoken.
part 2 lol
so while daisy was certainly nurturing and protective over him, the fact that they understood him so well goes to show that he had his own sense of identity and wasn’t being “babied” by them- at least not to the extent of being seen as “the disabled one” and treated as helpless.
@@madkat06 I understand. Thanks. 🙏
This is an incredible channel - so happy to find it. Quality science and great delivery. Should take off.
first time being recommended your channel! what an excellent video! regarding the incredible speed and progress that D.J. was "making", i am reminded of the current trend of unschooling amongst crunchy granola parents and how so many people think language, speech, reading are inherent abilities.
that's a great point. people really overestimate how much english can be learned by simple exposure. maybe there's that 1/100 kid who can learn to read from watching captions on TV, but the vast majority will at best learn a few simple words and instead just learn to get by without knowing how to read at all. similar issue at hand with the "whole language" method of teaching to read.
It never even slightly occurred to me until recently that a therapist might not be doing their job FOR their potential clients, but to achieve a sense of control over other people, that they don't have in their own lives. I was so desperate for help at a certain point that I trusted a stranger with my best interests, without any reason, other than their position. If the person you are speaking to makes you feel off for any reason, consider the relationship. I now feel the therapy profession may be a magnet for covert narcissist types getting a delicious misery thrill. My experience not good!
It definitely is. That’s why patients gotta do their research. And, ideally, go for an older clinician.
Doctors/Therapists can have so much power over our lives. And they are just humans like everyone else, not above being manipulative, wanting to be right to save face, having petty power struggles with their patients. I am sure that MOST Doctors/Therapists aren't like that but YESSSSSS it does happen. (Learned the hard way)
The craziest man I ever dated had a PhD in Psychology and was a professor. Took me a while to realize that he only enjoys his role because it makes him feel superior and like students need and respect him. I don’t think he genuinely cares for anyone but himself. He’s the purest form of a narcissist that I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
ew, same... idk why I'm like "oh it's gotta be the same guy," because there's a lot of universities that hire quacks like these, but holy math, it is WEIRD. Thanks for validating that these types of folks exist (or that I didn't make mine up, on the off chance there's literally only ONE on the entire planet).
It was a very brief dalliance. It was over when he asked if autism was even real, and if it was, how could it even possibly impact how someone communicates at all to begin with, "and what does that have to do with employment or school, anyways?"
He asked this like he had been cooking that "GOTCHA" up all week, too, and I cracked. Hollywood style broke down and started laughing until tears were streaming down my face at the table. You're a whole ass professor of psychology at a somewhat okay uni, and you don't even... think autism is real? 56 year old boy, BYE
She was not even a therapist... She was a philosophy professor
WoW. Dude, ya blew ma mind with this one!
One of the best videos Ive seen, on a topic that would never ever even crossed my mind to even ponder, mkay.
And as an hobby occultist, I really appreciate your take on Spiritualism and the link to FC. Fascinating how the brain works, eh? O_O'
Thank you from Sweden!
What I found odd about Anna’s use of FC with Derrick is that for person to have no formal education…never been taught to read and write…that Derrick was automatically able to do those things with the communication device. That part of it was not believable to me.
I think Anna wanted to be like her mom…not that she was necessarily trying to take this man away from his family, but growing up seeing her mom help people with disabilities, she wanted to be able to be like that too.
The end of the documentary made me cry. His brother commenting about how small he is, how he’s still in diapers. Ugh. Broke my heart.
Right that floored me!! I didn’t realize he was in diapers until he said that. This sick person essentially did that to a freaking toddler!! So very heartbreaking breaking and when he described how much force had to be exerted to cause the bruising 😢 just so vile of her.
I’m in complete agreement with you and as a clinical psychologist for over three decades I classify the behavior I was seeing as narcissistic psychopathy- she cast her own image onto Derrick and then fell in love with that image she perceived.
I just watched the documentary a few days ago and honestly, this case disturbed me more than a good portion of the murder cases I've watched or listened to. Thanks for your in-depth analysis of it.
She was able to have him “say” what she wanted someone to say to her. She used him as a tool to satisfy her emotional and eventually physical needs while having “power” over him and his family( so she thought until they caught on).
In my opinion she is no different than a person who groomed and s@xuwlly abused a child. And she should be treated as such
I have so many things to say about this woman but, I’m so glad you mentioned her saying DahMann 😭 the entire documentary I was thinking “no way I can take this woman serious when she doesn’t even know this man’s name” 😩
It’s the boujie pronunciation. Remember, she’s upscale.
Its crazy to think he can write college level essays, ask to be independent, wants wine over beer, but still used a diaper. I would think he would want use an actual toilet before anything else.
So when the brother mentioned the markings on Derek's back while changing his DIAPER, I cried. What a sick human being
He wears diapers because of his CP, not because of his intelectual disability
Anna was a puppeteer and DMan was Anna's dummy just like she was her mother's dummy.
Ha..good one. A literal ventriloquist.