Girl Does Not Age

If she is physically and cognitively like a baby at age 16, her mother must be exhausted. Can you imagine caring for an infant for 16 years?
 
If she is physically and cognitively like a baby at age 16, her mother must be exhausted. Can you imagine caring for an infant for 16 years?

Good view, I didn't think of that, per se.

No, no, no, no, no, infant time was fun but so is not having to do everything for my son anymore...

Never getting to hear I love you or seeing first steps or first words is sad. Not experiencing the changes they go through and how they mature would crush me. Not to mention, three other children in the house when you eternally have an infant to care fo...
 
i've heard some mothers say they wish their kids would stay babies forever. after reading this they better think before wishing that.
 
I enjoy having a baby in the house (her sisters are 13 and almost 18, so it's been awhile since having a baby in the house). However, as TrishyPA said, it would be sad to miss all those firsts.

There is a sense of pride that comes with watching your baby grow into an ever-increasingly independent toddler, then go off to preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, then graduate from high school. Watching the young person who used to depend on you for everything become their own person. Going off on their own to live their own lives. What will happen when this girl's parents become elderly, yet she is still an infant?

It's all so odd. I hope I can see the 20/20 program. I always forget about those things!
 
I often express dismay at how fast my toddler is growing... I'll knock some wood afterwards from now on.


EDIT: I also feel for the sisters in the house - having a baby brother or sister is tough, so having one for that long must be a little rough. However, they seem like such a well adjusted family! Brooke is very lucky, and I am glad that they all seem happy with the situation. Likely not what they would have wished for, but they are clearly making the most of it.

However, as in all cases of development issues, I do worry about Brooke as her parents age. It will be sad for her to go through separation over and over again as her family passes away. I am glad her folks seem so young.
 
A video about Brooke:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBbG2tSDfOo"]YouTube - Brooke Greenberg - An eternal baby?? - 2005[/ame]
 
Wow, pearseha, thank you for the video. I had no idea she had so many health problems. Yet she keeps miraculously "bouncing back." She is a very special child.
 
It is evident that she is a small bundle of joy and pride for her family. Their positive attitude in finding the silver lining in their plight is admirable. Her legacy may not be fathomable at this time but her genetics may hold the key to solving a number of medical mysteries.
 
This is likely the most bizarre article I've ever read.

I wonder how old this girl will live to be (not to sound morbid, but it is curious) and if she will ever start growing. It wouldn't be so bad once she made it to 40 and only looked 24!
 
It is a bizarre story. Doctors can't find out what went wrong or why there were sudden illnesses. The girl is being sent to school and teacher thinks she could know more about her surrounding than they realize. The poor kid can't even eat and has to have her feedings through a tube in the stomach since her esophagus is too narrow. Some of the comments on the article site were interesting. One person says that this is very similar to a bone protein abnormality in some who are also prone to strokes and aneurysms. Hopefully they'll find out what happened, but I doubt if it will help others in understanding the aging process any better or lead to some fountain of youth discovery.
 
How sad that she has to endure so many health problems. This is really bizzarre. I can't wait to see the 20/20 on her tomorrow night.
 
It is a bizarre story. Doctors can't find out what went wrong or why there were sudden illnesses. The girl is being sent to school and teacher thinks she could know more about her surrounding than they realize. The poor kid can't even eat and has to have her feedings through a tube in the stomach since her esophagus is too narrow. Some of the comments on the article site were interesting. One person says that this is very similar to a bone protein abnormality in some who are also prone to strokes and aneurysms. Hopefully they'll find out what happened, but I doubt if it will help others in understanding the aging process any better or lead to some fountain of youth discovery.


Wouldn't it be awful to find out that she was more developed mentally but had no way to express herself? An adult being stuck in a baby's body with the motor skills of an infant.

It reminds of a story I watched about a woman who was severely Autistic and could not speak. Everyone basically assumed she was not cognizant of her surroundings and didn't have anything to say until she got a hold of a computer. She stunned everyone with her articulate, intelligent and thoughtful words. All those years she had so much to say and no way to say it. Now she cruises around with a computer that voices her thoughts when she types them out (kinda like Stephen Hawking), goes to college, etc.
 
Before I read the article, my first thought was, Where can I get this disease?

This is a truly bizarre story. Seems like she would be very prone to bed sores, and yet no mention is made of this.
 
Wouldn't it be awful to find out that she was more developed mentally but had no way to express herself? An adult being stuck in a baby's body with the motor skills of an infant.

It reminds of a story I watched about a woman who was severely Autistic and could not speak. Everyone basically assumed she was not cognizant of her surroundings and didn't have anything to say until she got a hold of a computer. She stunned everyone with her articulate, intelligent and thoughtful words. All those years she had so much to say and no way to say it. Now she cruises around with a computer that voices her thoughts when she types them out (kinda like Stephen Hawking), goes to college, etc.

Hi Gaia!!

I am a speech pathologist. In the article it is mentioned that Brooke attended a special education class. I am certain that part of her individualized treatment/educational plan involved speech therapy. Employment of a communication board would have been investigated or examined.

http://www.bridgeschool.org/transition/multimodal/com_boards.php
 
If she is physically and cognitively like a baby at age 16, her mother must be exhausted. Can you imagine caring for an infant for 16 years?
It's hard. My son is 10 and the size of a small 5 or 6 year old he is blind in both eyes has CP and autisim. Emoctionally he is a Toddler and he gets tired easy and we carry him often when we are out and about. People thinking we are carrying a small child when in a couple years he will be a teenager. When he eats we have to feed him ( unless finger food) and he can only drink if drinking from a straw.Although our story is no where near the same as this families I can kinda understand how they feel EXCEPT my son can now walk , talk and answer questions and he loves to sing! He can't answer what happened when he gets hurt however he can hear a song ONE time and sing it all the way and remember it for years to come.

My prayers go out to this family . She is beautiful and I am postive she is their pride and joy.
 
he loves to sing! He can't answer what happened when he gets hurt however he can hear a song ONE time and sing it all the way and remember it for years to come.

Awww! :)

Did you see the little girl sing the national anthem for the NBA Championship? She is autistic and apparently didn't start talking until about a year ago (I think she's 7?).

Apparently Music Therapy helped her. Have you looked into that for your son? Sounds like that's something he might really enjoy!
 
Just a reminder: 20/20 has this story tonight. The Michael Jackson special 20/20 edition is on before it, so it doesn't seem to be preempted.

We don't have TV, so I hope it'll be online somewhere in a few days. :)
 
I just saw the special. What a sweetheart she is. She is blessed to have such wonderful sisters that take care of her so well. You can tell she is so loved. What a beautiful family.
 

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