Misty's Learning Disabilities

Unless someone in her family or Tim Miller ponies up $250 per hour no psychologist would do it. Unless she is on medicaid. Medicaid is usually pretty good about paying for psychologicals.

I wonder if there is a place there that does it at no cost. Here in Texas, The Scottish Rite Hospital does it for free if you dont want the school district to do it or youre not in school anymore. Im sure she could be tested if the powers that be really tried.
 
i think they should give misty a panel of tests to see if she has a disability and what it might be.
if she does have a disability, it may be what is the cause of her "different stories" or how she gets her words out.
if they find out she does have a disability, they can work around it to question her again.
 
I'm not disagreeing that MC could do with some testing if that is what is needed, however what is the legality, for lack of a better word, in compeling someone to be tested once they are emancipated, or considered an adult in a court of law?

If she does not consent to testing, which we are assuming that she didn't have testing while in school before ~ we don't know if she did or didn't ~ how would one go about compeling someone to be tested for a LD or intellectual disability?

I'm not sure it can be done?

Also, are we discussing LE approaching the court to compel her to be tested because of her varying stories? I'm not sure that would be legal.

I'm not arguing whether or not she needs testing I'm saying I'm not sure that anyone can compel an adult to take tests to identify LD's or intellectual disabilities? KWIM?
 
I would love to give her a psych eval!

Tell me more about your statement, not sure what you meant.

Ive been posting specifically on LDs such as Dyslexia & the testing on her for related disorders.

When it comes to psych evaluations & such, imo, thats a whole new topic that I dont know much about.

Her handwriting doesnt look anywhere near 6th grade to me. All of my kids have moderate-severe dyslexia/dysgraphia with IQs over 100. Most dyslexics have IQ at the least average but usually well above average.

Heres an interesting explanation on IQs.

http://www.psychologicaltesting.com/iqtest.htm
 
Keep in mind Misty has learned how to deal with the law her whole life.

Her family is in constant trouble. From an early age she knew how to "hide" things is my guess.

You give a small child years of experience of this nature and you create a streetwise kid at a very early age.

If Misty had grown up in a normal middle class family with no legal problems she would not be able to be "sly" because she would never learn how to act sly. Hypothetically of course.

Tim Miller's idea was right (don't agree with what he did though). Misty needs someone to comfort and nuture her. Make her feel like she is worth something and not worthless.

IMO, if Misty knew someone would protect her, love her, and help her, she would fall over herself trying to please them.


I've been overcome with the urge to defend and protect her right from the start. My "mom" instincts kick into super high gear every time I see and listen to her speak, all I want to do is nurture her.
 
i think they should give misty a panel of tests to see if she has a disability and what it might be.
if she does have a disability, it may be what is the cause of her "different stories" or how she gets her words out.
if they find out she does have a disability, they can work around it to question her again.


Kinda makes me wonder why her attorney didnt suggest it.
 
Wanting to mother her is one thing; expecting a change from her, another. Misty is quite comfortable taking what people have to offer and moving on. Her divorce isn't even phasing her! It's no big deal to her, a shrug of her shoulders and off she goes. Falling in to the "she needs nurturing" trap will only make someone her next target. IMO.
 
Kinda makes me wonder why her attorney didnt suggest it.

If at the end of the day MC is shown to have had something to do with Haleigh and is charged in some manner with her disappearance I would be shocked that testing would not commence immediately.

She may have a viable defense if she is ever arrested and charged.

I don't know the statutes in FL though. In TX you have to test at 50 or below IIRC and that is in DP cases. I just don't know.
 
Kat - that's true. Testing usually takes between 2 to 6 hours depending on the individual.

However, looking at her writing (grammar, spelling, etc) I think it is safe to give an ESTIMATED IQ. Her verbal skills are also telling.

I'd also like to add drug use and alcohol use at her age will damage her brain. Every person's brain does not fully develop until their early 20's. Her brain is still growing and with the added levels of drugs her brain is not developing at the rate it should.

I think she has also suffered some brain damage in utero, my guess ......some fetal alcohol effects.
 
Misty is not learning disabled. She quit school. She's uneducated in classic terms; she is not stupid. She functions just fine in the world she lives in.
 
I'm not disagreeing that MC could do with some testing if that is what is needed, however what is the legality, for lack of a better word, in compeling someone to be tested once they are emancipated, or considered an adult in a court of law?

If she does not consent to testing, which we are assuming that she didn't have testing while in school before ~ we don't know if she did or didn't ~ how would one go about compeling someone to be tested for a LD or intellectual disability?

I'm not sure it can be done?

Also, are we discussing LE approaching the court to compel her to be tested because of her varying stories? I'm not sure that would be legal.

I'm not arguing whether or not she needs testing I'm saying I'm not sure that anyone can compel an adult to take tests to identify LD's or intellectual disabilities? KWIM?

you are absolutely right. That's why I was so quiet about this subject, hoping her "attorney" would recognize it, he was in the position to make a move. He would have been an appropriate person to request from proper authorities, and Misty. But no, he goes and recuses himself. How this highly educated man could not see something was amiss I just don't know.

I've lost all hope, Misty may never be given the help she needs. To me, that is sad. I don't even want to be involved any longer. Too many people have dealt with Misty in authority to have been able to sound that bell that needed ringing. No one seems to care, when all she's guilty of so far is not meeting expectations of others, and those others have thrown her away like she's a bag of garbage.
 
What grounds would the lawyer have used to have Misty tested? For what purpose? So far, the arguments for testing Misty have been for a future defense for charges she currently is not facing.

Misty functions well in her world.
 
you are absolutely right. That's why I was so quiet about this subject, hoping her "attorney" would recognize it, he was in the position to make a move. He would have been an appropriate person to request from proper authorities, and Misty. But no, he goes and recuses himself. How this highly educated man could not see something was amiss I just don't know.

I've lost all hope, Misty may never be given the help she needs. To me, that is sad. I don't even want to be involved any longer. Too many people have dealt with Misty in authority to have been able to sound that bell that needed ringing. No one seems to care, when all she's guilty of so far is not meeting expectations of others, and those others have thrown her away like she's a bag of garbage.

How do you know that Misty's lawyer didn't see that something was amiss?
 
Tricia I've wanted to start this thread for weeks now as I began to realize that something more deeper about Misty's cognitive thinking was going on. When I listened over and over to the taped recordings of her speeches I flagged many moments that revealed Misty has disabilities, and I'm going to say again. She needs an adult mental comp evaluation done immediately for everyone's sake.

I respectfully snipped and only quoted for space.
For me it's also a difficult subject to discuss with 'strangers'. I am so with you regarding this part of your post, Kool Look.

I have only read this first page so my apologies if what I'm posting is a repeat.

When all this first started....maybe a week after Haleigh went missing, myself and a couple others here remarked/shared our opinions about Misty.
I brought up FAS and a couple people agreed with me, others didn't and that was fine, too.

When I listen to her taped recordings, her interviews (which I have, over and over again), it is so obvious there is something a little....for lack of a better word....'slow' about Misty.

I am not here to become a shield of armor for Misty...nopey nope.

But to shorten this post a lot, here's my vision of a possible past scenerio:

Misty, four, maybe 5 years old, sitting on the living room floor playing with a ragged Barbie doll.
Around her, sitting on the chairs and couches are adults, all smoking like chimneys, possibly drinking alcohol, possibly doing drugs.

If this is the type of situation Misty was born in to, that child didn't have a chance from the beginning.
I just can't see a room full of drinking, smoking, possibly drug-taking adults concerning themselves with a little girl who wasn't quite as bright as others.
Adults who had other things to do rather than sit with the child and read a bedtime story to her at night.
Adults who probably didn't care if the child knew her ABC's when she entered kindergarten.

For an average child this would be a rather large obsticle to overcome when they entered school.

For a FAS child, or child with other issues/learning disabilities, this becomes a huge obsticle.....think of the learning curve.
Once a child starts school on the wrong foot like the above possible scenerio, further behind than the other children, and if nobody steps up and does something about it, the child gets further and further behind and shortly falls through the cracks.

By first and second grade the child is being made fun of.
Little kids can be cruel....calling the slow child '*advertiser censored*' and worse.
By fourth grade the child gives up and becomes disruptive in class...sometimes out of pure frustration, sometimes because it's the only way to get attention, positive or negative,it's still attention the child is craving.

From my experience, the poorer the county/school system, the quicker they push the slow child through the school...almost like they can't get them out of their fast enough - this is JMO!

There is so much more I want to say but I don't have the grammar skills to put my thoughts into words so that I can get my ideas across properly so that they are understood.

And again, in no way am I defending any of Misty's actions since the night of HaLeigh's disappearance, but more to point out that maybe, just maybe LE/FBI/etc are dealing with a learning disabled girl and maybe a lot of what we, the public, are seeing in interviews is the result.
 
Keep in mind Misty has learned how to deal with the law her whole life.

Her family is in constant trouble. From an early age she knew how to "hide" things is my guess.

You give a small child years of experience of this nature and you create a streetwise kid at a very early age.

IMO, if Misty knew someone would protect her, love her, and help her, she would fall over herself trying to please them.


Oh Tricia,
Exactly!!!!

Children are products of their environment.

She could be one, like a child raised in my own home, that couldn't do anything past very simple addition, but could concoct a story at a moment's notice to keep from getting in trouble.
The story was so dang believable (at first)!!
I began to think back then that the Sly took over for the lack of academic intelligence.

It's been said when one sense is removed, like eyesight for example, that hearing becomes more accute.

Maybe it's the same with the learning disabled who haven't been taken under a protective/teaching wing or given the proper learning/coping skills....they become sly, sneaky as a cover.

Add to that....she was born into a family where she saw lying, stealing, possible drug taking, drinking, smoking.....they taught her well.
 
Misty is not learning disabled. She quit school. She's uneducated in classic terms; she is not stupid. She functions just fine in the world she lives in.

I have to agree with you. She is not book smart , but she is street smart. This is the effects of being brought up around drugs and alcohol. This is what happens to kids whose parents didn't care enough to teach them to go to school,and to stay off drugs. While it may be possible she could have some kind of learning disability, the truth is she was unsupervised by parents who let her be uneducated. Thats my opinion and I mean no harm.
 
you are absolutely right. That's why I was so quiet about this subject, hoping her "attorney" would recognize it, he was in the position to make a move. He would have been an appropriate person to request from proper authorities, and Misty. But no, he goes and recuses himself. How this highly educated man could not see something was amiss I just don't know.

I've lost all hope, Misty may never be given the help she needs. To me, that is sad. I don't even want to be involved any longer. Too many people have dealt with Misty in authority to have been able to sound that bell that needed ringing. No one seems to care, when all she's guilty of so far is not meeting expectations of others, and those others have thrown her away like she's a bag of garbage.

I can appreciate where you are coming from and your opinion in this matter, even though I do disagree.

I do see what other's are talking about when they discuss her communication style and her hand writing sample but I am not drawing the same conclusion. I don't see that it is really indicative with complete certainty that she is LD or intellectually challanged. But that is JMHO.

I also don't know how being LD or marginally intellectually challanged would excuse any involvement with Haleigh's disappearance if she had anything to do with it.

Right now we don't know what happened and all we do know is what LE has said and that is she hasn't been consistant and that they can't get a timeline out of her IIRC.

While I do have sympathy for those that suffer LD's and other challanges that must be overcome I do not see how they could affect culpability in a crime ~ again if she was involved in a crime ~ until an arrest was made and charges were brought forth and then at trial those might come in to play in the legal arena. Which in my opinion is the name of the game.

I have to confess that I am a bit stingy right now with any empathy for any player in this case with the exception of Haleigh. I can't look at each player and measure who is more wrong in their life choices and who is more righteous and give anyone a pass because at this point in time from what I've seen and read ~ Haleigh was not put first and foremost by every adult in her life, not just that night. But that is my opinion and it can always change.

But even though we don't agree, I do see your point. And you are just as entitled to yours as I am to mine until the facts come to light to show us what really happened that night and more importantly to bring Haleigh home. JMHO.
 
Oh - and to add - there has to be greater than a 10 point difference between IQ and Achievement scores.

And, ADHD has to be ruled out as well.



Just getting caught back up here, my sons had to pass a hearing and eye test before they could be tested too
 
Personally, I don't think she has FAS as here are the characteristics:

Performance is impaired. The FAS infant is irritable. The older FAS child is hyperactive. Fine motor skills are impaired with weak grasp, poor eye-hand coordination, and tremors.
Intelligence is diminished. The average IQ is in the 60s. (This level is considered mild mental retardation and qualifies a child in the U.S. as educable retarded.)
The head is small (microcephalic). This decrease may not even be apparent to family and friends. It is evident upon comparison of the child's head circumference to that of a normal child on a growth chart. The usual degree of microcephaly in FAS is classified as mild to moderate. It is primarily due to failure of brain growth. The consequences are neither mild nor moderate.
The face is characteristic with short eye openings (palpebral fissures), sunken nasal bridge, short nose, flattening of the cheekbones and midface, smoothing and elongation of the ridged area (the philtrum) between the nose and lips, and smooth, thin upper lip.
The skeleton shows characteristic changes; abnormal position and function of joints, shortening of the metacarpal bones leading to the fourth and fifth fingers, and shortening of the last bone (the distal phalanx) in the fingers. There is also a small fifth fingernail and a single transverse (simian) crease across the palm.
A heart murmur is often heard and then may go away. The basis is usually a hole between the right and left sides of the heart between the ventricles (the lower chambers) or less commonly, the atria (the upper chambers).
A number of other birth defects can occur in children with FAS. These include such major birth deformities such as hydrocephalus (increased fluid pressure on the brain that may require shunting to relieve the pressure), cleft lip (sometimes with a cleft palate), coarctation (narrowing) of the aorta, and meningomyelocele (spina bifida).
 

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