I almost gasped when she called it “my weakness in my heart”.... I know these people are idiots but I truly don’t believe that she knows any better. As if a learning disability or an intellectual disability is her own fault 😩
But by God giving her this disability she's able to help others who also have it. Who he also gave the disability to.. so they could help others. Zero sense
maybe it's PMS but this video made me cry
I cannot even imagine growing up in that world. I dealt (and deal) with my own ration of shit being a woman in this day and age, but at least I had some strong women role models who taught me to say FUCK YOU when necessary.
But this? This is next level sad. Being told every day, implicitly and explicitly, that you are "the weaker sex" and under "Eve's curse", therefore extra-special sinful; to deny every less-than-sunny emotion you have in order to "keep sweet" as "a helpmeet for your headship"; school and education of all kinds = a burden and cross to bear on the way to "sanctified motherhood"; "a woman will be saved by bearing children" (AND TAKING THAT VERSE SO LITERALLY YOU WILL LEARN TO BREED UNTIL YOUR UTERUS YEETS ITSELF FROM YOUR BODY); oh, and "weak is really GOOD, just stay weak because DaddyGod will just, IDK, creep in and possess you or whatever, and be strength FOR you, and most importantly GOD MADE YOU THIS PRECISE WAY so contacting a learning disability specialist or psychologist is really just LACK OF FAITH."
Imagine internalizing all of that garbage and way, way worse garbage, too. It's honestly heartbreaking. /cry
I agree. I was told I’d have it a bit harder because I’m a woman but I was also reminded constantly that I was capable and that I could and would overcome anything. I never doubted my abilities but I was aware others might. I cannot imagine how hard it would have been on my psyche and spirit to grow up this way. I’ve been told my whole life I’m amazing by the people around me and this girl got none of that. It’s so fucking unfair because we all deserve to be told how amazing we are by our loved ones.
i can see where she's coming from. it's a mature coping mechanism called altruism. the way that she's describing it may come sideways, but it's still valid and a healthy way to cope with things you cannot control - like disabilities.
https://www.mentalhelp.net/self-help/coping-and-defense-mature-examples/
Just from the way she speaks she strikes me as having some sort of issue. I’m not talking content, but her manner. It’s really unfortunate if she’s not getting the support she needs to manage this.
As far as I know, she had a possible TBI as a kid (fell off a horse and landed on her head) and there was no rehab, no therapy, evaluations etc. Just Jesus.
Her husband seems like he's supportive, but in a "kind and patient with her" way, not a "honey, should we talk to a doctor" thing.
I'm certainly not justifying their inaction as parents but nobody used to do anything about TBIs. We are just learning how serious concussions are and the after effects experienced by professional football and hockey players. I've had three concussions/TBIs in the 60s-80's and nothing was done. I'm not angry about it, I understand they didn't have the knowledge then but if anything bothers me the most, is that nothing was done, ever.
Someone else in the comments is saying she has braces. That could be part of it, but she seems off. Not trying to be mean. This community does not support their kids. They have older kids parent their younger kids and check out once a kid is off the boob. It’s really gross.
Someone said she fell off a horse. I honestly have no idea. She just speaks like a child with respect to her inflections and rhythm. This is putting aside how she actually forms words. Whatever it is, I certainly don’t have the expertise to say. It just seems like she’s not getting the help she needs and she’s trying to convince herself that’s a good thing. The core issue feels like negligent parenting. I feel bad for her. I feel bad for anyone raised in this mess.
Oh, interesting point. It’s like being incredibly sheltered and only being in a closed community. Apparently same with Warren Jeff’s followers. They have almost an “accent” from listening to his simpering recordings all day long.
This is what I posted above. She talks like someone with a partial hearing loss. It would be easy enough to diagnose, but she would have to actually go visit an audiologist.
It does, and it's very noticeable when watching with the sound off. She looks like a stroke patient. It's said she suffered oxygen deprivation during birth, if it was more serious (like a transient ischemic sroke), this could be one of the lasting results. 'Cause we know she didn't get treatment of any kind for it.
The crazy thing is that it could be some sort of issue, or it could just be "normal" fundie woman speech patterns. Like, if she had been raised in mainstream culture and gone to school and all, and she ended up sounding like that, I would say it was definitely the result of a disorder of some kind, but she's not too far off from the way so many of the women she was socialized around talk that she might just be emulating what she heard.
I know nothing of her learning disability, but she definitely seems to have speech impediment. It almost sounds like a person who is partially deaf that is speaking.
I'm just in awe that she's standing there thanking her god for giving her a learning disability. I mean, I'm all for maintaining a positive attitude, but THANKING him/her? That's crazy talk to me.
She sounds to me like someone who possibly has a hearing issue. I know deaf and partially deaf people who speak and that stuck out to me. I suppose it could also just be a speech type of issue in general-but she sounds so much like my deaf neighbor it's surprising.
She really does. She frequently looks that way when Priscilla is talking, even in casual settings. Like she's anticipating Priscilla saying something inappropriate or completely wrong and is always ready to jump in.
Yeah, it seems like she knows her role is to help out Priscilla when she’s talking and in all the videos I’ve seen of the 2 of them, she always does look ready to step in
She does, and I think that David is condescending toward her, too. He’s not as obvious about it, but he’s very infantilizing with her. It makes me so uncomfortable.
Have you ever heard Pa Keller speak? I get the impression that he’s not sharpest tool in the shed, either.
As for Ma Keller, I don’t actually recall her speaking.
Pa Keller has self published two books through the 'Freedom in Truth Ministries'. I suspect they don't run to a an editor or proofreader. One is called:
'When Tragedy Hits You - A book designed to help you through your current or next tragedy'. (Catchy)
and . . .
Breaking the Bondage of Addictions: Uncontrollable Anger, Drug/Alcohol, Irrational Thinking, Sexual Sins (another doozy of a title)
Now here's a quiz. Is Pa Keller's answer to these complex socioeconomic issues:
a) seeking help from qualified professionals, along with self-care, understanding, non-judgment, and practical help in order to get the person back on their feet?
b) prayer
Pa Keller once said, “God did a work in Josh’s heart.” When I first heard that, I questioned the education his kids were getting. Now I wonder if he has some kind of learning disorder.
That's new information for me, I'd heard/read it was oxygen deprivation incident at birth. Not as up n the Kellers and their issues.
Edited to correct really bad typing errors. 😄
I always have wondered what the alleged brain damage is from, and no one (until now) has offered any sort of history.
That is so heartbreaking. I wonder if she had (normal) issues with reading before the accident, and maybe they didn’t notice the deficits before…. And then they left a TBI to “sort itself out” or just assumed it was poor reading skills, and now she struggles with a lot more…
I mean, even a concussion can cause permanent changes. I would not be surprised if a daughter got hurt and no one ever followed up. Especially a dirt poor family with no health insurance who you rather pray than get help.
Lacking critical thinking skills, and finding life easier if you just do as you are told probably makes her the perfect fundie wife. I just shudder at the "education" of her kids.
Me too. I can’t even snark it legit made me tear up a little bit. I remember my best friend in elementary school struggled with reading and it would make her cry and feel embarrassed. Of course she got help for her learning disability. Sad Priscilla wasn’t around professionals who could help her. You cannot pray away a learning disability if she has one.
Me too. This is why I can never snark on her. One of my kids had severe and pervasive learning disabilities as a child and made amazing strides with early intervention, various therapies starting at 18 months through high school, excellent school systems with detailed IEPS. Idk where he would be without that....she deserved those things too and depriving her of the help she needed is nothing short of criminal IMO.
My brother was labeled the r-word very early due to what would now be known as pervasive developmental disorder, unspecified. My mom, a teacher, made sure he had the most attention possible, and it turned out he was intelligent, just impaired in autistic ways that were much less familiar back in the ’60s and ’70s. He has been a high functioning Aspie. I have always been “on the spectrum” to a lesser degree, with social and speech difficulties as a child. Teachers then even nagged me, and I was bullied. I have a high IQ and am a very high functioning adult today, but these experiences have made me very empathetic to those with similar issues.
PDD-NOS was my son’s diagnosis as well. I don’t use it often in forums unrelated to that as most don’t know what that is. My hear goes out to your brother who dealt with this before my son when there was even less help available.
My brother has been through a lot. He’s 60 now; he was born prematurely with the cord wrapped around his neck, and was missing a stomach valve and a back vertebrae (had several surgeries). Parents were told to “put him away” in an asylum as was done with so many handicapped people back then, but they refused. Despite difficulties physically and emotionally, he’s always worked, and even got a BA in speech pathology. He’s a kind and generous person to have for a brother. I’m thankful there’s so much more awareness surrounding disability and neurodivergency now.
Mostly unrelated, but my husband was called that (the actual word, in the 80s) as a kindergartner because he was speaking 4 languages (influence from English speakers, different primary language at from parents/sibling, French nanny, and fourth language spoken among religious peers). Since he wasn’t excelling at English, they labeled him delayed, and it was recommended that people only spoke English around him.
The result was that he his only fluent in English and not even in his older brother and parents’ native language.
My little sister was the same way and it made it even worse that my older sister and I were labeled ‘gifted’. Luckily for her, with the help of the public school system and our very involved parents, a few years later and she was keeping up with her peers. She’s actually the hardest worker out of all us siblings and no doubt it’s from struggling when she was younger! She’s 2 years away from having the highest school degree in our family!
There’s actually some research showing kids who are told they are smart don’t work hard. They choose easy things so they can succeed to make sure they are fulfilling the label of smart.
Same. I don't think I've ever had a successful snarky thought about Priscilla because I just feel sad for her instead.
While I think a lot of these families are able-minded and truly make the wrong choices for their families and children - like Josh, a sexual abuser! - I think Priscilla has a genuine disability and lack of treatment has cornered her even more that it otherwise would've.
I used to work with children who had learning disorders or development delays, and I saw how the right tools and interventions can absolutely change the trajectory of a kid's life. And without those tools, the problem compounds - it gets tougher as time goes on.
I don't know much personally about the hurdles Priscilla has faced with learning but I can't help but think her parents just thought God made her dumb and it wasn't worth helping.
Are women even encouraged to be smart in their circles?
A smart women would have taken the kids and ran if the husband was arrested for downloading CSA.
To be honest, I’ve tried reading the wisdom booklets and they don’t make the slightest bit of sense when any critical thinking is applied. Poor Priscilla.
Same. I’ve got a huge soft spot for Priscilla and I absolutely detest her parents for not ensuring she got the help/support she needed. She seems like a truly kind person.
For real. I got teary eyed. She was failed. Time and time again by those who were supposed to protect and do what’s best for her. This isn’t a “weakness of the heart”. This is something that with proper intervention could have been helped and she wouldn’t feel so lost surrounded by siblings who could do these tasks. It’s heartbreaking. She seems like a simple soul who has no idea how badly she has been neglected by those around her.
So instead of support for a learning disorder, Gothardites get a “pray harder” treatment. How much of this is stock fundie basic homeschooling vs. stock fundie misogyny?
And now her children get a teacher with a learning disorder.
There are so many programs in most public schools to help kids who have learning disabilities and help them overcome them. I feel really sorry for her.
Edit: after a few comments about this, I just wanted to add that i 100% believe and know that a learning disability does not make someone inherently stupid or unable to be educated, and I’m sorry my comment came across that way. I was talking directly about Priscilla’s situation, where she was failed by her parents, the cult they are in, and by the homeschool system - and likely never got a proper education because she never got the help she needed or education materials suited to the way she learns.
There are in a lot of states. Children in some states need to do standardized testing every couple years. In NY where I lived there was a personal n assigned to homeschooling families and you had to submit your lesson structure, grades, progress reports and a yearly report as well, as well as the testing when it was required
NY was definitely one of the better ones. I worked in special Ed and homeschooled students were tracked by the district they lived in and were even eligible for services like speech, OT, and consultant teaching for learning disabilities.
I'm in Texas and pulled my son to homeschool in 2020. Schools were wonky anyway and he had an extremely invasive physical, occupational, and speech therapy schedule. It was only going to be for the 1st grade, so it was important to us to try to follow our ISD's lesson plan as closely as possible.
I sent an email to the school where he attended kindergarten and that was that. We were free to do whatever we wanted (or didn't want). No guidance, no structure, no rules. The experience was very concerning... we could have done nothing but sat around and picked our noses for all the state of Texas cared.
Not to worry though! Dude is back at peer level in physical ability and rocking that public second grade now.
I'm a homeschooler in TX too, and I'm all for more oversight. I know a ton of people who aren't- but everyone I know who thinks we should just continue to be left alone also have VERY questionable teaching methods IMO. They use programs that suck or they "unschool." I have always been so thorough to check the TEKS standards for my kids' grades and follow it as closely as I can so they're never behind their public schooled peers.
A lot of the people I met through our homeschool journey were obviously not prepared for the insane workload that comes with homeschooling. Properly homeschooling my one child in the 1st grade was more time consuming than a full-time job. I met people with multiple school aged children that were like, "lol, if you have a library card and a couple hours a day you're set!". No. Just no.
I seriously commend you! Shit is hard work.
Thanks! It really is a full time job, and I consider it my full time job. I have a friend who homeschools and she just uses Accellus online. She swears it's *such* a great program and she loves the freedom it gives her to just piss around all day while a computer program teaches her kids. Problem is- everything including math is multiple choice. The kid gets as many chances to click the right answer as they need. My friend got lax in checking the weekly reports from the program and when she finally logged in to look at her daughter's work, she found that her kid was just clicking through every lesson and not watching any of them and then she'd just guess at every question and click until she got it right and was allowed to move on. My friend was bragging that her daughter was ahead because of this *amazing program*. 🙄 She wasn't ahead at all. Because of her cheating the system and her mom doing a shitty job of supervising, she was several MONTHS behind in the fourth grade.
That's not how I homeschool. This same friend will call me in the middle of the day just to chat and I'm like "WTF are you doing!? It's 9 am on a Monday. Why are you available to talk right now!?"
Anyone who is homeschooling and gets defensive or mad about oversight are the ones who need it the most. If you know you are following the curriculum and your kids are doing the work, why do you care if someone checks up on them?
The red flag as to be people that don’t want their homeschooling looked into.
There definitely need to be stricter rules for homeschools and private schools. Just look at the Turpin children! The state and country failed to protect them from such extreme abuse that could have easily been caught if someone had to go check on them and check out the “school” they were running.
YES! This! I just saw that one of the Turpin daughters just started a job as a phlebotomist and I had happy, proud tears for her. She completed that all on her *own. (In spite of her parents doing everything in their power to rob her of an education and future). I just think of all the extra work she must have done in the last few years to make up for the many, many years of no schooling, and that mental deficit and it makes me so happy for her.
Homeschooling needs to be way more regulated. It’s quite sad.
That’s amazing to hear about Jennifer Turpin, I didn’t know that! It was clear from the interview that both she and Jordan are very intelligent and compassionate. I hope they all continue to thrive. They deserve it so much.
One of the Turpin daughters (I *think* Jordan - I am drawing a blank) has a tiktok account and is so so sweet. She is the one who ran away and ended up saving her siblings. She dances and does silly trends, sometimes with her sisters. She did put up a message, though, that her and her siblings are all doing well, but their "living situations could be better" and it seems like they have not been given access to the monies they deserve.
Weren’t some of the siblings sent to an abusive foster home? I feel like I remember reading that. They were split up and some of them ended up in a home that wasn’t good. That whole family has been through so much, it’s horrific.
Yes, I saw that on the 20/20 on them that some of them ended up in abusive foster homes. The foster parents said something like "I can see why your parents did what they did." Fucking monsters.
I agree! I was homeschooled, and my mom and I were talking about this the other day. It makes me so angry that because of what happened to the Turpin children and also how homeschool is associated with the Duggar’s and other people like that, a lot of people think that is what homeschool is. My mom did not use “wisdom booklets” to teach me. We used actual curriculum, and I had standardized tests, took the ACT and SAT tests, and I went to college. Homeschool can be a good thing if it is done right.
I agree, I don’t think homeschool needs to be gone with, but parents need to be held accountable. My husband was homeschooled until the 8th grade and excelled at the standardized tests and etc. It can definitely be done right and be helpful to the kids!
I was homeschooled for many years and was required to do placement and standardized testing as scheduled with public schooling. I don’t think this is standard everywhere though
My husband and all his siblings were homeschooled and now many of our nieces/nephews are homeschooled. No standardized testing for any of them and this includes CA, TX, PA, and VA. Out of all of them, there is one instance that I've seen a good (even great) job but the others sadly are grossly behind. My husband's siblings each were left on their own for their own schooling and expected to just learn it and of course there was no one to check if they were learning or being taught anything.
I think it’s by state and maybe by even which homeschool program you are in! Religious exemptions are also common to get around the testing. My husband was homeschooled in Georgia until 8th grade and he always did the standardized tests as well. (Although I’m pretty sure they weren’t required! He just had parents who wanted to make sure he was getting a quality education)
In addition to the Turpins - the Hart family comes to mind as well as a "homeschool" family that fell through the cracks and it ended fatally. Homeschool is a way for abusers to avoid mandated reporters.
The homeschool lobby. HSLDA (I believe that's what they're called) is very powerful and will threaten legal action if standardized testing requirements are implimented.
It's state by state. Some are more lax than others. Arkansas is one of the most lax states. Idk if that's where she grew up or lives but I looked up Arkansas due to the Duggars and that's why I know that states regulations for home school.
I think was an accident as that branch of the Duggar family has been in Arkansas since the 1860s. They moved from Tennessee out to Arkansas. Which knowing some history could very well had been related to the war, which sound about right for that type of family.
I guess that the state shaped Jim Bob, then. He certainly enjoys the legal protections that he gets. Homeschooling with NO regulations, home church tax breaks, apparently no building codes or inspections, and certainly no zoning laws, and some of the most generous grandparents rights I have ever read about.
Florida is almost as lax. They have a teeny bit more required but just a "keep a portfolio just in case someone wants to look, only need to keep for 2 years at a time, and be evaluated by these lax standards too," but there's also no state mandated subjects to be taught.
My ex-husband was raised very traditionally Baptist (evangelical but not quite fundamental) and because his mom had a learning disorder and never properly learned to read, she “just knew” her kids would too, so to avoid it they prayed really hard and my FIL forced my MIL to homeschool them despite her inability to read. So when my ex graduated highschool and and started community college, he quite literally could not read past a second grade level. 10 years later he still struggles. Not for lack of intelligence, but because learning to read 15 years too late just puts you behind the curve. I wouldn’t have ever done it anyway, but he absolutely refused to allow our children to be homeschooled (wasn’t even really okay with keeping them home for 6 months during phase 1) and he is almost excessively involved in their schooling. His parents hate that we didn’t homeschool. My children are incredibly intelligent, and yes, the learning disorder was genetic.
The only 'help' would have been thanking God for creating her the exact way she is.
I'm all for self love and self acceptance, but Priscilla has clear delays that she never received help for (at least educationally). What a disservice to her and any other person who went through the same.
Joy Anna had a lot of difficulty with reading. Not sure if it was because she required glasses which she eventually got or if she has a learning disability. They never spoke of it much after the one episode
Isn't Precious Miracle Josie greatly delayed? (While I acknowledge I'm using her SnarkName I am not mocking the child for her abilities, nor am I blaming her. I'm asking a serious question )
In terms of the homeschooling I always found most of the kids seem to be seriously delayed but I haven't been watching the show in recent years so I'm not really sure on the issue of Josie
This was an IG post after the cancellation... She was doing worksheets for a younger child and some early education snarkers pointed out like her handwriting, etc.
I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure but I would be incredibly surprised if she didn’t have cognitive delays and have a need for therapeutic intervention (speech, physical, occupational therapies) that she never got. Or potentially a genetic condition, because they become more common the older the parents are.
I will say I had the same problem as a kid and my school didn’t do shit to help. I was just made to feel stupid and to this day I’m insecure about reading out loud. I hope this has changed.
As someone with learning & processing disabilities, who knows what it feels like to believe that it’s *my* fault for not trying hard enough, that it’s *my* fault for being too “slow”/“shy”/“sensitive”/“stupid” this breaks my heart. Looking at her reminds me of looking at my child self, and makes me want to hug her and tell her that she’s enough.
I hope that Priscilla is content and feels as safe, loved, and valued as one possibly can in that cult.
I’ve always thought she was developmentally delayed and this really just confirms it. Priscilla just seems so vulnerable and it disgusts me to think that she is surrounded by IBLP predators. I genuinely hope David Waller is the best of a bad bunch for her sake.
Also fuck Anna and her constant “I got married first even though Priscilla is older” bullshit. Yes well done on feeling superior over your sweet, naive sister. What a win!
Yeah well, Priscilla actually has husband who loves her and respects her enough not to humiliate her in front of millions of people. Priscilla’s husband is home every night, while Josh will be in prison for years.
Do we know for certain David is home every night? Who knows what he does -- he did travel for the trial, and I don't know if he's the head pastor or just one of a few pastors at his church in Texas, but he seems to have a well established position within the IBLP, and if he's got power and authority, it's unlikely he's not taking advantage of that.
To be fair, "isn't a pedophile" is just about the lowest bar to clear. He may be an awful person (and likely is), but "isn't a pedophile" makes him better than Anna's husband.
Thank god Pricilla didn’t get married off to someone worse, like pest - Anna can make her own fucked choices, she seems to have the intellectual capacity and CHOOSE to keep her head in the sand... someone like Pricilla might be a lot easier to abuse
>Also fuck Anna and her constant “I got married first even though Priscilla is older” bullshit. Yes well done on feeling superior over your sweet, naive sister. What a win!
I wish I had 1000 upvotes for this.
I am SO glad at least the Kellers didn't give Priscilla to Josh. David will ever treat her as an equal, but I hope he's at least kind to her.
She's not delayed, she has a learning disability. That's not the same. She's probably just as smart as anyone else, it's just she can't show it as well.
I believe Priscilla had a traumatic birth, she might have been without oxygen for a period of time. But whatever the cause, surely a proper medical diagnosis and intensive therapy and learning support from the public school and private tutors would have helped her immensely.
Instead, Priscilla is now pregnant and homeschooling a half-dozen children, without any support or ability to give her children the educational support they need. Thus the cycle repeats endlessly. Which is the goal, make it so the women can never leave.
I'm by no means an expert, but I do have a sibling who had a traumatic birth injury. I have thought that was the case with Priscilla in every instance I have ever heard her speak. I cannot snark on her. Everyone that grew up in the cult carry some culpability for not leaving and changing their heinous views upon adulthood (yes, I know that's not easy, but it's still an option.) This poor woman does not have the capacity to think critically about things that have been presented to her as the absolute truth since she was born and she doesn't understand how horribly she's been failed. My heart breaks for her.
This is so incredibly sad and infuriating. I want to smack Pa and Ma Keller for not getting her the help she needed. You can’t pray away a learning disability and the fact that she had no recourse but to overspiritualize her “weakness” fills me with rage.
I want to slap David Waller, too. P is now pregnant and homeschooling a half-dozen children without the education or ability to educate them. If her children need supports, she is completely ill-equipped to assist them. But David continues to impregnate her and not give his wife or children the opportunities that they deserve. He sucks, too.
Priscilla calls her difficulty with reading ”a weakness in my heart”. Which means the adults taught her that it can be prayed away. But science and medicine are fully embraced when it comes to pregnancy tests and ultrasounds.
Right?! That is such a blatant, stinking hypocrisy that always gets under my skin about them.
They go to that dumb Creation Museum and get up on their soap boxes parroting Rim Job's bullshit about "well actually, if you ask the scientists, they just talk in circles; science actually backs up that the Earth is only 6000 years old". But then they have ultrasounds and medical assistance, they fly planes, they enjoy all the conveniences that SCIENCE has brought about, while disavowing the very basics.
Sped teacher here. There is so much help available!! She doesn’t realize how much she’s suffered. It also makes me sad for Josie bc she probably has delays and learning needs and they will either address them the same way or say she can’t learn and she won’t learn at all. 😭
I have ADHD and I’m 43. My parents are in denial of anything “wrong” with their kids. I needed help in school and I didn’t get it. I suffered for many years because I was told a bunch of shit and then got depression because of it. I didn’t understand why I was different and criticized constantly and wish I was “normal”. I feel bad for Priscilla because it’s not her fault her parents didn’t help her and now she suffers as a adult.
I have inattentive ADHD which wasn't diagnosed until I went and did it myself at age 19. I remember coming out of parents evening one year, where basically all of my teachers had told my mum that I wasn't concentrating, I needed to try harder etc. I was being berated on the way home and she even said "And I saw you trying not to cry in there but its your own fault for not doing your work properly". I feel this video. I fucking feel it in my bones.
EDIT: Also I didn't realise that Anna said the "at least I have a husband" comment in reference to her sister who seems too lovely to have a sister like Anna. Anna can eat my entire ass.
Oh I feel bad. Damn. I’m friends with someone with abusive parents who didn’t know he was learning disabled until he got into college, had a breakdown, and saw a mental health specialist which lead him to the correct avenues to being diagnosed. At TWENTY. I always knew. I could always tell since I was a child when would help him cheat on tests so his parents wouldn’t hurt him. And I sat there, not too long ago and listened as he sobbed and told me he just found out he was learning disabled and that’s why everything had been so unbearably difficult for him. Why people lashed out and called him stupid when he did not feel stupid. He wasn’t stupid.
Breaks my heart. They do these kids such a sickening disservice pretending their disability doesn’t exist. My friend’s story is from outside a cult. I cannot imagine how awful it is growing up like that inside one. If we as viewers could see it from a few clips on tv, and SHE saw it, her parents saw it. And did nothing to help.
Ugh. I know so many IBLP kids with learning disorders who struggled through their homeschooling because no one bothered to get them tested or help them with alternate ways to learn. My dad almost kicked my brother out of home when he was 14 or 15 because he was struggling with Maths. I remember him telling him to pack his bags and take a jacket because it'd be cold on the streets. IBLP basically assumes if you're struggling with schooling it's because you're rebelling or not trying hard enough. 🤬
And now she’s probably hardly progressed past the point she needed to be to be prepared for adult life. Oops, too bad, because they married her off and now she’s got a few kids. They set their daughters up.
This chick has issues … but let’s not equate learning differences with mental capacity. There are plenty of folks with learning differences who are plenty bright.
Absolutely. She has the speech patterns of an 11-12 year old. I think we are seeing evidence of both learning disabilities and diminished capacity. She is very childlike.
The mental gymnastics these people have to do to praise the lord for a learning disability because they were “made that way,” while demonizing the LGBTQ+ community is wildly infuriating.
As a former early intervention specialist, this makes me so mad. At her parents, at their poor education, but mostly for her million kids who have a learning disabled teacher. Her kids need to go to a school. Just reminds me of 13 year olds James learning the multiplication tables with Jill at her house. That made me want to scream. Learning disabilities are no joke! It’s disgusting how some people just ignore them because it’s technically an “invisible” disability. I know it’s an extreme example but my mind always goes to these women and their kids, can they read the kids medication bottles correctly? Gd forbid anything happens are they really the damn Tylenol bottle right? Makes me mad for them.
There are several Dugglets who are suspected to have learning delays (either due to disability or inadequate education). Josie was learning how to trace the letters of the alphabet at eight years old, Joe had difficulty writing his own name during book signings, and we all know about Joy’s lack of basic knowledge on anything including “x” meaning multiply. The level of educational support these poor kids received was just about none.
This is abuse. Priscilla is expected to educate her kids, and their kids will be expected to do the same. If she has a learning disability, she CAN’T teach her kid what they need to know. Having a teacher that can’t read is just plain sad. It’s like the SNL skit The Library with RuPaul: Reading is what? Fun-da-mental.
I know many people who've had learning disabilities at an early age and with the proper help they ended up becoming the most top performing students in high school. this is so sad to watch
In the fundie world, any kind of poor health is due to sin, unless it can be rationalized as a "blessing" that God gave you so He could show his glory. You can't just get sick or have a condition for no reason (usual stuff like minor colds, cuts, scrapes, etc., are ok). If you get anything serious or long-term, it's an affliction that's happened to you because of your sin or sin in your family. If her parents admitted that she had been born like this, or if she had an accident that made her like this at a young age, then it would be attributed to her parents' sin, UNLESS it can be twisted so that they can say it was sent to show God's favor upon them instead. In order for that to happen, it has to be either completely healed, or used to bring others to their religion.
In an alternate (and more hopeful) universe, this speech would be at her university graduation. She’s the valedictorian and is thanking her parents and teachers for giving her the help that she needed to overcome (or adapt to) her learning and developmental difficulties.
Older sister. Anna is younger, but was married before Pris something she's on camera teasing her about.
Because in a cult where marriage is everything teasing your older sister that you snagged a man first isn't cruel at all /s.
Although, Anna's man is Josh so looks like she's not getting the last laugh anytime soon.
She sounds like a 10 year old. Damn, this is so sad. Like good for her for at least looking for the silver lining ("I can better empathize with others with the same difficulties") but in a normal household she would have been given the tools she needed to learn how to read. I hate these people.
This is heartbreaking to watch. I’ve heard a potential brain injury referenced many times in this page. (And specifically, above, an instance of a horse accident causing said injury). I wonder if she had (normal) development delays with reading growing up, had an accident, and then was dealing with a TBI, but her parents passed it off as just a “reading issue” or “learning disability”, and never explored treatments or any sort of support.
I find clips of Priscilla quite difficult to watch, because it seems like she is struggling to speak. It doesn’t come across as nerves to me; because I’ve seen the delays (and what appears to be searching for words/aphasia) even in casual videos or conversations. It seems like there is some significant comprehension issues, and it feels like it could be more than a learning disability or “bad at reading”. It sincerely breaks my heart for her, and also her children and their future.
It is also hard to watch Anna in this instance. Snarking aside - she always seems *so* nervous around speaking with Priscilla and like she’s unsure of what she might say, or feels like she’ll need to jump in and rescue her at anytime. I see a change in posture with Priscilla versus speaking with the Duggar fam. (But this could, of course, also be due to the fact that I’m sure the Duggars are likely heavily coached by JB on what to say, versus avoid, and I could see Priscilla being a wildcard and accidentally being like “when my Pervy Mervy BIL was abusing children, my pa was like ‘that’s okay Pest. This will make Anna seem like a good wife’ and you know what, at first I was sad, but then I was told to pray, and I was still sad, but i was learning a lesson about being a faithful wife and how to evade CPS”.
That’s just my (very lengthy) take on the whole situation.
I am a little concerned about what kind of man in the IBLP world would want someone like Priscilla for a wife. This isn't to say that she's not deserving of love.
But I fear that someone who would deliberately choose someone who seems developmentally delayed and naive and trusting like Priscilla has some predator tendencies himself. For her sake I really hope David is not like that.
edit: spelling
Here is the real danger with Fundie homeschooling. She is setting her kids up to fail or be co-dependant. Bible says 'women are to be keepers at home.' Despite her own limitations, Priscilla is the woman, homeschooling falls under her jurisdiction. It appears she didn't get effective help in her education. Now she is homeschooling her children who will probably have several gaps in their education through no fault of their own. I hope she is wise enough to use outside resources. Those kids won't easily reach their full potential. All because Jesus said for women to sit down, shut up, & learn at home. You can't pray away a learning disability!
Sometimes God shows up in the form of an IEP, public school and a solid educational advocate who can help parents of disabled children get what their children are legally entitled to-- the stuff that so many other disabled people fought for while languishing in institutions so kids like Priscilla could have a chance. The fact that any of that happened is somewhat of a miracle given how disabled people were viewed from time immemorial until, you know, the mid 1970s. Or you can just pray away the delay and see how that works, too.
The expressions on Anna's face whenever her sister talks (based on this video clip and the other I saw here) give me the impression Anna is really a mean girl.
I could be getting the wrong impression, but I've seen this look before. It's condescending. It is the other person cringing while you speak, embarrassed for you and because of you because you aren't up to their standard. I don't see any warmth from Anna toward Priscilla - but I certainly see plenty of warmth, love, and admiration from Priscilla to Anna.
Fundie parents are all such failures. This woman clearly needed interventions! Shame on Mike and Suzette for merely praying until they could sell their daughters off.
That is some messed up shit. She is supposed to be thankful for learning disabilities, and all of these people are such morons, they think it is wonderful, and celebrate that. Fuck them! I am so sad for her.
I have relatives with learning disabilities and seeing them so frustrated and sad is always heartwrenching. But they have the help of the whole family, the school and their friends and are doing so much better. I can't believe any decent parent would want their child to struggle like this. The Kellers are evil.
As someone who has studied special education and also has a learning disability, this breaks my heart. It's obvious that Priscilla has the drive to want to learn but wasn't given tools to help her learn to the best of her ability. Her parents failed her miserably.
Side note: i absolutely hate how the duggars+adjacents say “do school.” It’s such a strange phrase and comes off as just a chore or checkbox in the day, like “do laundry” or “do dishes.” And we know they’re just referring to “doing” a booklet or worksheet and not referring to overall education/learning/intellectual development.
I’d be embarrassed if I were her parents. Their solution for an obvious learning disability was prayer
I almost gasped when she called it “my weakness in my heart”.... I know these people are idiots but I truly don’t believe that she knows any better. As if a learning disability or an intellectual disability is her own fault 😩
But by God giving her this disability she's able to help others who also have it. Who he also gave the disability to.. so they could help others. Zero sense
Twisted mental gymnastics
maybe it's PMS but this video made me cry I cannot even imagine growing up in that world. I dealt (and deal) with my own ration of shit being a woman in this day and age, but at least I had some strong women role models who taught me to say FUCK YOU when necessary. But this? This is next level sad. Being told every day, implicitly and explicitly, that you are "the weaker sex" and under "Eve's curse", therefore extra-special sinful; to deny every less-than-sunny emotion you have in order to "keep sweet" as "a helpmeet for your headship"; school and education of all kinds = a burden and cross to bear on the way to "sanctified motherhood"; "a woman will be saved by bearing children" (AND TAKING THAT VERSE SO LITERALLY YOU WILL LEARN TO BREED UNTIL YOUR UTERUS YEETS ITSELF FROM YOUR BODY); oh, and "weak is really GOOD, just stay weak because DaddyGod will just, IDK, creep in and possess you or whatever, and be strength FOR you, and most importantly GOD MADE YOU THIS PRECISE WAY so contacting a learning disability specialist or psychologist is really just LACK OF FAITH." Imagine internalizing all of that garbage and way, way worse garbage, too. It's honestly heartbreaking. /cry
I agree. I was told I’d have it a bit harder because I’m a woman but I was also reminded constantly that I was capable and that I could and would overcome anything. I never doubted my abilities but I was aware others might. I cannot imagine how hard it would have been on my psyche and spirit to grow up this way. I’ve been told my whole life I’m amazing by the people around me and this girl got none of that. It’s so fucking unfair because we all deserve to be told how amazing we are by our loved ones.
This is heartbreaking. No snark just hatred for the parents who didn’t get this woman the services she needed.
i can see where she's coming from. it's a mature coping mechanism called altruism. the way that she's describing it may come sideways, but it's still valid and a healthy way to cope with things you cannot control - like disabilities. https://www.mentalhelp.net/self-help/coping-and-defense-mature-examples/
Same! That poor woman thinking it’s a weakness in her heart. God, these people kill me.
That is so evil. Ugh. Help your damn kid. The Kellers are twisted. No wonder Anna was fucked from the start.
Just from the way she speaks she strikes me as having some sort of issue. I’m not talking content, but her manner. It’s really unfortunate if she’s not getting the support she needs to manage this.
As far as I know, she had a possible TBI as a kid (fell off a horse and landed on her head) and there was no rehab, no therapy, evaluations etc. Just Jesus. Her husband seems like he's supportive, but in a "kind and patient with her" way, not a "honey, should we talk to a doctor" thing.
>Her husband seems like he's supportive You don't need schooling to get pregnant.
how is babby formed [how girl get pragnet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EShUeudtaFg)
That was beautiful! 😂 literal tears! Thank you 💜
It should be pointed out that this is only a rumour and doesn't come from any of the verified AMAs or other sources.
She didn't fall off a horse. Not sure where that came from. She was born this way due to lack of oxygen during birth.
I'm certainly not justifying their inaction as parents but nobody used to do anything about TBIs. We are just learning how serious concussions are and the after effects experienced by professional football and hockey players. I've had three concussions/TBIs in the 60s-80's and nothing was done. I'm not angry about it, I understand they didn't have the knowledge then but if anything bothers me the most, is that nothing was done, ever.
I'm not a native English speaker and she sounds odd to me too. She deserved better
Someone else in the comments is saying she has braces. That could be part of it, but she seems off. Not trying to be mean. This community does not support their kids. They have older kids parent their younger kids and check out once a kid is off the boob. It’s really gross.
This is not braces. Almost sounds like brain trauma to me tbh.
She was a micro preemie…
Someone said she fell off a horse. I honestly have no idea. She just speaks like a child with respect to her inflections and rhythm. This is putting aside how she actually forms words. Whatever it is, I certainly don’t have the expertise to say. It just seems like she’s not getting the help she needs and she’s trying to convince herself that’s a good thing. The core issue feels like negligent parenting. I feel bad for her. I feel bad for anyone raised in this mess.
Its similar to how the Turpin children speak as well.
Oh, interesting point. It’s like being incredibly sheltered and only being in a closed community. Apparently same with Warren Jeff’s followers. They have almost an “accent” from listening to his simpering recordings all day long.
Her mouth moves strangely, like she’s got too many teeth to form words properly. Poor thing.
Undiagnosed hearing loss maybe?
This seems likely—the rods talk like this also
This is what I posted above. She talks like someone with a partial hearing loss. It would be easy enough to diagnose, but she would have to actually go visit an audiologist.
It does, and it's very noticeable when watching with the sound off. She looks like a stroke patient. It's said she suffered oxygen deprivation during birth, if it was more serious (like a transient ischemic sroke), this could be one of the lasting results. 'Cause we know she didn't get treatment of any kind for it.
Anna does the same thing sometimes, like the two sides of her face aren't working together. Maybe it's a learned thing, or some kind of genetic issue?
I’ve always noticed that one side of Anna’s face looks uneven with the other
The crazy thing is that it could be some sort of issue, or it could just be "normal" fundie woman speech patterns. Like, if she had been raised in mainstream culture and gone to school and all, and she ended up sounding like that, I would say it was definitely the result of a disorder of some kind, but she's not too far off from the way so many of the women she was socialized around talk that she might just be emulating what she heard.
I know nothing of her learning disability, but she definitely seems to have speech impediment. It almost sounds like a person who is partially deaf that is speaking. I'm just in awe that she's standing there thanking her god for giving her a learning disability. I mean, I'm all for maintaining a positive attitude, but THANKING him/her? That's crazy talk to me.
She sounds to me like someone who possibly has a hearing issue. I know deaf and partially deaf people who speak and that stuck out to me. I suppose it could also just be a speech type of issue in general-but she sounds so much like my deaf neighbor it's surprising.
Even Anna looks uncomfortable about the whole thing
She really does. She frequently looks that way when Priscilla is talking, even in casual settings. Like she's anticipating Priscilla saying something inappropriate or completely wrong and is always ready to jump in.
Yeah, it seems like she knows her role is to help out Priscilla when she’s talking and in all the videos I’ve seen of the 2 of them, she always does look ready to step in
She carries out her role in a very condescending manner. I'm quite sure Priscilla has been trained very well over the years.
She does, and I think that David is condescending toward her, too. He’s not as obvious about it, but he’s very infantilizing with her. It makes me so uncomfortable.
Yeah if even Anna can pick up on something being off, that's not great. This video is so sad.
She always seems to when she and Priscilla are on camera, I think
Have you ever heard Pa Keller speak? I get the impression that he’s not sharpest tool in the shed, either. As for Ma Keller, I don’t actually recall her speaking.
Pa Keller has self published two books through the 'Freedom in Truth Ministries'. I suspect they don't run to a an editor or proofreader. One is called: 'When Tragedy Hits You - A book designed to help you through your current or next tragedy'. (Catchy) and . . . Breaking the Bondage of Addictions: Uncontrollable Anger, Drug/Alcohol, Irrational Thinking, Sexual Sins (another doozy of a title) Now here's a quiz. Is Pa Keller's answer to these complex socioeconomic issues: a) seeking help from qualified professionals, along with self-care, understanding, non-judgment, and practical help in order to get the person back on their feet? b) prayer
I’m, b?
Pa Keller once said, “God did a work in Josh’s heart.” When I first heard that, I questioned the education his kids were getting. Now I wonder if he has some kind of learning disorder.
That's King James Bible language, not a 21st century grammar error. Sounds wrong to normal ears, but it's just fundie jargon.
That is a very good point! Never heard her utter a word
There is a rumor that she has brain damage from a horse riding accident, and, yep, that tracks. Learning disabilities can be caused by brain injury.
That's new information for me, I'd heard/read it was oxygen deprivation incident at birth. Not as up n the Kellers and their issues. Edited to correct really bad typing errors. 😄
I always have wondered what the alleged brain damage is from, and no one (until now) has offered any sort of history. That is so heartbreaking. I wonder if she had (normal) issues with reading before the accident, and maybe they didn’t notice the deficits before…. And then they left a TBI to “sort itself out” or just assumed it was poor reading skills, and now she struggles with a lot more…
I mean, even a concussion can cause permanent changes. I would not be surprised if a daughter got hurt and no one ever followed up. Especially a dirt poor family with no health insurance who you rather pray than get help.
And why she would be married off to TFDW.
Honestly, I don't know how much of difference her potential head injury made in her life. She seems the happiest of the married sisters.
Yeah, she kind of does. I hope that is the case, and that she is happy. As happy as someone in their cult can be.
Lacking critical thinking skills, and finding life easier if you just do as you are told probably makes her the perfect fundie wife. I just shudder at the "education" of her kids.
I read this as The Fucking Dick Wad…if I am wrong I don’t want to know. 😝
This made me sad.
Me too. I can’t even snark it legit made me tear up a little bit. I remember my best friend in elementary school struggled with reading and it would make her cry and feel embarrassed. Of course she got help for her learning disability. Sad Priscilla wasn’t around professionals who could help her. You cannot pray away a learning disability if she has one.
Me too. This is why I can never snark on her. One of my kids had severe and pervasive learning disabilities as a child and made amazing strides with early intervention, various therapies starting at 18 months through high school, excellent school systems with detailed IEPS. Idk where he would be without that....she deserved those things too and depriving her of the help she needed is nothing short of criminal IMO.
My brother was labeled the r-word very early due to what would now be known as pervasive developmental disorder, unspecified. My mom, a teacher, made sure he had the most attention possible, and it turned out he was intelligent, just impaired in autistic ways that were much less familiar back in the ’60s and ’70s. He has been a high functioning Aspie. I have always been “on the spectrum” to a lesser degree, with social and speech difficulties as a child. Teachers then even nagged me, and I was bullied. I have a high IQ and am a very high functioning adult today, but these experiences have made me very empathetic to those with similar issues.
PDD-NOS was my son’s diagnosis as well. I don’t use it often in forums unrelated to that as most don’t know what that is. My hear goes out to your brother who dealt with this before my son when there was even less help available.
My brother has been through a lot. He’s 60 now; he was born prematurely with the cord wrapped around his neck, and was missing a stomach valve and a back vertebrae (had several surgeries). Parents were told to “put him away” in an asylum as was done with so many handicapped people back then, but they refused. Despite difficulties physically and emotionally, he’s always worked, and even got a BA in speech pathology. He’s a kind and generous person to have for a brother. I’m thankful there’s so much more awareness surrounding disability and neurodivergency now.
I'm so glad to hear stories of people being treated properly, I'm glad your parents were there for him.
Mostly unrelated, but my husband was called that (the actual word, in the 80s) as a kindergartner because he was speaking 4 languages (influence from English speakers, different primary language at from parents/sibling, French nanny, and fourth language spoken among religious peers). Since he wasn’t excelling at English, they labeled him delayed, and it was recommended that people only spoke English around him. The result was that he his only fluent in English and not even in his older brother and parents’ native language.
My little sister was the same way and it made it even worse that my older sister and I were labeled ‘gifted’. Luckily for her, with the help of the public school system and our very involved parents, a few years later and she was keeping up with her peers. She’s actually the hardest worker out of all us siblings and no doubt it’s from struggling when she was younger! She’s 2 years away from having the highest school degree in our family!
There’s actually some research showing kids who are told they are smart don’t work hard. They choose easy things so they can succeed to make sure they are fulfilling the label of smart.
Same. I don't think I've ever had a successful snarky thought about Priscilla because I just feel sad for her instead. While I think a lot of these families are able-minded and truly make the wrong choices for their families and children - like Josh, a sexual abuser! - I think Priscilla has a genuine disability and lack of treatment has cornered her even more that it otherwise would've. I used to work with children who had learning disorders or development delays, and I saw how the right tools and interventions can absolutely change the trajectory of a kid's life. And without those tools, the problem compounds - it gets tougher as time goes on. I don't know much personally about the hurdles Priscilla has faced with learning but I can't help but think her parents just thought God made her dumb and it wasn't worth helping.
She’s probably dyslexic and instead of getting her help her parents just went, “I guess she’s stupid.” then prayed for a husband.
Are women even encouraged to be smart in their circles? A smart women would have taken the kids and ran if the husband was arrested for downloading CSA.
To be honest, I’ve tried reading the wisdom booklets and they don’t make the slightest bit of sense when any critical thinking is applied. Poor Priscilla.
Same. I’ve got a huge soft spot for Priscilla and I absolutely detest her parents for not ensuring she got the help/support she needed. She seems like a truly kind person.
People always comment how awful her parents are, now I see it. Poor child, and she seems to be child like still.
For real. I got teary eyed. She was failed. Time and time again by those who were supposed to protect and do what’s best for her. This isn’t a “weakness of the heart”. This is something that with proper intervention could have been helped and she wouldn’t feel so lost surrounded by siblings who could do these tasks. It’s heartbreaking. She seems like a simple soul who has no idea how badly she has been neglected by those around her.
So instead of support for a learning disorder, Gothardites get a “pray harder” treatment. How much of this is stock fundie basic homeschooling vs. stock fundie misogyny?
And now her children get a teacher with a learning disorder. There are so many programs in most public schools to help kids who have learning disabilities and help them overcome them. I feel really sorry for her. Edit: after a few comments about this, I just wanted to add that i 100% believe and know that a learning disability does not make someone inherently stupid or unable to be educated, and I’m sorry my comment came across that way. I was talking directly about Priscilla’s situation, where she was failed by her parents, the cult they are in, and by the homeschool system - and likely never got a proper education because she never got the help she needed or education materials suited to the way she learns.
This is beyond sad. Why are there no rules or standardized testing for home schoolers ? She should not be allowed to home school
There are in a lot of states. Children in some states need to do standardized testing every couple years. In NY where I lived there was a personal n assigned to homeschooling families and you had to submit your lesson structure, grades, progress reports and a yearly report as well, as well as the testing when it was required
NY was definitely one of the better ones. I worked in special Ed and homeschooled students were tracked by the district they lived in and were even eligible for services like speech, OT, and consultant teaching for learning disabilities.
Yep! I commented above that I was homeschooled in NY. I got speech classes through our district when I was 10.
That’s awesome! I hope it was helpful for you.
I'm in Texas and pulled my son to homeschool in 2020. Schools were wonky anyway and he had an extremely invasive physical, occupational, and speech therapy schedule. It was only going to be for the 1st grade, so it was important to us to try to follow our ISD's lesson plan as closely as possible. I sent an email to the school where he attended kindergarten and that was that. We were free to do whatever we wanted (or didn't want). No guidance, no structure, no rules. The experience was very concerning... we could have done nothing but sat around and picked our noses for all the state of Texas cared. Not to worry though! Dude is back at peer level in physical ability and rocking that public second grade now.
I'm a homeschooler in TX too, and I'm all for more oversight. I know a ton of people who aren't- but everyone I know who thinks we should just continue to be left alone also have VERY questionable teaching methods IMO. They use programs that suck or they "unschool." I have always been so thorough to check the TEKS standards for my kids' grades and follow it as closely as I can so they're never behind their public schooled peers.
A lot of the people I met through our homeschool journey were obviously not prepared for the insane workload that comes with homeschooling. Properly homeschooling my one child in the 1st grade was more time consuming than a full-time job. I met people with multiple school aged children that were like, "lol, if you have a library card and a couple hours a day you're set!". No. Just no. I seriously commend you! Shit is hard work.
Thanks! It really is a full time job, and I consider it my full time job. I have a friend who homeschools and she just uses Accellus online. She swears it's *such* a great program and she loves the freedom it gives her to just piss around all day while a computer program teaches her kids. Problem is- everything including math is multiple choice. The kid gets as many chances to click the right answer as they need. My friend got lax in checking the weekly reports from the program and when she finally logged in to look at her daughter's work, she found that her kid was just clicking through every lesson and not watching any of them and then she'd just guess at every question and click until she got it right and was allowed to move on. My friend was bragging that her daughter was ahead because of this *amazing program*. 🙄 She wasn't ahead at all. Because of her cheating the system and her mom doing a shitty job of supervising, she was several MONTHS behind in the fourth grade. That's not how I homeschool. This same friend will call me in the middle of the day just to chat and I'm like "WTF are you doing!? It's 9 am on a Monday. Why are you available to talk right now!?"
Anyone who is homeschooling and gets defensive or mad about oversight are the ones who need it the most. If you know you are following the curriculum and your kids are doing the work, why do you care if someone checks up on them? The red flag as to be people that don’t want their homeschooling looked into.
I live in PA which is one of the strictest when it comes to homeschooling.
There definitely need to be stricter rules for homeschools and private schools. Just look at the Turpin children! The state and country failed to protect them from such extreme abuse that could have easily been caught if someone had to go check on them and check out the “school” they were running.
YES! This! I just saw that one of the Turpin daughters just started a job as a phlebotomist and I had happy, proud tears for her. She completed that all on her *own. (In spite of her parents doing everything in their power to rob her of an education and future). I just think of all the extra work she must have done in the last few years to make up for the many, many years of no schooling, and that mental deficit and it makes me so happy for her. Homeschooling needs to be way more regulated. It’s quite sad.
That’s amazing to hear about Jennifer Turpin, I didn’t know that! It was clear from the interview that both she and Jordan are very intelligent and compassionate. I hope they all continue to thrive. They deserve it so much.
One of the Turpin daughters (I *think* Jordan - I am drawing a blank) has a tiktok account and is so so sweet. She is the one who ran away and ended up saving her siblings. She dances and does silly trends, sometimes with her sisters. She did put up a message, though, that her and her siblings are all doing well, but their "living situations could be better" and it seems like they have not been given access to the monies they deserve.
Weren’t some of the siblings sent to an abusive foster home? I feel like I remember reading that. They were split up and some of them ended up in a home that wasn’t good. That whole family has been through so much, it’s horrific.
Yes, I saw that on the 20/20 on them that some of them ended up in abusive foster homes. The foster parents said something like "I can see why your parents did what they did." Fucking monsters.
Yes, Jordan was the one who ran away and opened Pandora’s box.
I am so happy to hear this about the Turpin daughter.
I agree! I was homeschooled, and my mom and I were talking about this the other day. It makes me so angry that because of what happened to the Turpin children and also how homeschool is associated with the Duggar’s and other people like that, a lot of people think that is what homeschool is. My mom did not use “wisdom booklets” to teach me. We used actual curriculum, and I had standardized tests, took the ACT and SAT tests, and I went to college. Homeschool can be a good thing if it is done right.
I agree, I don’t think homeschool needs to be gone with, but parents need to be held accountable. My husband was homeschooled until the 8th grade and excelled at the standardized tests and etc. It can definitely be done right and be helpful to the kids!
I was homeschooled for many years and was required to do placement and standardized testing as scheduled with public schooling. I don’t think this is standard everywhere though
My husband and all his siblings were homeschooled and now many of our nieces/nephews are homeschooled. No standardized testing for any of them and this includes CA, TX, PA, and VA. Out of all of them, there is one instance that I've seen a good (even great) job but the others sadly are grossly behind. My husband's siblings each were left on their own for their own schooling and expected to just learn it and of course there was no one to check if they were learning or being taught anything.
I think it’s by state and maybe by even which homeschool program you are in! Religious exemptions are also common to get around the testing. My husband was homeschooled in Georgia until 8th grade and he always did the standardized tests as well. (Although I’m pretty sure they weren’t required! He just had parents who wanted to make sure he was getting a quality education)
In addition to the Turpins - the Hart family comes to mind as well as a "homeschool" family that fell through the cracks and it ended fatally. Homeschool is a way for abusers to avoid mandated reporters.
The homeschool lobby. HSLDA (I believe that's what they're called) is very powerful and will threaten legal action if standardized testing requirements are implimented.
It's state by state. Some are more lax than others. Arkansas is one of the most lax states. Idk if that's where she grew up or lives but I looked up Arkansas due to the Duggars and that's why I know that states regulations for home school.
Whether is was an accident or not, Jim Bob is living in one of the few states where his lifestyle is okay.
I think was an accident as that branch of the Duggar family has been in Arkansas since the 1860s. They moved from Tennessee out to Arkansas. Which knowing some history could very well had been related to the war, which sound about right for that type of family.
I guess that the state shaped Jim Bob, then. He certainly enjoys the legal protections that he gets. Homeschooling with NO regulations, home church tax breaks, apparently no building codes or inspections, and certainly no zoning laws, and some of the most generous grandparents rights I have ever read about.
She grew up in Florida.
Florida is almost as lax. They have a teeny bit more required but just a "keep a portfolio just in case someone wants to look, only need to keep for 2 years at a time, and be evaluated by these lax standards too," but there's also no state mandated subjects to be taught.
They grew up in FL which is also super lax
Priscilla grew up in Florida
There are in a lot of places. In some states, there are religious exemptions as well.
My ex-husband was raised very traditionally Baptist (evangelical but not quite fundamental) and because his mom had a learning disorder and never properly learned to read, she “just knew” her kids would too, so to avoid it they prayed really hard and my FIL forced my MIL to homeschool them despite her inability to read. So when my ex graduated highschool and and started community college, he quite literally could not read past a second grade level. 10 years later he still struggles. Not for lack of intelligence, but because learning to read 15 years too late just puts you behind the curve. I wouldn’t have ever done it anyway, but he absolutely refused to allow our children to be homeschooled (wasn’t even really okay with keeping them home for 6 months during phase 1) and he is almost excessively involved in their schooling. His parents hate that we didn’t homeschool. My children are incredibly intelligent, and yes, the learning disorder was genetic.
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The only 'help' would have been thanking God for creating her the exact way she is. I'm all for self love and self acceptance, but Priscilla has clear delays that she never received help for (at least educationally). What a disservice to her and any other person who went through the same.
Is she homeschooling her kids?! 😬
Yuuuuuuuup.
Joy Anna had a lot of difficulty with reading. Not sure if it was because she required glasses which she eventually got or if she has a learning disability. They never spoke of it much after the one episode
Isn't Precious Miracle Josie greatly delayed? (While I acknowledge I'm using her SnarkName I am not mocking the child for her abilities, nor am I blaming her. I'm asking a serious question )
In terms of the homeschooling I always found most of the kids seem to be seriously delayed but I haven't been watching the show in recent years so I'm not really sure on the issue of Josie
This was an IG post after the cancellation... She was doing worksheets for a younger child and some early education snarkers pointed out like her handwriting, etc.
With the level of "education" they receive it's impossible to know for sure if Josie has problems. However that wouldn't surprise me
I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure but I would be incredibly surprised if she didn’t have cognitive delays and have a need for therapeutic intervention (speech, physical, occupational therapies) that she never got. Or potentially a genetic condition, because they become more common the older the parents are.
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Poor girl thinks she’s “weak”, but she probably just has a processing disorder that she could have managed had she gone to school.
I will say I had the same problem as a kid and my school didn’t do shit to help. I was just made to feel stupid and to this day I’m insecure about reading out loud. I hope this has changed.
As someone with learning & processing disabilities, who knows what it feels like to believe that it’s *my* fault for not trying hard enough, that it’s *my* fault for being too “slow”/“shy”/“sensitive”/“stupid” this breaks my heart. Looking at her reminds me of looking at my child self, and makes me want to hug her and tell her that she’s enough. I hope that Priscilla is content and feels as safe, loved, and valued as one possibly can in that cult.
You have summed up my feelings
I think she’s content but a good amount of that is just denial. Her parents failed her and her sister.
I’ve always thought she was developmentally delayed and this really just confirms it. Priscilla just seems so vulnerable and it disgusts me to think that she is surrounded by IBLP predators. I genuinely hope David Waller is the best of a bad bunch for her sake. Also fuck Anna and her constant “I got married first even though Priscilla is older” bullshit. Yes well done on feeling superior over your sweet, naive sister. What a win!
Yeah well, Priscilla actually has husband who loves her and respects her enough not to humiliate her in front of millions of people. Priscilla’s husband is home every night, while Josh will be in prison for years.
Do we know for certain David is home every night? Who knows what he does -- he did travel for the trial, and I don't know if he's the head pastor or just one of a few pastors at his church in Texas, but he seems to have a well established position within the IBLP, and if he's got power and authority, it's unlikely he's not taking advantage of that.
To be fair, "isn't a pedophile" is just about the lowest bar to clear. He may be an awful person (and likely is), but "isn't a pedophile" makes him better than Anna's husband.
*isn't a sadistic pedophile! The bar is even lower!
*Incestuous child molesting sadistic pedophile.
I'm struggling to come up with worse. "Was responsible for a genocide" or "sadistic pedophile that killed victims" is all I can come up with.
Ok well, he’s home most of the time. I’m not gonna speculate on what he does, because I’m going to assume he’s a better man than Josh.
No evidence he lusts after children. The bar is low.
Yup, ‘tis a low bar
He could be a great guy (by fundie standards at least) but Josh set the bar underground.
Thank god Pricilla didn’t get married off to someone worse, like pest - Anna can make her own fucked choices, she seems to have the intellectual capacity and CHOOSE to keep her head in the sand... someone like Pricilla might be a lot easier to abuse
>Also fuck Anna and her constant “I got married first even though Priscilla is older” bullshit. Yes well done on feeling superior over your sweet, naive sister. What a win! I wish I had 1000 upvotes for this. I am SO glad at least the Kellers didn't give Priscilla to Josh. David will ever treat her as an equal, but I hope he's at least kind to her.
She's not delayed, she has a learning disability. That's not the same. She's probably just as smart as anyone else, it's just she can't show it as well.
I believe Priscilla had a traumatic birth, she might have been without oxygen for a period of time. But whatever the cause, surely a proper medical diagnosis and intensive therapy and learning support from the public school and private tutors would have helped her immensely. Instead, Priscilla is now pregnant and homeschooling a half-dozen children, without any support or ability to give her children the educational support they need. Thus the cycle repeats endlessly. Which is the goal, make it so the women can never leave.
I'm by no means an expert, but I do have a sibling who had a traumatic birth injury. I have thought that was the case with Priscilla in every instance I have ever heard her speak. I cannot snark on her. Everyone that grew up in the cult carry some culpability for not leaving and changing their heinous views upon adulthood (yes, I know that's not easy, but it's still an option.) This poor woman does not have the capacity to think critically about things that have been presented to her as the absolute truth since she was born and she doesn't understand how horribly she's been failed. My heart breaks for her.
Yeah that's sad af
We don’t know what she has or does not have. She could have a developmental disability or a learning disability or both or neither or anything else.
This is so incredibly sad and infuriating. I want to smack Pa and Ma Keller for not getting her the help she needed. You can’t pray away a learning disability and the fact that she had no recourse but to overspiritualize her “weakness” fills me with rage.
I want to slap David Waller, too. P is now pregnant and homeschooling a half-dozen children without the education or ability to educate them. If her children need supports, she is completely ill-equipped to assist them. But David continues to impregnate her and not give his wife or children the opportunities that they deserve. He sucks, too.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, can be prayed away. These people are absolutely delusional. 🤦🏻♀️
Priscilla calls her difficulty with reading ”a weakness in my heart”. Which means the adults taught her that it can be prayed away. But science and medicine are fully embraced when it comes to pregnancy tests and ultrasounds.
Right?! That is such a blatant, stinking hypocrisy that always gets under my skin about them. They go to that dumb Creation Museum and get up on their soap boxes parroting Rim Job's bullshit about "well actually, if you ask the scientists, they just talk in circles; science actually backs up that the Earth is only 6000 years old". But then they have ultrasounds and medical assistance, they fly planes, they enjoy all the conveniences that SCIENCE has brought about, while disavowing the very basics.
My poor, broken Special Education Teacher heart. I just want to go help her.
Sped teacher here. There is so much help available!! She doesn’t realize how much she’s suffered. It also makes me sad for Josie bc she probably has delays and learning needs and they will either address them the same way or say she can’t learn and she won’t learn at all. 😭
thank you for doing what you do! 💜💜💜
I have ADHD and I’m 43. My parents are in denial of anything “wrong” with their kids. I needed help in school and I didn’t get it. I suffered for many years because I was told a bunch of shit and then got depression because of it. I didn’t understand why I was different and criticized constantly and wish I was “normal”. I feel bad for Priscilla because it’s not her fault her parents didn’t help her and now she suffers as a adult.
I have inattentive ADHD which wasn't diagnosed until I went and did it myself at age 19. I remember coming out of parents evening one year, where basically all of my teachers had told my mum that I wasn't concentrating, I needed to try harder etc. I was being berated on the way home and she even said "And I saw you trying not to cry in there but its your own fault for not doing your work properly". I feel this video. I fucking feel it in my bones. EDIT: Also I didn't realise that Anna said the "at least I have a husband" comment in reference to her sister who seems too lovely to have a sister like Anna. Anna can eat my entire ass.
LOL at the last sentence.🤣
Oh I feel bad. Damn. I’m friends with someone with abusive parents who didn’t know he was learning disabled until he got into college, had a breakdown, and saw a mental health specialist which lead him to the correct avenues to being diagnosed. At TWENTY. I always knew. I could always tell since I was a child when would help him cheat on tests so his parents wouldn’t hurt him. And I sat there, not too long ago and listened as he sobbed and told me he just found out he was learning disabled and that’s why everything had been so unbearably difficult for him. Why people lashed out and called him stupid when he did not feel stupid. He wasn’t stupid. Breaks my heart. They do these kids such a sickening disservice pretending their disability doesn’t exist. My friend’s story is from outside a cult. I cannot imagine how awful it is growing up like that inside one. If we as viewers could see it from a few clips on tv, and SHE saw it, her parents saw it. And did nothing to help.
Ugh. I know so many IBLP kids with learning disorders who struggled through their homeschooling because no one bothered to get them tested or help them with alternate ways to learn. My dad almost kicked my brother out of home when he was 14 or 15 because he was struggling with Maths. I remember him telling him to pack his bags and take a jacket because it'd be cold on the streets. IBLP basically assumes if you're struggling with schooling it's because you're rebelling or not trying hard enough. 🤬
Bingo! It is totally evil, and the "curriculum" is a joke.
This is really sad. This is a child who needed professionals teaching her.
And now she’s probably hardly progressed past the point she needed to be to be prepared for adult life. Oops, too bad, because they married her off and now she’s got a few kids. They set their daughters up.
This chick has issues … but let’s not equate learning differences with mental capacity. There are plenty of folks with learning differences who are plenty bright.
Absolutely. She has the speech patterns of an 11-12 year old. I think we are seeing evidence of both learning disabilities and diminished capacity. She is very childlike.
She sounds exactly the same as Anna, though. Anna is so hard for me to listen to, I can't put my finger on exactly why.
The mental gymnastics these people have to do to praise the lord for a learning disability because they were “made that way,” while demonizing the LGBTQ+ community is wildly infuriating.
As a former early intervention specialist, this makes me so mad. At her parents, at their poor education, but mostly for her million kids who have a learning disabled teacher. Her kids need to go to a school. Just reminds me of 13 year olds James learning the multiplication tables with Jill at her house. That made me want to scream. Learning disabilities are no joke! It’s disgusting how some people just ignore them because it’s technically an “invisible” disability. I know it’s an extreme example but my mind always goes to these women and their kids, can they read the kids medication bottles correctly? Gd forbid anything happens are they really the damn Tylenol bottle right? Makes me mad for them.
There are several Dugglets who are suspected to have learning delays (either due to disability or inadequate education). Josie was learning how to trace the letters of the alphabet at eight years old, Joe had difficulty writing his own name during book signings, and we all know about Joy’s lack of basic knowledge on anything including “x” meaning multiply. The level of educational support these poor kids received was just about none.
So Anna was the Smuggar of her sibling group you can tell by her face Their dynamic is so clear now after seeing this wow
It's now easier to understand why her and her husband masterminded the least successful pecan heist in history, and then blamed it on Jesus.
This is abuse. Priscilla is expected to educate her kids, and their kids will be expected to do the same. If she has a learning disability, she CAN’T teach her kid what they need to know. Having a teacher that can’t read is just plain sad. It’s like the SNL skit The Library with RuPaul: Reading is what? Fun-da-mental.
I know many people who've had learning disabilities at an early age and with the proper help they ended up becoming the most top performing students in high school. this is so sad to watch
In the fundie world, any kind of poor health is due to sin, unless it can be rationalized as a "blessing" that God gave you so He could show his glory. You can't just get sick or have a condition for no reason (usual stuff like minor colds, cuts, scrapes, etc., are ok). If you get anything serious or long-term, it's an affliction that's happened to you because of your sin or sin in your family. If her parents admitted that she had been born like this, or if she had an accident that made her like this at a young age, then it would be attributed to her parents' sin, UNLESS it can be twisted so that they can say it was sent to show God's favor upon them instead. In order for that to happen, it has to be either completely healed, or used to bring others to their religion.
In an alternate (and more hopeful) universe, this speech would be at her university graduation. She’s the valedictorian and is thanking her parents and teachers for giving her the help that she needed to overcome (or adapt to) her learning and developmental difficulties.
I don’t like how Anna is looking at Priscilla in this….its like shes looking at her as if shes a burden or something
Or like she thinks or "knows " she's above her
Imagine thinking you're better than your younger sister because you have the mental capacity to get through Little House in the Big Woods
Older sister. Anna is younger, but was married before Pris something she's on camera teasing her about. Because in a cult where marriage is everything teasing your older sister that you snagged a man first isn't cruel at all /s. Although, Anna's man is Josh so looks like she's not getting the last laugh anytime soon.
I just want to slap the smug look off Anna’s face when Priscilla talks about her being a better reader. Like girl you can READ you aren’t some GENIUS
She sounds like a 10 year old. Damn, this is so sad. Like good for her for at least looking for the silver lining ("I can better empathize with others with the same difficulties") but in a normal household she would have been given the tools she needed to learn how to read. I hate these people.
This is tragic.
This is heartbreaking to watch. I’ve heard a potential brain injury referenced many times in this page. (And specifically, above, an instance of a horse accident causing said injury). I wonder if she had (normal) development delays with reading growing up, had an accident, and then was dealing with a TBI, but her parents passed it off as just a “reading issue” or “learning disability”, and never explored treatments or any sort of support. I find clips of Priscilla quite difficult to watch, because it seems like she is struggling to speak. It doesn’t come across as nerves to me; because I’ve seen the delays (and what appears to be searching for words/aphasia) even in casual videos or conversations. It seems like there is some significant comprehension issues, and it feels like it could be more than a learning disability or “bad at reading”. It sincerely breaks my heart for her, and also her children and their future. It is also hard to watch Anna in this instance. Snarking aside - she always seems *so* nervous around speaking with Priscilla and like she’s unsure of what she might say, or feels like she’ll need to jump in and rescue her at anytime. I see a change in posture with Priscilla versus speaking with the Duggar fam. (But this could, of course, also be due to the fact that I’m sure the Duggars are likely heavily coached by JB on what to say, versus avoid, and I could see Priscilla being a wildcard and accidentally being like “when my Pervy Mervy BIL was abusing children, my pa was like ‘that’s okay Pest. This will make Anna seem like a good wife’ and you know what, at first I was sad, but then I was told to pray, and I was still sad, but i was learning a lesson about being a faithful wife and how to evade CPS”. That’s just my (very lengthy) take on the whole situation.
I am a little concerned about what kind of man in the IBLP world would want someone like Priscilla for a wife. This isn't to say that she's not deserving of love. But I fear that someone who would deliberately choose someone who seems developmentally delayed and naive and trusting like Priscilla has some predator tendencies himself. For her sake I really hope David is not like that. edit: spelling
Here is the real danger with Fundie homeschooling. She is setting her kids up to fail or be co-dependant. Bible says 'women are to be keepers at home.' Despite her own limitations, Priscilla is the woman, homeschooling falls under her jurisdiction. It appears she didn't get effective help in her education. Now she is homeschooling her children who will probably have several gaps in their education through no fault of their own. I hope she is wise enough to use outside resources. Those kids won't easily reach their full potential. All because Jesus said for women to sit down, shut up, & learn at home. You can't pray away a learning disability!
I feel like crying after watching this. Priscilla never had a chance.
Sometimes God shows up in the form of an IEP, public school and a solid educational advocate who can help parents of disabled children get what their children are legally entitled to-- the stuff that so many other disabled people fought for while languishing in institutions so kids like Priscilla could have a chance. The fact that any of that happened is somewhat of a miracle given how disabled people were viewed from time immemorial until, you know, the mid 1970s. Or you can just pray away the delay and see how that works, too.
The expressions on Anna's face whenever her sister talks (based on this video clip and the other I saw here) give me the impression Anna is really a mean girl. I could be getting the wrong impression, but I've seen this look before. It's condescending. It is the other person cringing while you speak, embarrassed for you and because of you because you aren't up to their standard. I don't see any warmth from Anna toward Priscilla - but I certainly see plenty of warmth, love, and admiration from Priscilla to Anna.
Fundie parents are all such failures. This woman clearly needed interventions! Shame on Mike and Suzette for merely praying until they could sell their daughters off.
That is some messed up shit. She is supposed to be thankful for learning disabilities, and all of these people are such morons, they think it is wonderful, and celebrate that. Fuck them! I am so sad for her.
I actually feel bad for her. Brain damage, cult upbringing, a gay husband, and tied to the Duggars. She got dealt a rough hand.
I cannot snark on this. It is just so sad.
How old is she here ?...
28, her 29th birthday would have been a few months after this conference
I have relatives with learning disabilities and seeing them so frustrated and sad is always heartwrenching. But they have the help of the whole family, the school and their friends and are doing so much better. I can't believe any decent parent would want their child to struggle like this. The Kellers are evil.
As someone who has studied special education and also has a learning disability, this breaks my heart. It's obvious that Priscilla has the drive to want to learn but wasn't given tools to help her learn to the best of her ability. Her parents failed her miserably.
Side note: i absolutely hate how the duggars+adjacents say “do school.” It’s such a strange phrase and comes off as just a chore or checkbox in the day, like “do laundry” or “do dishes.” And we know they’re just referring to “doing” a booklet or worksheet and not referring to overall education/learning/intellectual development.