A mother’s understanding of her son is transformed with a single phone call

Barbara Romero’s perspective towards her son, Daniel, completely changed after one call, helping her understand that her son’s violent and abusive behavior was due to his undisclosed illness, schizophrenia.

Mother’s dilemma: Once a curious and silly young boy, Daniel’s personality starkly altered when he entered middle school, leading to episodes of violence and verbal abuse.
* Nothing seemed to pacify Daniel’s condition, even professional help from therapists and psychiatrists failed.

Unexpected shift: In 2005, Romero and her husband made the difficult decision to hand over Daniel to Child Protective Services (CPS), hoping he might receive better care.
* Before surrendering their parental rights, Romero was unaware of Daniel’s exact location.
* After locating him and connecting with a CPS representative, she was informed about Daniel’s underlying schizophrenia.

Insightful revelation: The CPS representative’s call provided Romero with a new perspective about her son’s behavior.
* Rather than attributing Daniel’s behavior to a sign of him being “a bad kid”, Romero came to understand him as “an ill kid”.

Moving forward: This revelation significantly changed Romero’s approach to his behavior and helped the family navigate their situation with better understanding.
* The CPS representative’s words allowed her to stop blaming herself and her son, and start caring for him with a focus on his illness.

View original article on NPR

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