The case involving a child Gypsy Rose Blanchard is one that is

The case involving a child, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, is one that is fairly complex. Gypsy is raised by her mother Dee Dee Blanchard, who is also her sole-care provider. It is claimed by Dee Dee, that Gypsy suffers from a number of mental and physical issues causing her to be in and out of hospitals and other doctor visits that have resulted in a number of painful/ debilitating procedures. While gypsy is be treating for these illnesses by doctors, myself and other believe that Dee Dee is fabricating the whole thing due to her obsession with being a caretaker. This obsession is believed to be brought upon by the disease called, Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome.Client ProfileGypsy Rose Blanchard is a young girl who was born on July 1,1991. She was born in Louisiana but has since moved to Greene County, Missouri with just her mother. Gypsy is being treated for a number of illnesses, which include: as a baby, it was claimed that Gypsy suffered from Sleep Apnea. The claims just grew from then on. By the time Gypsy hit eight years old it was claimed that Gypsy had now had Leukemia and Muscular Dystrophy. These illnesses require that she needs a wheel chair and feeding tube in order to function properly. Due to her many complications, Gypsy does not attend school and rarely leaves the house. Parent ProfilesAs mentioned above, the mother of Gypsy Rose is, Dee Dee Blanchard. Her full name, Clauddine Blanchard, was born in 1967. Dee Dee was previously a nurse’s aide but then gave that up to care for her daughter Gypsy. Claims of Dee Dee committing theft have arisen from her past and now in the present. Gypsy’s father, who is no longer in the picture is named, Rod Blanchard. Rod is a few years younger than Dee Dee. Rod and Dee Dee have been divorced and Rod has chosen to stay in Louisiana while his daughter and ex-wife moved to Missouri due to Hurricane Katrina.Incident BackgroundThe case of Gypsy Rose came to our attention through the concern of the child’s community and regular doctors. Neighbors have continually been concerned about the child’s well-being and have called Child Protective Services in the past. Both Gypsy and her mother have been questioned and there has been a home visit to the residence. When visited in the past, Gypsy seemed uncomfortable talking without her mother. As for Dee Dee, she was very hesitant to leave Gypsy alone with the case worker and even protested a bit. Minus those questionable actions, there seemed to be no reason for concern. The reason for this present concern, is due to the claims Gypsy’s doctors are making. While Gypsy is diagnosed as being unhealthy physically, there is little evidence supporting that. Doctors from her past have tried going back to look at Gypsy’s medical records but no one can seem to find them. The only one with access to that information is Dee Dee. Along with that, doctors have cleared Gypsy of no longer needing certain treatments such as her feeding tube, but Dee Dee refused to have it removed and took it upon herself to clean and change the tube herself. This caused for her doctors to be more suspicious of Gypsy’s mother’s actions. If a child was healthy, why would a mother continue painful treatment on that child?Gypsy’s mother is the suspected abuser in this unusual situation. Dee Dee shows signs of obsessive tendencies with her daughter. She never leaves her daughter’s side and seems to thrive off of the attention herself and her daughter receive. Whether or not she suffers from Munchausen by proxy comes into mind, this would be an explanation for her constant need to treat her daughter for symptoms that may not really be there. We also have reason to believe the money that Dee Dee receives for the medical care of her daughter is coming from criminal or unreliable sources. While the home Gypsy and her mother share is clean and disability accessible, Gypsy and her mother share a bed every night so that Dee Dee can always can have a close eye on her.With all of this being said, there is definitely signs of maltreatment in this home. Gypsy is lacking in certain skills and has been cleared of all treatment, yet is still being treated and medicated by her mother. Child Abuse ReportGypsy Rose Blanchard’s mother has been claiming her daughter has debilitating diseases since the child has been born. Beginning with sleep apnea, to the point now that she has Leukemia, muscular dystrophy, asthma, hearing and sight impairments, and the list goes on. Due to her alleged disease’s Gypsy is forced to have a feeding tube, despite doctors telling her mother she no longer needs one. A side effect to her feeding tube and many medications, is her teeth rotting out. Gypsy now needs her teeth removed. This is not the only procedure the child will have gone through aw well. Her mother has even asked for her salivary glands to be removed, which they have been. She has also had surgeries on her eyes a number of times. Dee Dee also claimed that Gypsy could not walk at all. This has been proven untrue by Gypsy’s doctors and there is no reason for the child to be getting around in a wheel chair. The medical tests that Dee Dee often demands often show results that are contradictory to what symptom’s that the mother was describing. Not only that but most tests came up inconclusive and could not prove that Gypsy is sick in any way. Gypsy Rose is a victim of maltreatment in the form of physical abuse in this aspect. The child has been put through numerous procedures that are painful and had no benefit to the child. The child is certainly not neglected in a traditional sense. Her mother does not neglect her child’s health in a way that it wasn’t addressed at all but in a way that it is addressed way too often for a child to withstand.Not only was she abused in a medical sense, but a psychological one as well.As for her behavior, gypsy still acts and speaks as if she is a younger child and may be delayed in some aspects. This may be due to her mother telling her that she is younger than she really is. Along with that, the mother rarely allows her daughter to leave the house and to social with people of her own age or other people in general. Gypsy only every interacts with her mother. Dee Dee also does not allow her daughter to use technology of any sort. When Dee Dee is angered by her daughter’s actions she resorts to screaming and locking her daughter in places so that she learns a lesson. After she disciplines her daughter she usually breaks down and gives some sort of present to Gypsy. This type of treatment is confusing to the child and affects her emotionally. Many doctors from the past up until now have noticed the maltreatment and abuse of power Dee Dee hold over her daughter. Almost none of these doctors have spoken up about until now. Effects of the Abuse It’s clear that the years of abuse have taken a toll on Gypsy Rose. She has been effected physically and mentally. Her mood seems to fluctuate. Some days she is happy and acts like a kid, other days she is frustrated and angry with her circumstances. Her social skills seem delayed along with her communication skills when she is in public, therefore her mother speaks for her often. Gypsy does not attend school and does not leave her house often. She has few friends from her neighborhood but that is about it. The child has expressed frustrations with her mother and maybe at risk of harming herself or others. She is also left with all of the complications that came with her extensive surgeries. She no longer has teeth, and she is left with a number of scares to remind her what she has been through. Along with all of that, there is almost no doubt that she will be left with some sort of mental illness. She may be left questioning what reality truly is or maybe some sort of PTSD.Treatment Plan Firstly and most importantly, I believe the best way for this child to heal is to get her away from her mother and to let her mother heal separately as well. Her mother clearly has her own mental stability to work on and being around Gypsy will not help either of them. Next I would recommend that Gypsy is talked to by a therapist to get a better idea of the feelings that Gypsy is left with after living the way she has for so long. I would then recommend that she continues to see a therapist in order to keep her feelings and anger in check. The client should not just be let go and ignore the trauma she has gone through. Doing so will only cause Gypsy to escalate negatively. She should also be reminded that it is not her fault that she lived this way and that there are trusted adults that can help her cope.Conclusion I believe continually checking in on the victims is important in the recovery of these people. It takes time for people, especially children to heal from their trauma in a healthy way. A year isn’t a realistic amount of time for one to heal so by checking in often it shows that you are somebody they can trust and confide in if they feel like they need to talk. Just because something happened over a year ago, does not mean it is not just a traumatic now as it was then. While Gypsy cannot help that her mother is mentally ill, some things could have been done to prevent the amount of hurt Gypsy went through. By educating others in the community, more people could have recognized the signs and reported Dee Dee. I also feel like there is a certain amount of accountability that can be left with the doctors that treated the child. If you know something, speak up.