I have a friend who was severely autistic in her youth. She didn't speak until she was 9 or 10 and her parents allowed her to do things at her own rate. She later got a degree from Caltech and currently works there. She's involved in brain studies of various sorts and was part of a group to develop educational programs / methods for autistic youth.
Meanwhile, today I had to take my rottweiler back tot he vet. She developed an inoperable tumor on her leg. This morning she chewed it open and took a pretty good chunk out of it. Some of the medicine seems to make her feel sick, but once the side effects wear off, she has quite an appetite. Normally if the tumor can't be removed and proves to be malignant, they amputate. Unfortunately, her other leg is a bum leg and the vet said she wouldn't be able to walk at all and would be in too much pain. Said if she stops eating for 2 days that it's time to get her put down. :-( I'm hoping the tumor will shrink enough that it could possibly be removed.
In other news, I'm trying to find all the info I can in terms of the legalities for custody rights. My friend's twunt ex was mad that her meal ticket is gone-- before she quit her job, she'd been going on about how she hated my friend, told him he was ugly and nobody would find him attractive, was physically abusive, and basically a miserable sack of excrement. She only stayed with him because he supported her financially and took care of the kids (her kid from first marriage and the kid they had together). He spent more time looking after a kid that wasn't his than she did-- even when she was jobless and sitting at home all day because she doesn't like to interact with her children. In the past, she deliberately did things to make the daughter suffer to get at my friend. The daughter has always spent a lot of time with my friend's grandparents because my friend works full time and the twunt can't be bothered to watch her own kid. This is the friend who was in a car accident last year and the house burned down this year. A bit of a note on that: The fire was caused by the twunt's negligence as a parent & then, the twunt left her daughter in the burning house and only cared about escaping herself. After tearing the window off, my friend tried to get her to hand him his daughter, but instead she jumped out and abandoned the 3-year-old inside. So my friend had to climb up and get his daughter out. The kid has had respiratory problems ever since.
My friend gave her the option to stay in his trailer while he moved out and she could get a job and get on her feet enough before she moved out. But the twunt doesn't want to have to work. She quit her job shortly after the fire, sat around the house doing nothing but gripe, and spent her entire last paycheck at a strip club instead of helping with bills. Without my friend supporting her fat lazy behind, she won't be able to get her Netflix, internet, phone, etc. She also won't have a built-in babysitter. Her own father wouldn't let her move in with him bc he can't stand her so she moved in to some place with a black mold infestation. She has custody agreements with her ex-husband & can't let her son stay there without losing custody. Anyway, after demanding that my friend take her back and having him refuse numerous times, she realized he wouldn't take her back and started demanding money from him as "child support" even though she didn't physically have custody of their daughter. So she basically went and kidnapped their daughter from the grandparents while my friend was at work and is now essentially demanding ransom for the daughter. She took the child to the place with black mold & told my friend he will never see his daughter again unless he pays up. She does not have court-ordered custody and is keeping the child in unsafe conditions.
Unfortunately, because of the twunt's irresponsibility, my friend doesn't have enough money for legal fees. Personally, I think what the twunt is doing is illegal, but I don't know if my friend can fight it. For some reason he wasn't put on the birth certificate even though he was there when the daughter was born. So, she's using that as an excuse to not let him see his daughter and paternity tests can cost $300 to $500.
I've told him he needs to get DCFS involved to remove the child from the black mold situation, but I don't know if he realizes how serious it is. I'm also worried that she might hurt the child to get at him.
Anyone have any suggestions for what he should do?
Is it illegal for her to keep the child from him without court ordered custody? Anyone know about this?
Sorry, venting... I'm just very worried and frustrated by this situation.
