Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

cambridgeblog.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 639 posts

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#41

Post by razeh »

parl_match wrote: post #37
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #24

trully unbelievable, i lose faith in thr justice system day by day

The justice system does the best it can with the information it has. It is far from perfect. It makes horrible mistakes all the time. The problem, of course, is improving it without knock-on effects making it worse. There are huge swaths of people doing the work required to make it better, every day. It's not as easy as turning a dial from "bad" to "good"

No. When it comes to evaluating forensic evidence lawyers are, by training, too process oriented to solve the problems. Ask a prosecutor what the error rate is for fingerprints or DNA evidence and you’ll get a blank stare. They don’t even try to measure it.

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#42

Post by huytersd »

cm2012 wrote: post #38
itsmemattchung wrote: post #16

> As a precautionary measure, the hospital followed mandatory reporting statutes and my wife and I temporarily lost custody of David. Thanks to our incredibly effective defense lawyer, we were cleared of all charges within two months, during which we stayed at the hospital 24/7 with David until we sorted out the legal procedures. Holy shit. Parents bring baby to ER ... results reveal that baby was shaken (article lat…

Not surprised it happened in France, they are much more of a nanny state (in good and bad ways) when it comes to parenting. Like the fact that paternity tests are banned unless you have a court order, etc.

Can’t you just get a paternity test online? Otherwise that’s an insane situation, do they expect a dad to raise a kid that is not his?

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#43

Post by ceejayoz »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #29
crazygringo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then he lost five pounds. He still felt better than he ever had and neither of us were concerned. His medical team implied I was in danger of being reported to children's services as an abusive mother. But wasn't that valid cause for concern, especially for someone who should be a growing boy? If being underweight was a serious medical concern for him, losing 5 pounds seems like a big flashing red warning that some…

The problem is that the phrase "a valid concern" would lead me to think "something doctors and parents should consult on (also with the child themself!) and determine if there is cause for alarm, and if so decide collaboratively what the proper course of action is." Sure! Of course! That's what you do with valid health concerns, right? What it actually means is "something for which social workers will decide whether…

Abusers sometimes take their victims elsewhere - new doc, new town, new state - when people start getting suspicious. The victim may also be retaliated against; accused of trying to get help. There’s a risk to consulting someone you suspect might be the perpetrator.

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#44

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

hezralig wrote: post #31
DoreenMichele wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are missing the part where I harmed his health to comply with their expectations. He was fine and does better on a high quality diet than on a junk food diet. Weight isn't the only metric that matters.

What do you consider a high quality diet? What would meals for a day look like to you?

If you haven’t already: find the accusation in your comment.

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#45

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

ceejayoz wrote: post #43
jrochkind1 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that the phrase "a valid concern" would lead me to think "something doctors and parents should consult on (also with the child themself!) and determine if there is cause for alarm, and if so decide collaboratively what the proper course of action is." Sure! Of course! That's what you do with valid health concerns, right? What it actually means is "something for which social workers will decide whether…

Abusers sometimes take their victims elsewhere - new doc, new town, new state - when people start getting suspicious. The victim may also be retaliated against; accused of trying to get help. There’s a risk to consulting someone you suspect might be the perpetrator.

I doubt the proper answer to this risk is to assume abuse. I don’t mean to say the answer is easy but the described behavior towards this person for how they try to help their child is sickening.

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#46

Post by sneak »

parl_match wrote: post #37
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #24

trully unbelievable, i lose faith in thr justice system day by day

The justice system does the best it can with the information it has. It is far from perfect. It makes horrible mistakes all the time. The problem, of course, is improving it without knock-on effects making it worse. There are huge swaths of people doing the work required to make it better, every day. It's not as easy as turning a dial from "bad" to "good"

If the current functioning is it doing "the best it can", the whole thing should be burnt to the ground.

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#47

Post by sneak »

> I couldn’t live with this uncertainty any longer. But first, I had to get my son back. As a precautionary measure, the hospital followed mandatory reporting statutes and my wife and I temporarily lost custody of David. Thanks to our incredibly effective defense lawyer, we were cleared of all charges within two months, during which we stayed at the hospital 24/7 with David until we sorted out the legal procedures. I would discover much later that we actually had been lucky to be allowed to do this, as most parents are abruptly separated from their babies for months after reporting takes place.

This sounds very much like presumed guilt rather than presumed innocence.

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#48

Post by hyperthesis »

sanderjd wrote: post #40
dartos wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that speaks more towards the author than higher education. Definitely a tangent, but attributing that attitude to higher education is like someone attributing a doctor saving their life to an act of god. Like yeah if you squint I guess that’s true. My experience with higher education has been that of administrators taking advantage of my naivety for profit, elitism towards those not in academia, and dismissal…

Yeah I dunno... I mean, a lot of these things are true, and they all are big problems, but also, in my experience, academics (at least in the sciences) do actually know how to read and understand research, which is an extremely difficult and useful skill.

Yeah, I think "mettle" here is like a sword and shield and the ability to use them (read and understand scientific literature, and able to do so, self-directed, for years).

But whether a person does use them, and for what, is entirely due to the person themselves.

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#49

Post by sneak »

huytersd wrote: post #42
cm2012 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not surprised it happened in France, they are much more of a nanny state (in good and bad ways) when it comes to parenting. Like the fact that paternity tests are banned unless you have a court order, etc.

Can’t you just get a paternity test online? Otherwise that’s an insane situation, do they expect a dad to raise a kid that is not his?

It's not insane. Genetic lineage is the least important factor in whether or not a given kid is "yours".

Re: A journey into the shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma controversy

#50

Post by huytersd »

sneak wrote: post #49
huytersd wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can’t you just get a paternity test online? Otherwise that’s an insane situation, do they expect a dad to raise a kid that is not his?

It's not insane. Genetic lineage is the least important factor in whether or not a given kid is "yours".

It’s by far the most important factor. Who are you to say it isn’t?
Post reply on HN