This episode was very hard to watch. It was very much about the difficult decisions all parents have to make and how they're sometimes wrong. The mother of the Fragile X boy clearly loves her son. Even the most devoted of parents needs a break sometimes.
Taking care of a special needs child is an unremitting task with relentless responsibilities. Nicole desperately needed a break, so much so that she perhaps deliberately injured herself? It was unclear but it seemed to be a possibility.
Kitty's parents were tasked with the responsibility of taking a decision on behalf of their daughter which would estrange them forever. They were willing to make the hard choices for the sake of preserving her life even though it mean they might lose her love and company. This is the hard part of parenting.
At least Shaun had one good foster carer when he was a child. Bill was kind and she was understanding of Shaun's differences. She was laconic but brutally honest. That works well with autistic people. Don't lie to us, we don't cope with lying.
Then there's Dr Glassman. His decisions were the worst ones of all. His is the greatest failure of parenthood and hindsight is always 20/20. Revisiting that is always painful. Maddie didn't make it to adulthood. Dr Glassman failed parenting.
So Nicole got her break, Shaun used what he learned from Bill to help a patient and Dr Glassman achieved a type of closure. Kitty may or may not be able to climb in future, time will tell. What we do know is that parenting isn't for sissies, it never stops and although there are no coffee breaks or vacations, sometimes you do need to take a day off. RIP, Sybil.
Taking care of a special needs child is an unremitting task with relentless responsibilities. Nicole desperately needed a break, so much so that she perhaps deliberately injured herself? It was unclear but it seemed to be a possibility.
Kitty's parents were tasked with the responsibility of taking a decision on behalf of their daughter which would estrange them forever. They were willing to make the hard choices for the sake of preserving her life even though it mean they might lose her love and company. This is the hard part of parenting.
At least Shaun had one good foster carer when he was a child. Bill was kind and she was understanding of Shaun's differences. She was laconic but brutally honest. That works well with autistic people. Don't lie to us, we don't cope with lying.
Then there's Dr Glassman. His decisions were the worst ones of all. His is the greatest failure of parenthood and hindsight is always 20/20. Revisiting that is always painful. Maddie didn't make it to adulthood. Dr Glassman failed parenting.
So Nicole got her break, Shaun used what he learned from Bill to help a patient and Dr Glassman achieved a type of closure. Kitty may or may not be able to climb in future, time will tell. What we do know is that parenting isn't for sissies, it never stops and although there are no coffee breaks or vacations, sometimes you do need to take a day off. RIP, Sybil.
