did i blow it?

[klmno]

GAL called- here I am spilling my guts to her again about my plan to help difficult child and that if courts/social services can provide some help to us between now and getting him into this specialty clinic in the fall, and he can come home with services ready to help, great, i'm ready to go. then, she asks about his comp evaluation and stupid me- i say oh, i'm sure he's not comp in helping in his own defense- when it comes to defending himself, he doesn't have a brain. uh oh- that was BAD

how bad is this? can i expect to hear in court "mother said she doesn't think he has a brain"?

 

[meowbunny]

You might. It depends on the GAL. If you haven't gotten an attorney, you might want to see about getting one to protect your rights. If you don't have the money, the court should appoint one for you. That way, the GAL can contact your attorney and you're protecting from accidently saying something wrong.

Good luck!

 

[Hound dog]

mb has a good suggestion.

If it does come up you can explain you were using the phrase as an expression, not that you meant it literally.

Hugs

 

[lordhelpme]

i wouldn't have taken it bad and would have understood what you meant. hopefully the GAL understood also.

 

[neednewtechnique]

Our difficult child's GAL is very understanding and although she is "supposed" to be a NEUTRAL party and she is supposed to be our difficult child's "voice", we have found her to be a GREAT resource to us when it comes to making arrangements for our difficult child. Although the entire CPS service is a giant Pain in the sometimes, they have been a GREAT resource to us and to be honest, I am getting a bit jittery about the idea that they will be stepping out of our case in about 6 weeks, leaving my husband and I with full custody of our difficult child. Although this is a GOOD THING, and we are happy to have them out of our way, there are certain services that they provide for us that will be GREATLY MISSED. Our difficult child's GAL is one of those services. Maybe we just got lucky and got one of the good ones, but she has been an invaluable resource to us through this whole process. I know she is technically our difficult child's advocate, she seems to be one of the only people that can get through to her, and on several occasions has helped us with some tough situations.

If we were in that situation, I know our difficult child's GAL would understand and not make anything of a comment like that, but I know that most CPS workers aren't that way, so I would wait until court and see if anything comes of it, and if it does, just make a point of clarifying for the judge that you didn't mean that in a bad way, and explain the situation to them. Also, if she makes a big issue of it in court, you will have an idea that she is "picking" at you and you probably WOULD be better off to consult an attorney and let them be the ones to communicate so that you don't find yourself in trouble with the courts for making a comment like that.

I guess we have gotten lucky, becuase our difficult child's caseworker, visit supervisor, GAL, AND her Court Judge are all VERY understanding and sympathetic of our situation and a comment like that would be understood and accepted as a concern, but not a concern for our feelings toward our child, but a concern for the child's behavioral development and they would do their best to help any way they could.