Jill and Robert

Jill is a young mother of a grade 1 boy and an infant son. A central theme throughout her story is her intense desire to belong and for her children to "fit in." She lacks confidence and allows her husband to abuse her for fear of losing him. She stays at home with her infant son and spends time making plastic weaving crafts which adorn the walls of her living room.

Jill presents as a rather solemn and serious young woman, which one might expect given her past experiences growing up in a strict orderly family where feelings were not expressed. She is aware that her eldest son has problems learning in school, but with her grade 10 education and her husband having no academic inclination, she is reluctant to intervene. Jill reveals her fear that she would make the problem worse for her son by confusing him.

In dealing with school personnel, she refers to having something like an "out of body experience", not unlike a state she said she would put herself in when she was abused as a child. Jill retells the story of how she is there with school personnel, but feels like she is just looking down watching all of this happen right before her eyes. Test protocols, notes, and files are all flashing quickly before her eyes. Jill claims that she was pulled out of her state when all of a sudden she heard herself being addressed by her child's teacher who was asking for her opinion on something.