Hello,

Reading this post was an eye opener for me. My ex-husband came from a family affected by this. His mother was rh-negative and began having children in the 50s. Of 5 children, two have now been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Both needed transfusions at birth. While some people can function somewhat with the condition, unfortunately these two women have been almost completely incapcitated and require 24 hour supervision. From what I understand signs started in the their teen years with trouble at school, academics, and social life. Children would call them "dumb" or "retarded". My ex (born in 1970) was the youngest of the group. I think it's exactly what you said. My ex did not require a transfusion at birth and he must have seemed okay, so they sent him home. But I think he was significantly affected. The longer we stayed together, the more I saw it. I am almost positive he should have been diagnosed with a learning disorder as a child. At 40, he was reading closer to a 2nd grade level. I noticed he could not keep a job. Following directions, memorizing information, paying attention seemed so difficult for him. Inevitably, supervisors and co-workers would become angry and lash out at him. His thoughts also sometimed seemed illogical.I noticed he would sometimes use the wrong word for something. And there were times when he'd miss what to me were obvious social cues. Whenever I tried to bring it up and ask that he get help he would become angry and defensive - which was a major factor in our marriage ending. I always felt that it was more than a learning disorder but I also felt it wasn't fully schizophrenia. To my knowledge he never had any halluncinations or delusions. But I (and people we were around) noticed that somehow he saw the world in bits and pieces. Like we'd see 1,2,3,4,5 and he'd see 1,3,5. I think if he could be less defensive and get some help he could live a much more fulfilling life. But years of stigma and defensiveness in his family surrounding his two sisters have made it really hard I think for him to get there.