Oh my gosh.
Please. That was my initial instinct. Please God keep these kids away from any of their extended family.
I keep thinking about what is going to happen to the older kids. I talked to some friends who work with disabled adults. They do have programs where they can live in group homes and are assigned workers who help them learn lifeskills like hygiene, shopping, cleaning, cooking and money management.
Unfortunately, while the hell on earth they've endured is over, I think the older ones are going to have a long hard road and may never recover to the point that they can function like typical adults.
They couldnt even snap their fingers as someone pointed out. A skill learned and assessed in kindergarten. I'm sure this is just one small example of a myriad of skills they were not taught.
The brain develops from complex stimulation. Somewhat like Genie and other people who were severely isolated and uneducated in childhood, parts
of their brains have likely been damaged not only by chronic malnutrition but by lack of intellectual stimulation.
One wonders why creeps like this even bother to keep their kids alive. What's the point of slowly killing them like this.
