But one month before school was to start for the special-needs teen, his mother, psychiatrist Margaret Jensvold, shot him in the head, then killed herself. Officers found their bodies on Aug. 2 in the bedrooms of their home in Kensington, Maryland, an upper-middle class Washington suburb. They also found a note.
``School _ can't deal with school system,'' the letter began, Jensvold's sister, Susan Slaughter, told The Associated Press.
And later: ``Debt is bleeding me. Strangled by debt.''
Although family members said they were stunned by the killings, they also said Jensvold had become increasingly strained by financial pressure and by anguished fights with the county public school system over the special-needs education of her son, who had an autism spectrum disorder. They said the school district _ apparently believing it could adequately educate Ben _ had refused to cover tuition costs for the boy to attend a private school for special-needs students. Jensvold didn't have the money herself and didn't want to return her son to public school, where relatives said she felt harshly judged and marginalized and where Ben had struggled.
``It was a huge stress,'' Slaughter said. ``It's very hard being a single parent under any circumstances, but to have a high-needs child is overwhelming. And then to have him inappropriately placed in the school, and have the school fighting with her, was really traumatic.''
Jensvold also offered an explanation for taking her son's life.
``She did mention in the note that she knows people whose parents committed suicide when they were children and how difficult and traumatizing that was, and she didn't want to do that to Ben,'' Slaughter said.
``It is very true,'' she added. ``I can't imagine Ben ever recovering from the loss of his mother.''
Special needs education is an emotionally freighted issue, perhaps especially so in Montgomery County _ an affluent region where parents tend to be actively engaged in education and where schools are highly regarded nationwide.
School district spokeswoman Lesli Maxwell said that privacy laws prevented her from discussing the particulars of Barnhard's case, but that the district offered vast options for its 17,000 special-education students and will refer students for private schooling when it can't meet their needs.
Jensvold, a Johns Hopkins-educated psychiatrist specializing in women's health, was passionate and determined. She made news in 1990 by filing a gender discrimination lawsuit against the National Institute of Mental Health, where she was a medical staff fellow. A judge ultimately ruled against her, calling her version of events an ``illusion.'' She later had her own private practice but most recently was working at Kaiser Permanente.
She also was a protective mother, constantly fighting with Montgomery County schools over how best to accommodate her son. He was her world, said her divorce lawyer, Robert Baum.
``She came with an album of pictures of her in a very warm and endearing type of situation,'' he said. ``Her arms around him playing outside, amusement parks, all the types of things you'd love to see of parents dealing with their kids.''
Ben was an active infant _ his family nicknamed him ``ATB,'' or All-Terrain Baby _ but became increasingly withdrawn and isolated, and relatives said as a child he developed an autoimmune disease that's sometimes triggered by strep. A divorce court filing lists 18 specialists involved in Ben's care, and Jensvold's own suicide note hints at some of the child's difficulties: ``writing problems, migraines, hearing things'' _ and ``a bit paranoid.''
``Ben's needs _ unable to meet Ben's needs,'' Jensvold wrote in her note, according to Slaughter.
He had a small group of friends and enjoyed origami, animals and picking tomatoes with his grandmother, his father said. But school was difficult for him, and his weight _ topping 275 pounds (125 kilograms) before his weight loss-program _ made him a target for teasing. He found comfort with even more food.
``He used to say, `Mom and Dad, I don't want to go to school. I don't want to deal with those people. They're mean to me and they hurt me,''' recalled Jamie Barnhard, Ben's father and Jensvold's ex-husband. ``It broke both of our hearts.''
The couple placed their son in the county's special education program, but Barnhard said his son struggled in the system. He spent about nine months at Wellspring Academies, a weight-loss boarding school in North Carolina, returning in the spring more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) slimmer and more confident.
``He wanted to ride his bike. He wanted to be a kid again,'' Barnhard said. ``He wanted to go out and have fun. He wanted to fly airplanes with his dad. He wanted to just do anything.''
But there were still concerns about where to send Ben to school.
Jensvold appeared consumed by his education at her father's memorial service last spring, Slaughter said. She confided that she was having trouble paying the roughly $50,000 tuition for Ben to attend Wellspring. She presented a binder about five-inches thick detailing his academic needs, along with a chart showing how his IQ scores had fallen over the years.
At the end of June, Slaughter wrote her sister to say their mother would pay for Ben's education for the coming year. Jensvold had planned to enroll her son in a private school specializing in autism and other learning disabilities. Tuition there ranges based on a child's needs, but can be more than $60,000, the school said Monday. Her mother said she'd send a check.
In her final months, Jensvold only sporadically communicated with her family, as she had for years, Slaughter said. Emails to Jensvold frequently went unreturned, mail sometimes unopened.
Ben spent July 4 with his divorced parents aboard his dad's restored boat, treading past the Washington Monument with a picnic dinner of barbecue and fresh pineapple. It was a final moment of serenity.
He died a month later. One day after his body was found _ co-workers hadn't heard from Jensvold for days and newspapers had accumulated outside the house _ a $10,000 check from Jensvold's mother arrived, Slaughter said.
(한글요약)
교육비 부담에 女의사가 아들 죽이고 자살
장애아 자녀 교육문제로 부모들이 이민까지 마다치 않는 한국과 마찬가지로 미국에서도 특수교육은 부모의 어깨를 짓누르는 부담 이다.
미 메릴랜드 주(州)에서는 정신과 전문의인 어머니가 장애아인 아들의 교육비 부담을 견디다 못해 아들을 죽이고 스스로 목숨을 끊은 비극이 발생했다.
8일 CBS에 따르면 지난 2일 메릴랜드 주 켄싱턴에 사는 정신과 전문의 마거릿 젠스볼드와 아들 벤 버나드(13)가 각자 침실에서 총상을 입고 숨진 채 발견됐다.
수사 결과 젠스볼드가 아들의 머리에 총을 쏴 살해한 후 자살한 것으로 확인됐 으며 현장에서는 그녀의 유서가 발견됐다.
젠스볼드는 유서에 "학교, 학교 문제를 감당하지 못하겠다. 살인적인 빚이 숨통 을 죈다"는 글을 남겼다.
젠스볼드는 부모의 자살을 경험한 이들이 큰 후유증을 겪는 것을 잘 알고 있기 때문에 아들은 그러한 고통을 겪지 않도록 하겠다는 내용도 유서에 썼다고 유족들이 전했다.
벤은 자폐스펙트럼장애(자폐증세 질환을 통칭)를 갖고 있었으며 편두통과 환청, 망상증세를 보인 것으로 전해졌다.
존스홉킨스대 출신의 정신과 전문의인 젠스볼드는 자녀의 지능발달 상황과 교육 내용 등을 꼼꼼히 기록해 13㎝ 두께의 파일로 만들어 다닐 정도로 자녀 교육에 열성 적인 어머니였다.
젠스볼드의 자매인 수전 슬로터는 "편부모 처지에서는 혼자 자녀를 키우기도 어 려운 일인데 도움이 필요한 아이라면 더더욱 벅찬 일"이라며 젠스볼드가 아이 문제 로 학교 측과 마찰을 빚는 등 엄청난 스트레스를 받았다고 전했다.
젠스볼드 모자가 살던 몽고메리 카운티는 부촌으로 공립학교에서 적절한 특수교 육이 제공되지 못한다는 판단되면 교육 당국이 해당 학생을 사립학교로 돌리는 게 일반적이다.
벤은 교육 당국이 운영하는 특수학급에 다녔으나 장애와 비만 때문에 아이들로 부터 괴롭힘을 당하는 등 학교생활에 적응하지 못했다.
학교 측과 싸움에 지친 젠스볼드가 아들을 사립학교에 보내려고 결심했지만 6만 달러가 넘는 학비가 문제였다.
젠스볼드는 벤을 지난 5월까지 9개월간 체중감량 학교에 머무르게 했고 이 비용 5만달러를 마련하는 데도 어려움을 겪었던 것.
과도한 부채 속에 교육비 마련에 늘 고심하던 젠스볼드는 친정어머니가 손자의 학비에 보태라며 1만달러짜리 수표를 보낸 것도 모르고 '최후의 선택'을 하고 말았 다고 방송은 전했다. (연합뉴스)
