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50 Comments
- trghpy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+45The real news of the story... Social services caught onto a 20+ year ploy.
- jamauss, on 10/12/2007, -1/+42You can get money for being retarded?
I gotta go tell a couple of my buddies about this news. - safacles, on 10/12/2007, -4/+36"Costello began coaching her daughter at age 4, and later used the same ruse with her son. He feigned retardation into his mid-20s."
Those poor kids. I know that they are adults now, and were tried as such, but come on. They had been through enough with their crazy ass mother who brainwashed them from age 4! I think the prosecutor should just have gone after the mom. - antifreze, on 10/12/2007, -3/+29Jail the mother.
Sign the kids up for roles in hollywood movies. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25Cartman?
- SpacemanSpiff, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20They weren't innocent victims. The only reason they caught them was because Social Services became suspicious and managed to find a video tape of the son being completely normal while contesting a ticket in traffic court. That shows he knew exactly what he was doing.
- chicken101, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18I would like to thank the submitter, this story will probably help most of the people who use this site.
*ducks* - Popdmb, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18good attempt...but it went on for too long...
- Conwaysb0718, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15I smell sitcom.
- trghpy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11@Herkimer56
They're acting? - widoka, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9all i ever see on fox news anymore is stuff about "ANS"
- elsupergringo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6My girlfriend taught 10th grade English in special education for the Miami-Dade school districts. She had at least 3 students that occassionally had to get in trouble to get what all the kids referred to as "the crazy checks" for their mother.
The mom's messed up for doin that to the kids, but as far as the kids now that they are adults... maybe a career at social services? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -11/+17In other news, Rosie Costello has been hired by the Ron Paul presidential campaign to coordinate their efforts to start a grass roots movement on the internet. Specifically, she is going to be working with his supporters on Digg. When asked why she was hired a campaign spokesman said that she was hired for her vast experience working with people that act like retards.
- roberthead, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I hear you, TreeNinja.
A family member of mine has worked as a teacher and teacher trainer for 30-some years and has a lot of stories to tell.
When she worked in Kentucky, aside from uncovering wholesale cheating on standardized test by the teachers, she found that this play-dumb act is extremely widespread in the welfare communities. There are even "consultants" that will coach your child on how to act like a retard (a word I'll reserve for those that *pretend* to have mental disabilities).
In short, not an isolated case. Just a sad reality of some number of poor, rural Americans flushing their children's education down the drain. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Take a shower.
- ashwinmudigonda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Too much Southpark, she has been watching.
- alteratti, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What a pathetic mother.. shows people would do just anything in order to satisfy their ***** greed.
- YourTechSupport, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6It's not a sitcom, but if you turn on Fox News you'll catch a good bit of that action.
- dggeek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2bury
- iRoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1my friends mom made him do something like this so we could skip the line at six flags.
- DrWu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Donny says vacuum!!!!!
- cjustice, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is actually a very common (however sad) occurrence. By simply having their kids "act crazy" in front of a evaluator, many parents take advantage of the lack of regulation in the distribution of government funding and receive these "crazy checks" to supplement their welfare and disability checks.
- polyGone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Really, what mother hasn't thought of doing this? At least she doesn't have to sell them for slave labor.
- chasetinney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They received 280k, but only have to pay 59k back. Thats BS!!
- nightowl313, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is the worst thing I've read all day. Ugh.
- jellygraph, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1no fair, no one ever paid me when i act retarded
- swoosh_bnd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Sounds awfully similar to the ringer, pretending to be retarded to get money.
- blackjack75, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Maybe his father told him to fake retardation in order to make it to harvard? With money, anything is possible.
- QueenOfSwords, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_and_Andy
Now we know where Andy came from :D - marauder123, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is old news really. 60 Minutes did a story on it years ago. The big change came when Reagan relaxed the rules allowing more people to claim a disability for SSI. In the story they showed a mailman putting the pink "crazy checks" into almost every mailslot in a mail cluster box for some small town. They showed one woman waving 4 checks, one for each of her kids, and proclaiming "this is my money!". The sad fact is that in the story they claim that in the previous year not one person had been removed from the roles of SSI recipients. They won't remove them because they all tend to vote Democratic!
- someotherdude, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Someone should tell Adam Sandler that the net is closing...
- Talus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Doesn't sound to me like they were faking it ;)
- wheely, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0My mother had tried to do the same thing with me :(
This is probably more common than you think it might be - many, many people have "fake disabilities" in north america and get monthly checks for them. - kookiekrook, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0They do it everyday in politics!
- rshu4you, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0:sees headlines: Digg users bring down phone company calling parents to hide
- DrZibbs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I heard the neighbors were tired of hearing them yelling "JELLY BEAN JELLY BEAN" at all hours.
- pammaw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0People around here have done that for years, to collect that "stupid check." (It's what some call that check in Louisiana.) It's a shame that these people got away with it for so long, and good that at least in this instance, got caught.
- tyywebb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@treeninja
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahhahahahah!!!!!! - adhesivesynergy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0RTFA, the son faces 59k & jailtime, they haven't given the sentencing range for the mother yet...but she'll definitely be making up some of that difference
- lostHubcap, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0i tell ya, theres always someone that goes to extreme measures just to get a couple bucks from the gov't. and you can't get much more extreme then this...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0CORKY?
- desqjockey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I agree- maybe if they just had to lie once in a while to social security people they are not that damaged, but I bet they had to take special classes in school etc and social security was checking up on them there. Bad deal for the kids for sure.
- roberto_deneero, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1That's nothing, President Bush IS retarded and lied to Congress, the American people, and the rest of the world in order to extort billions for his own pocket. $280,000 doesn't seem all that bad in comparison.
- uttles, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Gotta love entitlement programs
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Barbara Bush needs to learn some manners!
- raynar, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5FRANKS AND BEANS!
- bokchoy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2This broke months ago but dugg because she crazy!
- ciaobella, on 10/12/2007, -16/+2lol omg this is unbelievable
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -15/+1i don't see the big deal i mean my mom did the same thing with me since she said somebody had the pay the bills.....
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