Counting On fans are worried after a recent photo of Josie Duggar’s homeschooling.
On Thursday, a new Reddit thread sparked concern among fans of the popular TLC series when one Reddit user shared a photo of 8-year-old Josie proudly holding up her homeschooling assignment, which included writing carious letters.
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“Look who finished the whole grade!” the caption read, though it is not clear who posted the Instagram image.
The image immediately caused some fans to worry that Josie may be falling behind.
“Oh no, looking at this photo and the page in that book feels awkward because I teach kids Josie’s age. Feel it’s reasonable to think that she might have special education needs. If so, the Duggars won’t know how to change the education curriculum to suit Josie’s needs. I worry that JB and Michelle probably are ignorant of education difficulties like Dyslexia (very common, very easily helped if managed properly), and instead having one of their strange ILBP beliefs about ‘curing’ needs like that,” one user commented.
“Yeah, it is possible that she has some kind of learning disability or cognitive delay to at least partially explain this,” another user added in response to a fan who suggested that the 8-year-old had delays due to being born premature.
Michelle faced a birth emergency when her baby Josie was born early at only six months of age. The Duggar matriarch’s life was in peril when she suffered from dangerously high blood pressure and preeclampsia at the time, and the baby was forced to be delivered via C-section.
Josie stayed in the NICU for several months while doctors monitored her health. At the time, the entire Duggar clan moved to Little Rock, Arkansas to be able to visit Josie every day until she was able to come back home to Springdale.
“That said though, my friend teaches Grade 2, so her oldest students might be Josie’s age, and from what she has told me even her most delayed student (who has Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) is doing work that is harder than this,” the Reddit user continued. “It might be a combination of Josie having extra difficulties, and neither the Duggars nor any of their tutors knowing how to teach special ed, but we don’t know for sure, and every child is different.”
This is not the first time that a picture of Josie has raised concern. In November, Michelle Duggar shared a photo of herself spending time with her youngest.
The 51-year-old Duggar posted a photo of herself playing a card game with the then 7-year-old, though many commenters were quick to scrutinize the Duggar’s “buddy system,” in which older children care for younger siblings.
“Now that most of the older girls are married and leaving home, maybe Michelle can actually raise the little ones instead of the older ‘buddies’ doing it! Nice job parenting Michelle! Welcome back,” one person wrote.
However, many other fans were much kinder with their comments, finding it hard to believe how fast the youngest Duggar is growing.
