As early as age 3, the precocious child who could count to 1, began withdrawing from other children, became angry easily and spent more and more time in complex world of imaginary friends. By the age of 5, Jani was experiencing violent hallucinations, in the form of numbers and animals that told her to attack her parents and brother. Literally it was like the Exorcist -- she would become another person. They tell her to hurt herself or someone else. Schizophrenia is a disabling brain disorder known for causing sensory hallucinations.
Cases of childhood-onset schizophrenia such as Jani's are rare but can be extremely severe and resources to help children like Jani are limited. The Schofields battled their insurance company to secure treatment for Jani and struggled to find facilities that would hospitalize her when her condition was at its worst.
Worried about the safety of their younger son and desperate to do whatever it took to provide Jani with a lower-stress environment, the couple made a difficult choice. In the summer of , they moved into two separate apartments, one for each of the two children, with each parent taking turns caring for each child. Paying two rents placed a financial strain on a family already struggling to afford various medications and psychiatric therapy. Last fall, she tried to jump out of a second-story window.
Her parents -- Michael, a college English instructor, and Susan, a former radio traffic reporter -- must decide how to provide as much stability as possible for their daughter while also trying to protect their month-old son.
Born Aug. Most infants sleep 14 to 16 hours a day. Only constant, high-energy stimulation kept Jani from screaming. We would leave at 8 in the morning and be gone for 14 hours. We could not come home until Jani had been worn out enough so that she would sleep a couple of hours. When Jani turned 3, her tantrums escalated. She lasted three weeks in one preschool and one week in another.
She demanded to be called by different names; Rainbow one day, Blue-eyed Tree Frog the next. Make-believe friends filled her days -- mostly rats and cats and, sometimes, little girls. She threw her shoes at people when angry and tried to push the car out of gear while Michael was driving. The usual disciplinary strategies parents use to teach their young children proper behavior -- time-outs, rules, positive rewards -- failed time and again for the Schofields.
The Schofields consulted doctors and heard myriad opinions: bipolar disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, ineffective parenting. No one considered schizophrenia.
In December , they were referred to Dr. Linda Woodall, a psychiatrist in Glendale. Wants order and perfection in play, toys, stories. Drawing on her clothes and body with permanent marker. Screaming at school and in the waiting room. I believe it would be in the best interests of January and her family to have her placed in residential treatment.
Her parents named her January because they loved the sound of it. But this year, the month of January became the breaking point for a fragile family.
She was hospitalized last fall for three weeks. Jani tried, and failed, again to attend school. She choked herself with her hands, hit her head on the walls and said she wanted to die. A new imaginary friend named the-Cat moved in. He told her to kick and hit other people.
Many phantoms populated her mind now: two little girls named Degrees and 24 Hours; the-Rat; Magical the-Cat; and Susan, 39, was laid off from her job in September, and although money was tight, she felt almost relieved. Jani needed constant supervision. She is currently learning to play music and Spanish.
Doctors weaned her off all medications, and she is exhibiting no signs of schizophrenia. Jani testified in court that she does not believe she has the illness that made her famous. The younger child, Bodhi, lives with a foster family. The source went on to say that Bodhi is thriving in his new home and enjoying spending time with his foster siblings.
For now, the children will remain in the custody of DCFS. If Susan Schofield wants to regain custody, she will need to admit to what she did to her children. Sources connected to the family do not believe that Susan will ever admit wrongdoing. They said Susan continues to blame everyone but herself for the abuse the children experienced.
Many have wondered if Michael Schofield will take the children. He currently lives in Minnesota with his new wife, a stepdaughter, and their baby. Even though the children are now safe from their mother, they are also without a family.
You tell me. So you tell me: do you need medication? And if so, which medication do you need? Bodhi is 11 years old in the video. He has been prescribed a rotating regimen of medications, including Thorazine, clozapine, Geodon, Depakote, Vyvanse, lithium, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Risperdal, and Lyrica throughout most of his young life, as described by Susan over various videos.
Most, but not all, are antipsychotics. Sometimes, Bodhi takes them in combination; sometimes he takes them alone. According to his father, Michael, Bodhi was diagnosed with severe autism when he was six. Susan has been skeptical of the diagnosis from the beginning. Many in the community believe Jani and Bodhi are victims of Munchausen syndrome by proxy , a disorder where parents or caretakers feign illness and disease in their children.
Victims of Munchausen syndrome by proxy are usually smaller children, with caregivers who thrive off the attention they receive from caring for a sick child. In most cases, the attention comes from relatives and the local community. But YouTube commenters theorize that Susan got attention from the platform itself.
According to SocialBlade, it could bring in at least a six-figure salary for the family. There was a Discovery Life documentary in , the Huffington Post wrote about the family in , and Dr. Phil featured Jani on his daytime show in , just as her parents were identifying similar behaviors in her younger brother Bodhi.
Their time in the limelight proved profitable. As media attention waned, Susan grew more active on YouTube, and her relationship with Michael faltered.
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