Butterfly Girl

Phyllis Hoffman knew something was wrong with her child from the start of her pregnancy.

When her baby girl was twelve months old, their pediatrician said, Troy is fine. She has a neurotic Jewish mother.


When Troy was two, a professor at the University of Miami told Phyllis and her husband to put Troy away and forget about her.


Despite the advice, this mother never stopped trying to do what she knew was best for her daughter. Their experiences in the public school system were at times harrowing and outrageous. Visits to specialists, hospitals, and major universities resulted in conflicting diagnoses.


When Troy was six, she and Phyllis flew to Wichita, Kansas, to enroll in a special school. Phyllis struggled to reassure Troy that she was loved and would be safe in that strange place. Four years later, a psychiatrist there told Phyllis that Troy had childhood schizophrenia and that she was the schizophrenogenic mother.


A mothers frustration evolved into inspiration. Phyllis earned her Masters degree, taught children with disabilities and then established a private, nonprofit school for children with special needs. Twenty-five years later, her dream of a supervised apartment community was realized.


Butterfly Girl is about their struggles with each other and with the system.


It's not over.