Angry mom sends letter to family of autistic child telling them to have him euthanized.

[FamoFunk]

Who writes a letter like that? Jesus, if this person really is a devil mother I pity her child(ren) being brought up by such a spiteful, ignorant and evil mother.

 

[A BigCup of Tea]

Wanting him to be euthanized is definitely far too harsh but maybe the mother could bring him in a bit more or give him a little talk so he doesn't disturb the neighborhood as much? I'm sure whoever sent it just wants some peace and quiet though they obviously suck at expressing themselves. This probably could have gone a lot better if they just knocked on their door and had a little chat with the mother about how their child is a bit too loud and if she could restrain him a bit.

People with special needs children are acutely aware of how their child's presence affects the rest of the world around them, and more than even that they know what the children do well with and what they don't do well with. If the child's discontentment was increased from being outside, you can sure as hell bet they wouldn't take them outside so often. Believe it or not, they don't like to hear their children scream either.

Also, you don't just sit and "have a little talk" with autistic children prone to screaming. There's nothing to talk about. They have no control over it. And restraining them only makes it worse. If there is anything to do about it the parents would know, but often times there isn't anything that can be done.

This...so much this, i used to work with children with disabilities and the ones who are severely autistic can't control the noises they make, i would add more but this letter in fact this whole thread makes me angry (it's not you guys)

 

[HoneyVision]

Euthanasia is just inherently wrong. The very idea of it is just twisted.

Even in the case of avoiding terminal pain or agony? That's a very selfish attitude. My sister worked in hospice, and on more than a few occasions, family unnecessarily prolonged someone's suffering because they selfishly couldn't let go. Euthanasia is, in many cases, the far more humane option.

EDIT: whether or not that applies to this story, I really can't say. As usual, sensationalist media reporting doesn't really give an accurate portrayal of the situation.

All I did was state my opinion, so I'm interested as to how your reached the conclusion that I'm "selfish". Calm down.

Because you made a sweeping generalization about euthanasia being "inherently wrong" and "twisted", without regard to the many situations in which it is perfectly reasonable. You certainly didn't state it as an opinion, you stated it as if it was fact, as if anyone considering it was wrong or twisted somehow.

Nah that's just how you read it.

And of course I considered all possible cases and I stick by my initial opinion. It's inherently wrong. That doesn't mean that I would necessarily oppose it, because of its practical reasons, but everything about it is morally bankrupt to me.

 

[Lord Kloo]

That letter should never have been written, people should have the decency to deal with problems like this with a bit of social etiquette. Then again, I know how hard it is dealing/living with a severely low functioning autistic, its hard to emphasize with them when they play up and get angry for no reason, or refuse to eat just to be annoying, its hard to care for them when you're not even sure if they care back or will ever contribute something positive to your own life.

Then again, my history teacher once suggested that the best society was one that looked after its weak and disadvantaged, trouble is no-one wants to be part of that society, or at-least they don't want to pay into it. And personally, who can blame them for not wanting to.

IMO, I don't support euthanasia, what I do support is pre-birth scanning, with the option given to abort those parents deem unsuitable, thats probably called something like Voluntary Pre-Birth Euthanasia.

 

[Thaluikhain]

IMO, I don't support euthanasia, what I do support is pre-birth scanning, with the option given to abort those parents deem unsuitable, thats probably called something like Voluntary Pre-Birth Euthanasia.

Er...how would that be different to abortion, except being more of a mouthful?

 

[Lord Kloo]

IMO, I don't support euthanasia, what I do support is pre-birth scanning, with the option given to abort those parents deem unsuitable, thats probably called something like Voluntary Pre-Birth Euthanasia.

Er...how would that be different to abortion, except being more of a mouthful?

I guess it really isn't other than abortion because the baby isn't wanted, except its on a more ethical issue..

I don't know really, its 3am and I probably shouldn't be on the internet.

 

[Epicspoon]

I'm officially Autistic (not just one of those people who think it's cool to say they are) and honestly when people act like this I just laugh at them. I may be autistic but at least I'm not as stupid as you are.

 

[BlackFlyme]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned already, but the letter was actually sent to the boy's grandmother in Newcastle.

Supposedly the boy only visits the grandmother, and had only ever had one negative experience in the community four years ago where someone had stolen a ball and shredded it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/08/20/autistic-boy-family-receives-euthanize-letter-ontario-newscastle.html

Spoiler: Here's the letter in question.

There was an attempt to get the police to treat the letter as a hate crime, but it was apparently determined that it did not fit the criteria of one. Though police are looking to track down the author.

Edit: Should've checked the link in the O.P., most of this is already in there. 'Cept that police are no longer considering it a hate crime.

 

[VanTesla]

Hmm... Sending hate mail is hardly the right way to act in such situation. Your very first action should be talking to the parents of this child and explaining your position. If they manage to successfully calm him down, then problem solved.

If not, however, then she should have filed an official complaint, backed by petition of other people, living in this zone (sorry, I don't know how things work in USA, but you get the idea). Then court, because needs of many are far more important then needs of a few, rules that this child is to be sent to special institution for special people. Neighbours are sattisfied, parents can visit their kid whenever they want, everybody wins.

This is the USA. The only special institutions for special people they have are called prisons.

And that wouldn't even be needed if basic mental health care was provided. Screaming outside isn't all that severe for low-functioning autism, chances are fairly high that with the support of a cooperative and affordable mental health care specialist you can see great improvements.

But this is the USA. Mental health care is at a third world level.

So, most likely you've made a somewhat accurate prediction. People in the area will file an official complaint of some misbehavior of the child, committed not out of any ill will but as a simple symptom of his disorder, the courts will get involved and he'll be send to a special institution for special people, jail.

Correct if i'm wrong, but wasn't it the Reagan Administration that cut all funding to government mental health institutions and research? If so I would also assume ever since then not much has been done to fix that mistake and just let the industry, civilians and non-profit handle it... I know some of the institution way back had some bad rep in treating the people horrible, but if I recall that was like 1-2% out of all cases which is lower than many profit and non-profit facilities... Not saying our government is a good one to trust on such a thing as mental health with some of the people that are running it right now and trying to add funding atm would be almost impossible since they can't get a dam budget for one dam thing right... I wish if the government was let's say in better hands on not in such a cluster fuck I be all to happy for them to actually put some funding back into mental health and institution that are treated correctly.

I was off topic with my whole wall of text and do apologize for it. This woman needs a good smack in the head. Who the hell thinks and believes that shit needs to be examined...

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Okay I wont win any awards for this, but what if the mother is correct? Not the euthanasia part - that was way over the line. But about the child be a terror? And im not hounding the child, I'm hounding the parenting. My cousin is autistic - only slightly but still... and his parents never leave him alone. He is simply, mentally incapable of handling some situations. I can imagine being a young child in a neighborhood, riding my bike and being scared out of my mind by the child at the end of the block screaming in absolute rage at something. Again not blaming the kid or suggesting they even move. But it does seem like the parents are a little oblivious to the needs of their special needs child.

 

[Thaluikhain]

But it does seem like the parents are a little oblivious to the needs of their special needs child.

Er...the only source you've got from that advocates harvesting the organs of kids she doesn't like.

Now, not saying that makes her wrong on everything, but it sorta raises a little doubt about her judgement.

 

[Mersadeon]

Ah. Oh, my. On the one hand, I have a slight bit of sympathy with whoever wrote that hateful thing - if that kid is really loud and does that noise every day, I'd be annoyed, too. With every other source of noise, you'd ask them to turn it down or if all else fails call the police, but with this? You simply have to endure the noise.

What I can't have sympathy with, not even on the account of that person being angry, is the tone of that letter. Telling someone to euthanize their child is disgusting. And here, it might even constitute as something the police to get you for. Pretty sure this would count as enough of an insult to be worth a fine. Or maybe it would be because of discrimination? But yeah, around here, you would get slapped with a fine if they found out who wrote it.

 

[Queen Michael]

Well I'm about to have the unpopular opinion because of my supportive stance of eugenics. Her method and words to carry out the opinion she expressed could've definitely be reworded to fit better. But when anything costs more economic money to keep alive, than it will ever possibly produce, than it's not worth it. Money is a representation of human effort...

...nnnnnnope.
For instance, trashy romance novels sell better than serious literature. Even if you believe that people should only exist if they contribute more than they take, then at least that's a valid opinion, though I don't agree with it. But the idea that money actually determines your worth as a human being just doesn't make any kind of sense. For instance, libraries make much less oney than bokstores, but do much more to imrpove the world.

 

[Kefo]

Okay I wont win any awards for this, but what if the mother is correct? Not the euthanasia part - that was way over the line. But about the child be a terror? And im not hounding the child, I'm hounding the parenting. My cousin is autistic - only slightly but still... and his parents never leave him alone. He is simply, mentally incapable of handling some situations. I can imagine being a young child in a neighborhood, riding my bike and being scared out of my mind by the child at the end of the block screaming in absolute rage at something. Again not blaming the kid or suggesting they even move. But it does seem like the parents are a little oblivious to the needs of their special needs child.

the mother(grandmother?) wrote a response letter that hopefully made the original letter writer feel like a douchebag. The important part of her letter was that the noise the kid makes while outside, that's them being happy.

I look after someone with a disability and when he gets really excited about something or really happy he will yell and scream. He isn't doing it to be an asshole, he is doing it because he cant talk so he lets everyone know by yelling. Granted if we are in a restaurant and he wont settle down after a bit I will take him outside to calm him down, but if we are already outside then anyone who complains will get a nice big "go fuck yourself" from me.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

But it does seem like the parents are a little oblivious to the needs of their special needs child.

Er...the only source you've got from that advocates harvesting the organs of kids she doesn't like.

Now, not saying that makes her wrong on everything, but it sorta raises a little doubt about her judgement.

Completely fair and true. She could have made the whole thing up. But if the child's parents are leaving him outside, alone and unsupervised and something/anything terrifies the kid...
again the child is not to blame. Bad parenting is. One or both parents should be with the special needs child almost constantly.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Snip

the mother(grandmother?) wrote a response letter that hopefully made the original letter writer feel like a douchebag. The important part of her letter was that the noise the kid makes while outside, that's them being happy.

I look after someone with a disability and when he gets really excited about something or really happy he will yell and scream. He isn't doing it to be an asshole, he is doing it because he cant talk so he lets everyone know by yelling. Granted if we are in a restaurant and he wont settle down after a bit I will take him outside to calm him down, but if we are already outside then anyone who complains will get a nice big "go fuck yourself" from me.

Awesome! And I'm not being sarcastic, truly if the sounds the child is making are ones of joy, that's great. I was worried it wasn't. that something had scared the child or he wanted attention and the parents were ignoring him. Like they just let the child out and said 'screw it, that's enough' and went to do something else.
But if the kid is happy and the parents are there to attest to that, then yes the letter writer can go fuck themselves.

 

[krazykidd]

The amount of hollier-than-thou attitudes in this thread is amusing . Either that or the escapist is the home of saints . While i disagree with HOW she said it , i understand WHY, and i agree . However , this wasn't a one time thing , and keeping shit bottled up for a periode of time makes matters worst . And that's most likely what happened . She just had enough .

I would have got with polite condescension , rather than angry rant , because that tends to get better results AND inflict more damage.

 

[Muspelheim]

The amount of hollier-than-thou attitudes in this thread is amusing . Either that or the escapist is the home of saints . While i disagree with HOW she said it , i understand WHY, and i agree . However , this wasn't a one time thing , and keeping shit bottled up for a periode of time makes matters worst . And that's most likely what happened . She just had enough .

I would have got with polite condescension , rather than angry rant , because that tends to get better results AND inflict more damage.

Inflict more damage? What do you mean?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Oh, did they track down the person who wrote the letter? The last I heard it was unknown who did it, but if they tracked her down...well, her life is about to become a living nightmare.

My best friend is autistic. I have stood up for him several times throughout our lives. If anyone ever said anything like this to him, or wrote a letter like this to him and I found out, I would probably end up in jail for assault.

 

[Poetic Nova]

I thought adults knew better? The kid can't do anything about his autism and saying he should be euthanised is beyond harsh.