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

[Lilani]

They do sound pretty bad, is there seriously nothing people can do to control them? From what you've described, the angry letter doesn't sound so far fetched with it's description of a "wild animal kid". I suppose I'm just too optimistic that things will work out.

In the case of severe autism, no, there really isn't any reasoning or way to control them. I live down the road from a severely autistic girl, and last summer her mother accidentally left the front door open for just a few minutes, and in that time the girl simply vanished. They had to keep the door locked all the time because she would just run off. She was nonverbal (she can still make vocalizations, but they aren't specific words), so there's no way shouting for her would work. In fact, she was prone to run away even more if she felt somebody was coming after her. She also never wore shoes (she'd throw a fit if you tried to put them on her), which was a problem because we live around a wooded area so apart from being lost there was a good chance she could step on something and hurt herself. One of my cousins found her an hour and a half later, but that was only after sniffer dogs had been through the area and about 80 miles away a helicopter with a heat-seeking camera had been deployed and was heading our way.

There are a few tricks--autistic people are often prone to sticking to very strict schedules, and they can sometimes be very fixated on certain things (for example, not wearing shoes). So the best you can do is get them on a regular schedule and learn their fixations, and likes and dislikes. But there is a point where it's so severe that there aren't many patterns to be found.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

As someone with an older brother that has autism that lady can just fuck right off.

I don't care who the hell she thinks she is, but there's no reason to say shit like that. It's cruel, vile, and show casing what a horrible human being she is. Would it behoove her to ask the kid's parents if everything is okay, or even about autistic behavior? Or would that be too much of a hassle for her? Fuck's sake...

*sigh*

We're never going to see Jim's dragon dildo aren't we?

No, we will never see it.

I guess only in our wildest dreams will we ever get to see it.

 

[Zeldias]

It should be noted that the mother has multiple sclerosis, undoubtedly making care for her autistic son much more difficult. Instead of being a human being with some miniscule shed of decency and empathy, the author of this hate letter has chosen to do nothing but cause more pain and anguish for this family. Bravo...you worthless sack of shit.

A rational and polite letter regarding the amount of noise her son makes would have been acceptable(and far more constructive). The letter sent was nothing but selfish bigotry designed only to provoke and hurt. Seriously, the author of the letter needs to take their own advice and euthanize themselves...few tears would be shed.

With the rest of the neighbourhood rallying around the mother and son, I sincerely hope the selfish prick who wrote the letter is found out and completely ostracized. The fact that the neighbourhood is so supportive suggests that the autistic boy is not overly problematic. The mother has vowed to never move and I commend her for taking a stand. If anyone has a problem with her family then THEY are free to move to a new neighbourhood.

Neighbours living in a compassionate society support one another in times of need. Such a sentiment is becoming a thing of the past as our society is slowly becoming excessively selfish and rude. I may be speaking in hyperbole, but it seems the future will be rather intolerable if our culture continues down this path. Try to think what the mother's life is like for a moment, a bit of noise outside seems rather insignificant in comparison.

Took the words out of my mouth. Gotta be a vile and loathsome shit to write a letter to a parent saying you wish his/her kid was dead. This is before even considering the cruelty of saying that to a person with MS caring for a severely autistic child.

I mean, fucking god damn, I hate children, but you'd think if a kid was outside screaming a bunch, you'd check in, and see if there's anything you can do maybe. Hope that ***** finds a store to purchase both empathy and earplugs.

 

[TAGM]

And you all hypocrites, ask yourself and answer honsetly. Just how many times did you say or think something along the lines "I'm going to kill you"? No, it wasn't different, it's exactly the same. And putting those thoughts onto paper instead of keeping them to yourself doesn't make her more of monster, or you less.

No.
Just no. That's just wrong on a basic level.
Ok, lemme just give you a test here:
Quick, don't think about kicking a panda!
Now, I'm guessing you couldn't help but think about kicking a panda, because your brain recognized the words, and the thought crossed your mind. Maybe, maybe not.
Well, if you did, that makes you as evil and wrong as the people that go out and actually kick pandas.
Except it DOESN'T. And the key point here is control.
Controlling our thoughts is a difficult, even impossible business. Controlling our reaction to those thoughts is another different matter. After all, by the time you've thought to yourself that you shouldn't be thinking something, opps! You've already thought it.
If anyone else thought to themselves "Maybe I should write a letter to that family and tell them that their son is better off dead!" I would hope their response to the thought would be "Wait, no, that's a horrible idea, let's NOT do that," And not "Hey, yeah, that's a good one! In fact, I'm gonna go do that right now!" And then go and do it.

Unless you're suggesting that we punish people for things out of their control. Which, considering you're basically suggesting that autistic people are better off dead, despite them maybe not wanting to be...
In which case: Welcome to the Thought Police!

 

[Ferisar]

I think she's a huge *****, that's pretty much it. Most people have some weird death-fantasies surrounding their lives because that's how they let the steam off. Mind you, she's still psycho for sending an actual fucking letter. Who does that?

Also, I have a neighbor who has two kids who suffer from something similar. Loud every day in the backyard. After a week living here, I tuned it out. No one can help it happening, so people need to stop spilling their shit over it. The only thing I could do is feel bad for the parents and the kid themselves, not want them to die.

God damned idiocy.

EDIT:
Oh, by the way, to everyone out there who's somehow justifying this as a normal act of tension release: it would be if it wasn't you know, WRITTEN ON PAPER and SENT.

 

[chinangel]

The autistic boy wasn't living with the woman, he only visits on occasion as the woman is his grandmother, and they let the boy play outside where he makes noise.

I don't CARE how loud teh child is being, this letter was cruel, hateful and uncalled for and resulted in an entire community coming out to give their support to the autistic child and speak against the letter.

Many state that they've never even heard the boy making noise, speaking to that whomever wrote the letter is probably exaggerating, angry and has little impulse control.

The authorities are also investigating as they're trying to find if the letter is prosecutable under abuse or not.

 

[BOOM headshot65]

Also, retard is a medical term.

Fun Fact: It actually isnt anymore. Not in the US anyway. It was changed to "Mentally Challenged" a year or 2 ago in all offical government documents and medical papers.

Ah yeah, the "right to live".

Over millions of years, there was a thing called natural selection. Those who were unfit for survival either died young or got slain by their parents, that goes for both animals and humans.

But thanks to medical, technical and agricultural progress, natural selection does not apply to us anymore. We give mother nature the finger and keep everything remotely breathing that resembles a human being alive as long as humanly possible. Because we can. And because we can, it's suddenly considered immoral to not do it.

And that is a good thing. Screw Darwinism, we should try to help those less fortuanate mentally and physically, and do everything we can for them. I dont give a rats ass if it loses us money, that is a horrible metric to go by.

Your kid was born with severe brain damage and/or deformations and would normally die within a week? Of course you have to spend hundreds of thousands on treatment, therapy and equipment to make sure it remains in this state as long as possible. Because some self-righteous people say you have to. Because morals and stuff.

No, its because they are my child and I will be damned if I let them pass from this Earth without a fight. If there is even a tiny percentage that they will survive, we keep fighting. As an aside, here in Kansas those "expensive medical bills" are actually pretty cheap since everything else here is. A surgury that could cost $100,000 in California would cost $10,000 tops here.

Remember, we're talking about a teenager who spends his days running screaming through the garden here. There's room for doubt he's even aware of the concept of life and death.

And why, exactly, does this mean he should be euthinized?!

Btw, has your asperger been diagnosed? Because the internet is full of people who self-diagnose to explain their lack of social skills.

As a matter of fact, yes I was. After 3rd grade when I was bullied everyday to the point of making myself physically sick so I would have to go to school (My parents told me that would couldnt go to school if you threw up within the last 24 hours, so I stuck my hand in my mouth until I gagged and threw up) and a principal who said I was faking it all to get attention (which made my mom furious, and now as a principal herself, you do NOT do something that could in any way be considered bullying lest you face her wrath). I have all of the stuff that comes with it. Obsession over a few narrow topics (Politics, Military History/Weapons/Tactics/Commanders, Old Cars), Photographic Memory (with the downside of hallucinations, almost always stuff from my memory), slow speaking, daily rituals that CAN NOT BE CHANGED AND MUST HAPPEN THE SAME! ALWAYS!!, giving no shit about the social mores, and of course, social problems. Although, that last one has gotten better since I am working a job that forces me to be social. But its gone from "Will ONLY talk to friends, family, and authority figures (police, fire, doctors, teachers, etc)" to "Will make very one sided conversation with strangers." I will usually just comment on the weather or say nothing unless they talk to me, and ask them if they are finding everything ok. And thats about it.

 

[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.

 

[CriticalMiss]

It's telling that the person who wrote this decided not to put their own name on it, clearly it's such an important matter to them yet they don't want to actually let anyone know who they are. I wonder why? She's also an imbecile who doesn't know how punctuation works and thinks letting children go outside is selfish. It's horrible to think this person has spawned children too, probably brainwashing them to think 'retards' should be chopped up for science instead of helped or tolerated. Maybe when we find out who this was we can chop up their brain and get scientists to find the 'moronic, anonymous letter-writing' centre of the brain.

 

[Angelous Wang]

*sigh*

We're never going to see Jim's dragon dildo aren't we?

1. This was not done by a gamer, that we know of anyway.
2. This was not even done via the internet (like the fan hate was).

Therefore it is not within Jim's scope, or otherwise you would never get to see it because someone human is always doing something fucking stupid like this, everyday, forever.

 

[Vareoth]

File a suit against her for issued threats and harassment, lock her up and throw away the key. That ***** needs a good smack down so that she might learn her place in this world.

 

[Raggedstar]

As someone who's sibling is autistic, I think it's reasonable for myself to have a say in this thread. And much of it can be summed up as "stay classy, you asshole", especially since this happened about an hour away from me.

My sister is autistic, and while not as low as some people, she's by no means Asperger's. She goes to a special class, special camp, therapy, with various workers. It's not easy, that's for sure. Even with best efforts from teachers, family, and doctors, you can't always solve certain problems. She's known to be rather loud at times, not understand orders, repeatedly do bad things instructed for over 10 years to not do, and has been known to lash out violently. By no means worse than some other kids, but it got bad sometimes. This lady is complaining of NOISE? Puh! You see girls with PMS? Ya, try a hormonal autistic girl with PMS attack you while you're just sitting on the couch, biting at your scalp and banging at your chest. A friend of the family also has an autistic boy (who's 6 feet and towers over her mother) who even with medication will violently lash out and hurt his mother sometimes.

I understand frustration among neighbours and family members regarding autism, but there is a difference between a formal noise complaint or talking to the family, and sending an anonymous letter saying a kid doesn't deserve to live is another thing. I know my sister has been reported once for throwing a beer bottle (seemingly) at a woman walking by. Police got involved, no one was hurt, but no charges and the police just did some registration paper work stuff (I wasn't there, so I can't tell the specifics). Most of the neighbours are aware of my sister's condition and are usually co-operative.

And for those saying "why can't the kid just be sent to a home?" it's a bit complicated. First of all, there's a massive waiting list. There's even waiting lists for temporary housing or funding for therapy (which honestly doesn't cover much and only lasts for a year or so). Sometimes exceptions are made, but I doubt noise is one of them. I'm not aware of costs to send them to these special homes, but I can't imagine they would be cheap. There's also not enough houses or qualified workers to satisfy the growing need.

Though on the specifics of autism, people like Lilani explained it quite well.

Everyone's autistic nowadays.

Just the fact I have been diagnosed despite me doing perfectly fine in school and even having a couple friends since elementary amazes me.

Autism has a broad spectrum and some higher functioning people can get along fine. You have people that are autistic and can function decently in the real world (perhaps with a few non-debilitating symptoms) and then there are the autistics who can barely communicate or even violent, perhaps mixed with other health problems too (like seizures). Guidance counselors and family members have been suspicious of myself having Asperger's (my parents mostly focused on my full-blown autistic sister and didn't bother diagnosing myself despite some of my learning and social issues), yet I've graduated college last year in one of my province's most demanding programs and managed to get myself provincial registration in the field. Temple Grandin is autistic an is not only a veterinarian but helped lead an ongoing reform in the treatment of slaughterhouse animals. She can function well, though from seeing some of her interactions, she definitely seems "off".

 

[Andrew Giarrusso]

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.

This was in Canada, I believe.

 

[Kanova]

Everyone is saying that there is absolutely no way to control the kid, he just has to do it. Does it go away ever? Do you have to take care of him until you die? Will he scream and howl until he dies? I would vote in favor of euthanasia. Easier on everyone.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

if the child is outside and constantly wailing, there is something wrong. The article lacks a hell of a lot of context, but it gives me the impression that the child is not getting the care and attention they need, if they really are constantly wailing.
Then again, this article is too vague. I understand the difficulty of being in an apartement close to people making a lot of noise (music, babies, sex, etc.) but this person seems to have gone over the edge.

My sentiments exactly. Maybe it's autism so severe that all they really know how to do is scream and yell, but even if that's the case, letting them do so constantly where they can annoy everybody in the neighborhood is downright disrespectful to your neighbors. If the kid is so autistic that they can't be taught not to scream, soundproof a room for them.

Hopefully this is at very least a wakeup call for the parents that letting their screaming kid loose for the rest of the world to deal with is inconsiderate. As nasty and rude of a response as this was I think it should be noted that it's not a baseless attack on her child, it's a retaliation to what her child has been doing. It's far from an appropriate one, but people lash out while their at wits end, and I get the impression that this woman was.

 

[Bluestorm83]

Yeah, honestly, my reaction wouldn't be "THAT DAMN AUTISTIC KID!" because an Autistic Kid CAN'T understand that he's being annoying. That's one of the things autism does, they can't, literally CAN'T consider other people. INSTEAD, my reaction would be "WHAT FUCKING IDIOTS AREN'T GETTING THEIR AUTISTIC CHILD THE HELP THAT HE NEEDS, AND ABANDONS HIM OUTSIDE TO WAIL AND NASH HIS TEETH?!?!?!?" I'd then write a letter to the Autistic Child's GRANDPARENTS, informing them of how their horrible children are treating this poor lonely autistic boy.

 

[Bluestorm83]

Everyone is saying that there is absolutely no way to control the kid, he just has to do it. Does it go away ever? Do you have to take care of him until you die? Will he scream and howl until he dies? I would vote in favor of euthanasia. Easier on everyone.

That's not entirely accurate. Autistic people can't really consider other people, but they are self-aware. If you can make this child equate being quiet with getting what he wants, and also equate wailing and screaming with not getting what he wants, he'll at least be able to be around other people. Don't have to mistreat him, just wait for a time he's being quiet, and give him a thing that he really enjoys. When he's causing horrid disturbances, bring him inside and let him scream until he tires himself out. Once he stops and is quiet for a while, then give him that thing again. Eventually he'll make the connection.

Sure, Autistic people can never really 100% stand on their own, but they have their own talents that can be the most amazing things you can imagine. The stereotype of the idiot savant is a bit played out, but it is based somewhat in reality. We have a big society, and there's a gap for everyone to fill.

 

[Andrew Giarrusso]

So, because I have autism, I'm not allowed to have kids?

I'm sorry but FUCK THAT.

I'm not saying I will be a father someday, nor do I want to be one anytime soon. And I can kinda agree in the sense that if a person is unable to care for themselves, it might not be a good idea for them to have kids.

But saying that people like me should be prevented from breeding just because we may "taint the gene pool" as you say, it sorta comes off as disgusting.

Have a pleasant day mein fuhrer.

And now, mods, you are free to punish me.

Of course it comes off disgusting. We have morals of 'the right to live'. Without natural selection we're progressively making our gene pool worse and worse, because we never let anyone die with science and medicine. That also goes for the fact we keep treating minor diseases with AB's so we're forcing them to become drug resistant. I'm not saying you don't deserve to have kids, but it's better for the humans as a species. Life isn't fair, some people are rolled unlucky lives. All I can say if you want to have kids, but have a genetic disability is to adopt. There's thousands and thousands of kids suffering with no parent. No one to care for them. Adopt them, show love to them. They're suffering, and compared to making other people suffer with giving birth to someone with a disability, adopting is so much better.
POST SCRIPT: Also due note, that many people diagnosed with autism/ADHD/many other disabilities actually do not have them. Our current society(Atleast in America. Yay America) has a HUGE habbit of over diagnoses. In America 80% of males are diagnosed with ADHD, but only ten percent of them actually have it.(I don't actually have a citation to it. It was a factoid that I remember in one of my classes)

snip

As a person with asperger's, I have decided to have 4 children purely in spite of you.

 

[Tenkage]

So, because I have autism, I'm not allowed to have kids?

I'm sorry but FUCK THAT.

I'm not saying I will be a father someday, nor do I want to be one anytime soon. And I can kinda agree in the sense that if a person is unable to care for themselves, it might not be a good idea for them to have kids.

But saying that people like me should be prevented from breeding just because we may "taint the gene pool" as you say, it sorta comes off as disgusting.

Have a pleasant day mein fuhrer.

And now, mods, you are free to punish me.

Of course it comes off disgusting. We have morals of 'the right to live'. Without natural selection we're progressively making our gene pool worse and worse, because we never let anyone die with science and medicine. That also goes for the fact we keep treating minor diseases with AB's so we're forcing them to become drug resistant. I'm not saying you don't deserve to have kids, but it's better for the humans as a species. Life isn't fair, some people are rolled unlucky lives. All I can say if you want to have kids, but have a genetic disability is to adopt. There's thousands and thousands of kids suffering with no parent. No one to care for them. Adopt them, show love to them. They're suffering, and compared to making other people suffer with giving birth to someone with a disability, adopting is so much better.
POST SCRIPT: Also due note, that many people diagnosed with autism/ADHD/many other disabilities actually do not have them. Our current society(Atleast in America. Yay America) has a HUGE habbit of over diagnoses. In America 80% of males are diagnosed with ADHD, but only ten percent of them actually have it.(I don't actually have a citation to it. It was a factoid that I remember in one of my classes)

snip

As a person with asperger's, I have decided to have 4 children purely in spite of you.

As someone with Aspergers, I say, "I hope the birthing does well, and may they be happy with a fun loving family ^_^"

 

[BOOM headshot65]

So, because I have autism, I'm not allowed to have kids?

I'm sorry but FUCK THAT.

I'm not saying I will be a father someday, nor do I want to be one anytime soon. And I can kinda agree in the sense that if a person is unable to care for themselves, it might not be a good idea for them to have kids.

But saying that people like me should be prevented from breeding just because we may "taint the gene pool" as you say, it sorta comes off as disgusting.

Have a pleasant day mein fuhrer.

And now, mods, you are free to punish me.

Of course it comes off disgusting. We have morals of 'the right to live'. Without natural selection we're progressively making our gene pool worse and worse, because we never let anyone die with science and medicine. That also goes for the fact we keep treating minor diseases with AB's so we're forcing them to become drug resistant. I'm not saying you don't deserve to have kids, but it's better for the humans as a species. Life isn't fair, some people are rolled unlucky lives. All I can say if you want to have kids, but have a genetic disability is to adopt. There's thousands and thousands of kids suffering with no parent. No one to care for them. Adopt them, show love to them. They're suffering, and compared to making other people suffer with giving birth to someone with a disability, adopting is so much better.
POST SCRIPT: Also due note, that many people diagnosed with autism/ADHD/many other disabilities actually do not have them. Our current society(Atleast in America. Yay America) has a HUGE habbit of over diagnoses. In America 80% of males are diagnosed with ADHD, but only ten percent of them actually have it.(I don't actually have a citation to it. It was a factoid that I remember in one of my classes)

snip

As a person with asperger's, I have decided to have 4 children purely in spite of you.

As someone with Aspergers, I say, "I hope the birthing does well, and may they be happy with a fun loving family ^_^"

I am already way ahead of both of you, considering that someone on here already said I was a terrible person for wanting to have my own biological children with my girlfriend (who also has Aspergers) because there is a chance they could have Aspergers too, which is, imo, not that bad. They have theropy for social problems and there are more benefits than downsides as far as I am concerned. Of course, I may be biased. Just a little :3