Autism Links
For those who haven't seen them yet, I have two stories that went national in the past couple of weeks to share. In both, I truly sympathize with the parents. In the first, I think the parents should sue the pants of of someone. In the second, I think that the parents, while desperate and in need of support and assistance, are not the ones who are right and, with the information I have, I would tend to agree with the church.
Teacher Has Kindergarteners Vote Boy Out Of Class
Melissa Barton says Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo had her son's classmates say what they didn't like about 5-year-old Alex. She says the teacher then had the students vote, and voted Alex, who is being evaluated for Asperger's syndrome -- an autism spectrum disorder -- out of the class by a 14-2 margin.
The state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed.
Full story
Video of full interview with mom
The teacher, who is being investigated, apparently doesn't think she did anything wrong. The school had brought in extra support for Alex "a couple of times a week" but it sounds like, even though it was a small class (17 kids) that the teacher needed extra help and that Alex needed extra help. Apparently some of the kids' complaints were, "We don't like that you eat crayons. We don't like that you hide under the desks. We don't like that you spin around." It's just sad in every way.
Minnesota Church Gets Restraining Order Against Autistic Boy
Full Story
The Race family has seven children, including 13-year old Adam, who is severely autistic, over six feet tall, 225 lbs, and not entirely potty trained.
Full Story and photo
The priest of the small-town parish fears injuries from the teen's behavior, but autism advocates are rallying behind his parents. The boy's mother says: "I can't discipline him out of his autism, and I think that's what our priest is expecting."
Fr. Walz alleges that Adam struck a child during mass and has nearly knocked elderly people over when he abruptly bolts from church. He also spits and sometimes urinates in church and fights efforts to restrain him, Walz wrote, and that Adam once pulled an adolescent girl -- an exchange student staying with the family -- on top of him, grabbing her thighs and buttocks. At Easter, Walz alleged, Adam ran from the church, got into the family van and started it, then got into someone else's car, started it and revved up the engine.
"There were people directly in front of the car who could have been injured or killed if he had put the car in gear" Walz wrote.
Carol offered a different perspective. She said her son once brushed against a parishioner who almost lost balance. Adam makes spitting faces but doesn't actually spit, she said, and he has an occasional incontinence problem.
She and John sometimes sit on him because their weight is calming to him, she said. He pulled the exchange student onto his lap for that reason, she said, and wasn't grabbing at her.
They also use soft fleece strips to sometimes bind Adam's hands and occasionally his feet because it calms him, she said. The Easter incident occurred when Adam got into the driver's seat of a car that had already been started and revved the engine because he's drawn to engines, she said.
"What are we supposed to do, literally lock our kids away so no one has to see this for the rest of their lives?" an autism advocate said. "Adam's a big boy and he is intimidating because they don't understand him. Adam makes sounds like any kid, but there were babies making a heck of a lot more ruckus than Adam was."
All I can think is that, yeah, but the babie are wearing diapers and aren't going to accidentally run someone over with a car. The sad fact of the matter is, until we are better able to help families and kids and adults affected by autism, that some kids who can't be controlled and who are large and strong will need to be placed in residential care for everyone's safety. It sucks. It's sad (wrenching). It's not easy. But there are still no good answers for this, and I wonder about the safety and comfort of the other six kids in that family, all of whom, based on what the dad says, are probably expected to "understand" that Adam "doesn't mean it" when he hurts people. And, sadly, that doesn't mean that he's not hurting them and DOES mean that he'll hurt them AGAIN because he DOESN'T UNDERSTAND.
These are the kinds of stories where I remember just HOW lucky I am with myself, my son, my kids' school.
Teacher Has Kindergarteners Vote Boy Out Of Class
Melissa Barton says Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo had her son's classmates say what they didn't like about 5-year-old Alex. She says the teacher then had the students vote, and voted Alex, who is being evaluated for Asperger's syndrome -- an autism spectrum disorder -- out of the class by a 14-2 margin.
The state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed.
Full story
Video of full interview with mom
The teacher, who is being investigated, apparently doesn't think she did anything wrong. The school had brought in extra support for Alex "a couple of times a week" but it sounds like, even though it was a small class (17 kids) that the teacher needed extra help and that Alex needed extra help. Apparently some of the kids' complaints were, "We don't like that you eat crayons. We don't like that you hide under the desks. We don't like that you spin around." It's just sad in every way.
Minnesota Church Gets Restraining Order Against Autistic Boy
Full Story
The Race family has seven children, including 13-year old Adam, who is severely autistic, over six feet tall, 225 lbs, and not entirely potty trained.
Full Story and photo
The priest of the small-town parish fears injuries from the teen's behavior, but autism advocates are rallying behind his parents. The boy's mother says: "I can't discipline him out of his autism, and I think that's what our priest is expecting."
Fr. Walz alleges that Adam struck a child during mass and has nearly knocked elderly people over when he abruptly bolts from church. He also spits and sometimes urinates in church and fights efforts to restrain him, Walz wrote, and that Adam once pulled an adolescent girl -- an exchange student staying with the family -- on top of him, grabbing her thighs and buttocks. At Easter, Walz alleged, Adam ran from the church, got into the family van and started it, then got into someone else's car, started it and revved up the engine.
"There were people directly in front of the car who could have been injured or killed if he had put the car in gear" Walz wrote.
Carol offered a different perspective. She said her son once brushed against a parishioner who almost lost balance. Adam makes spitting faces but doesn't actually spit, she said, and he has an occasional incontinence problem.
She and John sometimes sit on him because their weight is calming to him, she said. He pulled the exchange student onto his lap for that reason, she said, and wasn't grabbing at her.
They also use soft fleece strips to sometimes bind Adam's hands and occasionally his feet because it calms him, she said. The Easter incident occurred when Adam got into the driver's seat of a car that had already been started and revved the engine because he's drawn to engines, she said.
"What are we supposed to do, literally lock our kids away so no one has to see this for the rest of their lives?" an autism advocate said. "Adam's a big boy and he is intimidating because they don't understand him. Adam makes sounds like any kid, but there were babies making a heck of a lot more ruckus than Adam was."
All I can think is that, yeah, but the babie are wearing diapers and aren't going to accidentally run someone over with a car. The sad fact of the matter is, until we are better able to help families and kids and adults affected by autism, that some kids who can't be controlled and who are large and strong will need to be placed in residential care for everyone's safety. It sucks. It's sad (wrenching). It's not easy. But there are still no good answers for this, and I wonder about the safety and comfort of the other six kids in that family, all of whom, based on what the dad says, are probably expected to "understand" that Adam "doesn't mean it" when he hurts people. And, sadly, that doesn't mean that he's not hurting them and DOES mean that he'll hurt them AGAIN because he DOESN'T UNDERSTAND.
These are the kinds of stories where I remember just HOW lucky I am with myself, my son, my kids' school.