Posted: 9:01 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013
Neighbor's note: Euthanize your autistic son

Newcastle, Ontario —

Shocking, disgusting, neither of those terms may adequately describe an anonymous note the mother of a severly autistic child received recently from one of her neighbors. The mother of the 13-year-old special needs child says the author of the note was upset over the boy's "whaling" when he goes outside to play.

The note contains such horrific lines as "Do the right thing and move or euthanize him!" and researchers should "take whatever non retarded body parts he possesses and donate it to science."

http://m.whiotv.com/news/news/national/neighbors-note-euthanize-your-autistic-son/nZTFQ/

Obviously a disgusting note, but to play Devil's advocate, I have to say that, assuming the letter-writer's description is accurate, having your neighbor's kid frequently wailing in the front yard like that must be pretty unpleasant. I'm not saying kids with those issues should be locked up and hidden from view 24/7, of course, but some consideration for your neighbors is certainly called for. At least a couple of the suggestions in that letter - go to the park or the nature trail instead of leaving him in the front yard and move (if/when possible) to a less densely-populated neighborhood - seem like reasonable courtesies that I would try to take if I was the parent.

Is the author an idiot who butchers the English language? Yes!

Obviously a disgusting note, but to play Devil's advocate, I have to say that, assuming the letter-writer's description is accurate, having your neighbor's kid frequently wailing in the front yard like that must be pretty unpleasant. I'm not saying kids with those issues should be locked up and hidden from view 24/7, of course, but some consideration for your neighbors is certainly called for. At least a couple of the suggestions in that letter - go to the park or the nature trail instead of leaving him in the front yard and move (if/when possible) to a less densely-populated neighborhood - seem like reasonable courtesies that I would try to take if I was the parent.

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and verbal and non-verbal communication, and by restricted, repetitive or stereotyped behavior. The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child is three years old.[2] Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood.[3] It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met.[4]

So a child with a disability should not be allowed to just go play in his front yard? Assuming he's on his property, during the day (i.e. no reasonable expectation of quiet hours), what's the problem? This horrible woman is obviously making exceptions for certain types of noise (i.e. music and dogs) but not his noise? What if I decide your music or dog is unpleasant? What if I decide your ugly face is unpleasant?

I'm not saying the kid should never be allowed to play in his front yard; I'm just saying that if his wailing is a frequent issue when he's outside, then the mother should take steps to limit the inconvenience to her neighbors. And yes, if I was playing loud music outside on a daily basis or my dog was constantly barking, I think it would be perfectly reasonable for my neighbors to find that annoying and inconsiderate of me. In addition, most people really do find certain noises more annoying and out-of-the-ordinary than others. Having my stereo pump out 100-db of Bon Jovi in my backyard might annoy some people, but pumping out 100-db of nails on a chalkboard is undoubtedly worse. I'm gonna guess that a wailing autistic kid is also pretty high on the list of annoying sounds for most people.

Fair enough, but you didn't address the ugly face issue.

Apparently the boy's mother is wheelchair-bound with multiple sclerosis, just to make teh whole thing more fun.

Ah, well in that case, the neighbors can just **** deal, and the letter-writer can go to an even deeper circle of hell at his or her convenience.

Why does the mother being wheelchair bound have the slightest relevance on her responsibility to police her child?

Lord, look at some of the online discussions regarding children and airplanes.