A Letter That Will Make You Feel Uncomfortable at Best

[Sorter]

A family is in shock and a community has united after an anonymous hate letter was written about a young boy living with severe autism.

Karla Begley told CityNews her son Max, 13, stays with his grandmother in the morning during the summer time. It was at that home in Newcastle where letter was delivered on Friday.

“I was shaking when I was reading it,” Brenda Millson, Max’s grandmother, told CityNews. “It’s awful words. You don’t know why somebody would ever do such a thing.”

The typed, one-page letter refers to the young boy as a “nuisance” and a “wild animal” before suggesting the family move or “euthanize” the child.

Begley says the police have been contacted and should they have grounds, charges will be filed against the letter’s author.
http://www.citynews.ca/2013/08/18/fa...n-with-autism/

[Cephalic Trauma]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Disagreeing with a person telling a neighbor to euthanize their child isn't what I would call a "moral high horse".

You're not Frazod.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by patteeu

No doubt, except that some people might be intimidated by this particular guy's size.

In this case, I think the guy who got pissed on was at least somewhat aware that my friend's son was a special needs case so that probably helped.

I was in a store once and a small child (maybe 6 or 7) walked up to me and clamped onto my arm with his teeth. No discussion, no provocation, no warning. I was just standing there comparing potato chips and the next thing I know a small child is biting my arm. I was wearing a winter coat so he never came close to breaking skin, but there was an awkward moment or two while I was deciding what to do about it. His mother came running over and unclamped him, apologizing.

If you know the person is a special needs case, it certainly makes a difference in how you interpret it. It's probably pushing the limit to be urinated on, but at least he was in the shower already.

That's a tough cross for your friend to bear. I recognize that one has a love for one's children that is unique, but at the same time you don't go into it planning to be a caregiver to a large adult who can't control his behavior.

[Iowanian]

Regardless of how you feel about the topic, the letter itself is psychotic and about as asshole of a thing as you can say to the parent of a special needs child.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by tooge

plus, he probably figured he was reerun strong and didn't want to mess with him. The biggest key to reerun deterrence is to make sure that you stick and move. They are strong, but not very fast

It sounds like you have a lot of experience fighting people with developmental issues.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

Regardless of how you feel about the topic, the letter itself is psychotic and about as asshole of a thing as you can say to the parent of a special needs child.

This.

[Cephalic Trauma]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

It sounds like you have a lot of experience fighting people with developmental issues.

Including himself.

That post wasn't even funny.

[Squatch]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

Regardless of how you feel about the topic, the letter itself is psychotic and about as asshole of a thing as you can say to the parent of a special needs child.

The letter is bad for sure but, there really are people on this forum that stoop to that level regularly and that's why this thread is funny. Some of you guys are like, "It's an outrage!" but, have treated people the same way for years.

Originally Posted by Brock

Who's this, bugeater's pet hemmorhoid again?

Nope, I'm just a sasquatch lurking in the woods waiting patiently to strike.

Don't **** with the sasquatch!

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Squatch

Nope, I'm just a sasquatch lurking in the woods waiting patiently to strike.

Don't **** with the sasquatch!

Do you know Kris Wilson?

[Discuss Thrower]

I'd bet the writer wasn't a mother in the neighborhood but some basement dwelling neckbeard doing things for the lulz

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by frazod

One of my dad's best friends had a kid that was severely reeruned like this. He was a few years older than me, and big for his age anyway. God I hated going over to visit them. He had a sister that kept him at bay for the most part, but he would just do.... anything. He might slobber on you - he might punch you. He might break a lamp, or shit his pants. All while laughing, moaning or screaming - he was never quiet. I don't know how they kept sane.

I assume a lot of the people riding their moral high horses in this thread have never had to deal with one of these people in real life. It isn't exactly fun.

My son is 21, 6'4 and 285 lbs.....and is a gentle giant. And he has Apserger's with additional emotional issues that complicate matters worse. But we have controlled his behvior in a manner as to teach him what is acceptable and what is not. The issue lies in knowing the boundaries of when an adult child is capable of functioning in a social environment and when they need to be placed in a group home that can best help them live as normal a life as they can.

It sounds as if your dad's friends didn't know when to take the next steps.

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Probably, but it would be interesting to know the whole story. Just how much of a disturbance does this kid cause and is there anything the grandmother can do to minimize the impact on her neighbors? For all we know, the neighbors may have been politely trying to get the grandmother to take some reasonable steps to minimize a serious disturbance before someone resorted to this. Not that that would completely excuse a nasty letter like this, but it could cast it in a different light.

I've got a friend who has an autistic son who he started taking to the gym for exercise. The son is somewhere around 18 or 19 now, he's over 6' tall, he weighs over 200 lbs, and he has a history of temper and behavior issues. After doing their thing at the gym, my friend and his son were getting changed in the lockerroom and the son went over to the shower area, walked right up next to a man who was taking a shower and took a piss on him and started laughing because he thought it was funny. It's hard to fault my friend for wanting to get his son some exercise or for failing to be riding his son so closely that the young man couldn't pull a stunt like that (he does keep a pretty close eye on him), but on the other hand, the guy who was minding his own business taking a shower shouldn't have to deal with that kind of thing. Fortunately for my friend, the man accepted his apology and didn't make a big deal out of it. But I think the trips to the gym ended, at least for a while. Can you imagine a full grown man walking over to you in the shower and taking a piss on you? The autistic guy didn't know it was wrong, but that sure doesn't make it right.

Sounds like this wasn't the first time for this type of behavior....and the parent took a chance he wasn't prepared for.

And your first paragraph....sorry but I disagree. There is no type of explanation for writing a letter like this person did.

EVER.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Ok, just so I can better understand; which opinions expressed in this thread were the "moral high horse" ones?

Pretty much the entire thread. I'm not as easily manipulated as others when it comes to heartstring-tugging news stories.

I also notice you didn't answer my question. But that's okay - we already know the answer, don't we?

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

My son is 21, 6'4 and 285 lbs.....and is a gentle giant. And he has Apserger's with additional emotional issues that complicate matters worse. But we have controlled his behvior in a manner as to teach him what is acceptable and what is not. The issue lies in knowing the boundaries of when an adult child is capable of functioning in a social environment and when they need to be placed in a group home that can best help them live as normal a life as they can.

It sounds as if your dad's friends didn't know when to take the next steps.

Keep in mind, this was 40 years ago, and I only interacted with the kid (who is still alive and in his 50s now) a handful of times. He wasn't malicious in any way, and that was obvious. But he was definitely out of control. I can't really say whether they could or couldn't have done better.

I'm still friends with his sister. He's living in some sort of home now, and apparently other than getting older he really hasn't changed at all.

[Frosty]

I read part of a thread on this on a Snopes FB post. There were a bunch of people on there claiming the letter writer should be charged with a hate crime.

Orwell was an optimist.

[Mosbonian]

I'm going to go with the "most people don't have an effing clue what it is like to live with a Special Needs child" explanation for many of the responses on here.

And making light of the situation shows, for the moment, you are showing a lack of class.