Skip to main content

Parents Killing Children…

We've had a number of stories lately on mothers killing autistic or possibly autistic children.

What can anyone say about this? Children are stressful, normal or not. Depression, stress, lack of supports, et cetera, are not excuses to kill. I do not doubt depression is real in some cases, but I do not tolerate any excuse for killing children. Even if we don't have perfect supports, there are supports in most cities and counties. Families also have a responsibility to intervene. It is impossible for me to imagine no one was aware problems were present before these children were killed.

The association of autism with infanticide is a common theme in media. I won't bother listing examples.

Labels:

Comments

  1. Larry Arnold PhD FRSAJuly 30, 2010 at 5:49 PM

    It's not just autistic children though, the problem is that "we" tend to have too narrow a focus on autism only news items, but there is that case in France now, nothing to do with autism whatever. It's not autism it is killing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. PoetCSWJuly 30, 2010 at 6:14 PM

    No evidence in at least one of the cases that the child was autistic. Colorado authorities think it was used as a justification -- the argument autism is so stressful, the mother feared it so much, that she was temporarily insane.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ClayJuly 31, 2010 at 3:08 PM

    I see that Saiqa Akhter is going to make a plea of being "mentally insane" at the time of the killing. Yeah, that's the only thing that could save her. Ah well, she must have been. The whole thing is just sad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJuly 31, 2010 at 10:17 PM

    It is incredibly tragic.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments violating the policies of this blog will not be approved for posting. Language and content should be appropriate for all readers and maintain a polite tone. Thank you.

Popular posts from this blog

Autistic Burnout

Summer demands a lot of social energy, especially for parents. For autistics, the never-ending social calendar of summer can cause serious autistic burnout. Host C. S. Wyatt discusses his need to find a balance between social demands and self-care. Check out this episode!
Post a Comment
Read more

ABA and NARTH

There must be something better out there. I'm not sure what, but the more I interview functional adults with autism who received ABA-based or similar therapies, the more I know there must be a better approach. The problem is, I have no idea what that "better approach" is. I'm not a psychologist. I'm a language arts and autism specialist. My research is on how autistic students learn to master written communication (which doesn't really mean "written" in all cases). I am not a therapist. I am not a counselor. But there has to be a better way to help students and young children. I am not suggesting all ABA-based therapies in use today are bad. I sincerely believe ABA must be revised, researched, and ideally all connections to anything Lovaas did forgotten to history. I'd even like to see whatever evolution occurs to have a name other than "ABA-based therapy." The history and associations are that troubling. So, understand I'm ca...
19 comments
Read more

More on Autism Puzzle Piece Logos, Symbols, Ribbons

I joined Twitter on the first day of 2011 ( @autisticme ). I also joined a Twibe (seriously?) and registered with WeFollow.com to learn more about what autism-related Twitter feeds might exist. Within a few days, I was already observing a familiar debate. In fact, it the debate I described in the single most-viewed blog entry of The Autistic Me, which dates back to 2008 (see " Logos, Symbols, and Ribbons "). Various "Aspie Advocates" are still protesting the puzzle piece. I'm sure they will be protesting the puzzle piece next year, in five years, and a decade from now. The "neurodiverstiy" (ND) movement doesn't like the puzzle piece. (Everyone's brain is different: neurological diversity is a fact of life.) Honestly, I don't care for the puzzle piece either. I've written and said that I find it personally off-putting. If I am a puzzle, I'm not more or less of a puzzle than most human beings. I'm told, "Oh, no, it is autism ...
10 comments
Read more