Shocking story, but truly representative of our lives

[espadrille]

I guess looking at some of the replies in this thread is just an indication of what we are up against every day.

The OP is actually a she , not a he by the way.

Well they do say that ignorance is bliss, for the individual of course but not the people who are affected by the ignorance such as the mother of the boy in the article.

[espadrille]

So what you're saying is that you could walk if you wanted to, you just use a wheelchair cause it's more fun?

 

Stop being so PC - if someone has a disability it means they can't do many things non-disabled can do, therefore they're a sufferer. Unless you think being disabled is a good thing?

 

But back to the article the OP linked to, I'm not sure I get what point he's trying to make. Surely if your kid keeps trying to do stupid things you should tell him not to do them and punish him if necessary rather than inventing a mental condition to blame it on? People have to take responsibility for their own behaviour and parents need to teach their kids to do so as well.

 

Of course Asperger Syndrome is not a mental condition though is it?

[NoddyHolder]

I just dont see how a ten y o would want to commit suicide,the very act of taking his own life should surely be unknown to him at that age.

[Dozy]

So what you're saying is that you could walk if you wanted to, you just use a wheelchair cause it's more fun?

 

Stop being so PC - if someone has a disability it means they can't do many things non-disabled can do, therefore they're a sufferer. Unless you think being disabled is a good thing?

 

But back to the article the OP linked to, I'm not sure I get what point he's trying to make. Surely if your kid keeps trying to do stupid things you should tell him not to do them and punish him if necessary rather than inventing a mental condition to blame it on? People have to take responsibility for their own behaviour and parents need to teach their kids to do so as well.

My bold

 

Unbelievable!

 

I'll bet you think the best cure for clinical depression is to tell people to "pull themselves together"!!

 

The lad is mentally ill - why is it so difficult to grasp that fact?? Or do you really think it's normal for a 10 year old to self-harm and keep trying to commit suicide??

[Grahame]

Families like this need all the help, love and support we can give them. My heart goes out to everyone in this situation.

 

[espadrille]

Families like this need all the help, love and support we can give them. My heart goes out to everyone in this situation.

 

 

Thank you for your understanding of the situation.

It is often ( unfortunately) the case that the only people who are understanding of these difficulties are the people who have been affected in some way themselves.

[espadrille]

I just dont see how a ten y o would want to commit suicide,the very act of taking his own life should surely be unknown to him at that age.

 

The process of taking ones own life at that age would be difficult, but many kids of this age feel helpless to do anything about the difficulties they face on a daily basis and are so desperate to fit in to a society that doesn't understand them that they think they have nothing to live for.After they have calmed down the guilt sets in along with the depression and then in turn anxieties knowing that the way they behave is just not the right way, but they are often powerless to do anything about it.

[RosyRat]

I work with young people with autism and am no longer shocked and disgusted by the attitudes the ignorant people on here have shown. To try to prove that you're a wit and not an idiot by scoring comedy points off a little boy with a crippling disability shows just how sick and repulsive many of our society can be. That these comments are born out of ignorance doesn't excuse them. That they're born out of a compulsion to draw attention to an underdeveloped intellect seems obvious to all those of us who face these situations every day through the people we try to help.

 

This little boy faces a grim and frightening future and we can only pray that we never face this in our own families.

[espadrille]

Thank you for your straight talking Rosy R.

As I said already, those who truly do understand are those who are affected by this in someway. Unfortunately many of us do face this in our families regularly. It is just not recognised the anguish that it causes by some sections of our society

[discodown]

But back to the article the OP linked to, I'm not sure I get what point he's trying to make. Surely if your kid keeps trying to do stupid things you should tell him not to do them and punish him if necessary rather than inventing a mental condition to blame it on? People have to take responsibility for their own behaviour and parents need to teach their kids to do so as well.

You almost complete ignoramus.

 

I take it you've never had any experiance of people with autism or aspergers? If you had you might know theres a tiny minority of them who are so bright they understand that their autism/aspergers makes them so different to other people and they'll probably never change so it makes them angry, violent and depressed. This lad is one of this unhappy band. He's aware even at ten that what sets him apart from society is going to affect him all his life and that he'll always struggle to fulfill his most basic need - simple human interaction. The poor little guy is to be pitied not derided as some sort of problem child.

 

His parents are forced to share in this every day. They never signed on for this when they became parents but its what they're stuck with. The knowledge that the person they created wants to destroy himself. Try to imagine that for one second. Try to imagine that your child knows he is so different he wants to die and that he'll keep trying until he succeeds or decided he doesn't want to die but because of his illness he's not great at changing his mind and trying something different. Imagine that you have to succeed every single day in trying to keep him alive and wrestling with the knowledge that he only has to succeed one day to be successful and not be alive. Not a nice thought is it?

 

Then again what do you care? It doesn't affect you, its not in your world view and besides they're blaming it on an invented medical condition anyway aren't they? That little guy knows what he is and he hates it. Hates it so much he wants to die. But i'll bet that even though he can't interact with people on any reasonable level he's got more charm, more compassion, more humanity and more common decency than someone who would dismmiss him as "doing stupid things".