Church Bars Family of Autistic Child from Church

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slowmutant
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20 May 2008, 7:55 pm

If the big boy keeps getting dragged to Sunday Mass, sooner or later the police will get involved. And from there, lawyers, lawsuits, trials, media feeding frenzy. If police are in fact required to defuse a violent situation with nonlethal force, what then? How bad does this train-wreck have to get before people seroiously reconsider?

Does someone have to get scarred for life or physically maimed before it sinks in? :( :roll: 8O



blue_bean
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21 May 2008, 3:26 am

Way back when I was a church-goer, there was a separate room off the side of the main church hall which was unnoffically used as a respite area for parents and kids. During the sermons, if infants got a little bit noisy, the parent would take the kid to the room. In this room was an intercom which relayed whatever was being said by the preacher man through a speaker, so that the parents wouldn't miss any part of the sermon.
This very same setup could have been used in this case. Except it would be for the boys respite (Respite from the crowd and all that lame singing. Any bet there are loud musical instruments too :? ) The mum and dad could take turns supervising him in the room and not miss church.
PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS ARE REQUIRED, PEOPLE!



Callista
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21 May 2008, 3:35 am

I'd like to note that the only one alleging that the boy's behavior is violent is the priest, who apparently also told the mother that she is not disciplining her boy properly. Also, that he has not actually hurt anyone--ever--despite years of going to that church, and being strong enough to hurt people even accidentally.

I don't see why they couldn't just have used the cry room, though. If he was being noisy in church, he could still have seen and participated from there.


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SotiCoto
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21 May 2008, 3:41 am

Stop acting like there is anything wrong here.

The kid doesn't have to go to church any more. That is a GOOD thing...
Nobody should be forced to go to church, let alone an Aut.
At least this way he is marginally less likely to get zombified.



archdude
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21 May 2008, 11:21 am

Danielismyname wrote:
According to South Park, the disabled go to hell.

According to South Park, Hell is a fun place where they have parties all the time, while Heaven is a horribly dull place full of annoying Mormons. On South Park Saddam Hussein was kicked out of Hell and sent to Heaven as a punishment. I hope that makes the context clearer for anyone who might have taken Daniel's comment about the disabled seriously.



slowmutant
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21 May 2008, 11:29 am

hartzofspace wrote:
I have a sister who is severely autistic, and my mother wouldn't have dreamed of taking her to church. One of us kids always took turns staying home with her on Sundays. IMO, parents who take a child to church who has no idea of what it is all about, has sensory issues, and is prone to behavior that is violent, is putting their own values above the safety and well being of both the child and others. I am sure that boy wouldn't miss attending mass if deprived of it. I might be a wee bit biased, because of being forced to attend mass every Sunday when I hated it. I still have nightmares of being trapped inside a massive Cathedral, with no way out.


There are far worse places in which to trapped than a cathedral. How about an elevator? A burning car? An abusive family life?



archdude
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21 May 2008, 11:39 am

As for this case, if he is in fact violent, he should not be allowed in the Church for the safety of others. It does seem that his violent behavior is so far unproven, and I would say that banning him is discriminatory if the alleged violence turns out to be an exaggeration of something less serious. But more importantly, I agree with all those who said this should be about him and what's really best for him, not what the parents wish was best for him. The first question that needs to be asked is does he want to go to church, and if not what benefit is there for him being there? Can he learn anything or experience any spiritual enlightenment, if he can't concentrate on what the priest and readers say? I would hope that his parents would not think that God would punish him for not attending a service that is essentially meaningless to him.