Police: Autistic Boy Lived In Filth, Ate Only Chocolate

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Could anything the mother might say in her defense lessen the deplorable conditions? Or the overall wretchnedness of the story?

Probably not. I mean if it were just a temporary situation, becuase the mom had just lost her job, or something then I think I could understand the circumstances being as they were, but it looked to me like the situation had been that way since the child had been born.

My older sister was home-schooled because the nearest schools were unsuitable for her - that they posed more harm for her than good, and that she posed a risk to other children and teachers because of her tantrums (at one point, she was throwing desks at the teacher.)

I can actually say my younger brother does this all the time - he'll leave food to rot in his sockdrawer so that he can do things that he actually enjoys. He is the one with the worst case of aspergers in my family.

You list yourself as a stay-at-home mom, which means that your support is coming from elsewhere. You only need to look at that woman's eyes to see her disconnect - from depression, or whatever. Her eyes are dead.
I agree with ouinon, completely, here.

She bears a resemblance to Eilieen Wuornos (sp) .. Shes evidently not all there, and tbh the only times I've seen places look THAT rotten is post-smackhead residence. (crack-heads across the pond) Serial drug abusers with little or no interest in health and hygiene at all. As there is no mention of drug abuse, it strikes me there is a deeper reason. Besides which, people seem to be missing the fact that SHE LIVED IN THE SAME FILTH.

The way the story is written he was born in the house. The quote from the owner, I left, then he let her live there, makes it seem recent, and not like he was charging rent. She needed somewhere to be, and it is hard to live without water.

So were they there for a week, a month?

Had they just come out of the mountains of Appalachia?

Where does Autism come in? Just news hype?

She seems to have been working poor, when an autism Dx would have gotten her son SSD, and them a home of sorts.

There is a small percentage of marginal people who just get by any way they can. Whole families show up knowing no one, and living in a car. Some come by bus. They had to leave where they were. and starting over in a strange place is not easy.

They could have lived under a bridge, in a cardboard box behind a dumpster, they found an abondoned house, and got permission to stay there. There are thousands of homeless, many with children.

To our English, Canadian, Austrialian members, there is no social safety net here. Go to the State and say I and my child have no place to stay, no money, no food, and they will send you to a church that might give out some canned food, if you can wait for three days.

Many poor children never see a doctor or dentist, for they have no money. some spend 100% of their income on food.

Chocolate pudding is made with dried milk, chocolate flavored, and comes in servings that will keep without refrigeration. Milk spoils quicky. Milk, natures most perfect food, everything you need. She was doing the best she could.

So did she give a speach, say, my son is autistic, has never been to a dentist, or to school, and has been raised on only chocolate? I doubt it.

When the police kick in a door and arrest Tom Burgler, do news crews go and film the way he lived, leaving the toilet seat up?

The story is, a disabled woman and child were found in an abandoned building, unable to support themselves in a human fashion. They were both locked up for their crime.

If they were found wandering the street would they be arrested? She found some food and shelter, and Indianpolis is sending a message to the poor, do not come here.

During the Great Depression, the poor were arrested and put in work camps, then rented out to local political types, for labor. All they got was bad food and armed guards. Having no visable means of support was a crime, having no local address was a crime.

Her crime was refusing to open the door when a stranger knocked.

It must be a very boring town where this makes the TV news with a follow up. There are a lot of unemployed people who are having a hard time feeding their children.

When will the knock be on your door?

I don't see what's so bad about eating only chocolate... sounds nice to me.

ok, maybe I'd get sick of it after a while... but maybe not too.

Really? Try for a month and then get back to me.

that is sad, those poor people.

Well he drank chocolate milk, too, which while sugar laden does have a lot of calories, vitamins, protein and calcium. And if he's autistic, he may well refuse to eat anything else. One of my children will only eat 3 kinds of food. Yes I would love it if he ate a healthy panoply but short of a feeding tube there's no way I can force him.

Stories like this scare me because I really struggle with house keeping. My house is definitely nowhere near the "squalor" level but I really fear descending to that point.

Personally I don't feel a filthy house is a reason to separate a mother and child if there is no other sign of abuse (and homeschooling is legal-- she should have registered and could even have gotten services from the school district while still having him homeschooled). I think in some states, CPS has to help with housing and housecleaning services before separating the mother/ father and child if filthy living conditions are the only problem. In the long run it's cheaper for CPS and more humane to the family to just help find and maintain clean and decent housing.

Maybe the mom is on the spectrum too and had trouble keeping up with housework/ organizing/ dealing with society because of that.

What if there is no other school to send him to? Perhaps it's different in Canada but in the US you must go to your "zoned" school and it can be very difficult to get a variance to attend a different school. Often there simply is no other school (i.e. in rural areas) for the variance to be applied to even if you can obtain it. If this child is profoundly autistic he will probably be placed in a special needs class which would limit the "choice" of schools to almost nothing, depending on what the district is like.

Hmm. In that cause, my kid might have to join the circus.

That's funny.

Autistic boy found living in Filth

Need I comment?

It's already been posted in the News and Current Events Forum at:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt66652.html

Long discussion ensued.

( Oh golly, this has been moved already! That was confusing to come back to) .

Last edited by ouinon on 23 May 2008, 11:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.