8-yr-old boy won’t be charged in sister’s death
June 14, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
An autistic 8-year-old boy dropped his twin 9-month-old sisters down a flight of stairs—one was killed and the other suffered head injuries, as reported in the June 14th Star-Telegram. The boy and his family had recently moved to North Texas from St. Petersburg, Florida. The household also includes a 14-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, who are now staying with relatives in the area.
The 8-year-old, whose name is being withheld due to his age, was not detained by police and will not have criminal charges filed against him. Police are requiring that “safety measures” be put in place before the surviving 9-month-old returns home.
I’m not sure who—parents, the boy, the baby with the head injury—-might be feeling worse right now.
I’m not sure why they felt it was important to note he is Autistic… in the paper? Are they trying to say because he has Autism this is why he dropped his sisters?
They’re leaving the possibility there, or certainly suggesting it.
I have to admit that a scenario like this one is one of the reasons I didn’t want to have another baby. My little guy is SO strong and lacks consistent control of his strength, and so he has pushed me down stairs and given me a few black eyes and lots of bruises and some sprains. None of these things happened maliciously or during a temper tantrum; rather, the injuries all happened in the course of playing or doing his OT exercises. I just felt that if I get this banged up getting a hug and kiss or changing his clothes, that maybe being pregnant wasn’t safe, nor was a helpless baby going to be safe unless s/he was with me every second.
In the last couple of years, I remember reading about a situation in Georgia where an infant was in a bouncy seat on a table and the older (autistic) brother knocked the baby on the floor. family members were in the room, too. Maybe I borrow too much trouble, but I was very afraid of that sort of thing happening to us…
Too many factors to juggle, as always—-my son is the sort of kid who is strong, and does not know how much he is.
If there are any culprits it will be the authorities who pretend to protect us while allowing chemical and other industry to fill our environment with the toxins that help cause autism. Also related authorities that terrify most pediatricians into refusing to diagnose or treat autistic patients.
Our perception of cause and effect is maturing and changing: we are sorry that it has to be tragedy that accelerates the change. It should be funding for useful scientific research coupled with proper measures to begin prevention and therapy for the whole family of inflammatory and immune disregulated diseases from autism and asthma to rheumatoid arthritis.
If you look at asthma as being autism of the lungs: in causes and possible therapies, you will begin to see the range of the problem and possibilities for prevention.
Refs: sanoviv.com; bionutrition.org.
Yea, where the parents?? and, why did he have both of the babies at one time?
Parents cannot be around all their children 24/7. They’re not perfect, they have to eat, sleep and use the restroom, you know. You don’t know anything of what went on. I think I probably know a little more; I know the family. So don’t judge when you don’t know the details, ok?