Comments on: “I wanted to take the autism out of her”: Taped Confession by Karen McCarron

By: Karen McCarron Sentenced to 36 Years

Karen McCarron Sentenced to 36 Years — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:10:02 +0000

[...] a $25,000 fine; she had faced 20 years and 110 years in prison. Katie McCarron was autistic; in a taped confession made on May 15, 2006, McCarron said that she “‘wanted a life without [...]

By: Trial of Karen McCarron:Day 1

Trial of Karen McCarron:Day 1 — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 05:46:05 +0000

[...] McCarron has spent the last year and a half at a mental health facility. Wolfe says McCarron’s video taped confession (given at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria) will play a crucial part in the trial, but [...]

By: angel

angel — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 13:13:43 +0000

I love kids. i feel they should do to her what she did to her kid. it is really sad that more and more kids are being kill by there mom. i have a 11yr old and a 14 yr old boys. i could never hurt them.

By: David Kirby Wants to Move On

David Kirby Wants to Move On — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:18:09 +0000

[...] from our children. Some parents may wish that they could walk away from autism—could “take the autism” our of their children—-and some children, thanks to education, therapy, and treatment, [...]

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 00:55:23 +0000

it’s just horrible.
I’ve done enough reading to know that her perception of Katie was flawed.
There needs to be a change in how parents are handed the dx. “with 40 hrs/wk of ABA, he may even be normal one day. For more information, see Autism Speaks”.
I was swimming against that current on gut feeling [translation=BAP] for a few years before I read anything by an autistic adult. I learned just last year of the HUB. WHY aren’t “THEY” telling us something helpful, like, he may do things other children do, but it will take longer. maybe a lot longer. Just take it slow and enjoy your child. Learn what needs doing, and what could be let slide. Watch the way he goes about learning things of interest, and participate with him.
Reciprocity is a two way street.

By: Maria

Maria — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:31:37 +0000

There is a macadamia nut tree in my parent’s front yard. It grows thick and bushy with prickly leaves. My parents complained about the mess and spoke often of cutting it down but it had its good points (beauty, rarity, shade, privacy). The nuts are extremely difficult to crack because their outside shells are perfectly round, smooth and hard. We kids, with the persistence and free time of youth, spent hours trying to open them. We’d wedge one into a crack in the sidewalk, or hold it between the forefinger and thumb, and aim carefully with a hammer. Sometimes the nut would shoot down the street, or painfully bounce off our faces, or the hammer would whack our fingers. But, with luck and a steady hand, we heard a crack and were rewarded. The precious nutmeats never saw an oven or salt shaker since they were good enough just the way they were.

By: daedalus2u

daedalus2u — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:21:41 +0000

I think the “tough nut to crack” is an idiom that implies that while there is resistance to opening, that once that resistance is overcome, that the “nut” is open and is then just like any other nut.

I think this is the expectation of “curebie” parents, that once the “resistance” is overcome, that the ASD child will become “normal”. There is no basis other than wishful thinking that such a thing is possible, or will happen in any particular case.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 02:18:50 +0000

There’s also the sense of something (of value) inside a (resistant) shell…..

By: Lolasmom

Lolasmom — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 02:14:05 +0000

I’m glad I’m not the only one troubled by the “tough nut” reference – as in, “that’s one tough nut to crack.” So an autistic kid who isn’t responding to certain education measures is merely a resistant little walnut who, if one applies just a little more force, would pop right open? Sure, the phrase may be said offhandedly, but I think every phrase has meaning. This sort of thinking about autism is dangerous and can serve to justify all sorts of abuses.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 20:21:35 +0000

Not that biomedical treatments might be doing “better”…… I’ve been thinking all day about what that phrase “take the autism out of her” is really saying.

daedalus2u, I’ll be reading your analysis with interest.