Very Unsportsmanlike Behavior: Coach Accused of Trying to Hurt Autistic Boy Goes to Court
June 29, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
T-ball coach Mark Downs Jr., 27, of Fayette County (PA) went to court today on the charge of trying to hurt an autistic boy on his team last year, according to today’s KDKA.com. Nine-year-old Harry Bowers was hurt in the ear and the groin during warm-ups (here is an account from July 19, 2005). According to police. Mr. Downs paid seven-year-old Keith Reese player $25.00 to his Harry Bowers with a ball.
Prosecutors say Downs didn’t want the boy to play in the game because he was mildly retarded and autistic.
Downs says a joking remark he made about paying players to hit an umpire with a ball was misinterpreted by players and their parents.
Last year I made this suggestion for community service for Mr. Downs on Autismland and I will repeat it:
The community service for that coach should involve training to work with persons with autism, and then an afternoon with my son, who also has autism, and me anytime. That way he can get a double dose, baseball with my special needs child and Plato-tinged critical theory musings from me.
Great post Kristina.
I would like to send out an invitation to everyone to come and visit Avi Bar-Ze’ev website. I have been having a very indepth discussion against discrimination that autistic people endure. Some of the posters believe in discriminating against “low” functioning autistics and in favor of cures and eugenics. I’ve been trying to uphold my our end of the discussion, and since I can’t post to the Autism Hub anymore, I can’t alert folks to this discussion which I believe is important.
The website is: http://www.brownianemotion.org/2006/06/28/the-right-and-the-responsibility/
Avi is an inventor, programmer, and author. He was in charge of developing the original “Google Earth” PC client from 1999-2001 for a company called Keyhole. He has contributed to or lead development on a handful of 3D game and ride experiences for Disney, LindenLab, and others. His science fiction story, “Vintage,” was published in 2000 and he has several novels completed. He often complains when he has to write about himself in the third person.
Thanks and thanks for the site!
Always glad to hear from you and will write back after reading it….