After a priest filed a restraining order against the parents of 13-year-old Adam Race back in May, there was a lot of (often very heated) discussion about the exclusion and inclusion of autistic individuals in public spaces. The August 22nd Morning News reports on The Point at Bella Vista, a church meant for families with a relative who has special needs. Ginny Thornburgh, director of the American Association of People with Disabilities Interfaith Initiative in Washington, notes that

“the trend is to acknowledge the gifts and challenges children and adults with disabilities bring to the congregation…….. All people of all faiths have a right to be honored and welcomed - a right to worship, study, serve and learn.”

Hope that this is a trend that will certainly continue.

Go here to read about the Interfaith Disability Connection.

This Associated Press story about autistic children and disruptive behavior has been making the rounds of news outlets and websites—-Jen Miller of Tacoma, whose daughter is autistic, writes this in the News Tribune:

….it’s funny how easy it is for some to complain when they haven’t walked a day in an autistic parent’s shoes.

Miller refers to a number of instances of autistic children whose “disruptive behavior” has been the subject of more than a little public discussion and judgment and reminds us, you just never know what might be going on.

In the ocean this morning with Charlie, I noted a boy about his age looking more than a few times in our direction. Charlie’s a super swimmer, and clearly comfortable in the water, and still has to have someone out there with him. This morning it was me. The waves were perfect—big but soft and just a bit cold—and Charlie was vocalizing his excitement, though not in words. After the other boy had looked in out direction a few times, I smiled and said, “Charlie’s autistic.”

“Yes, my friend has a brother who has that,” said the boy. I asked how old he was; the boy said he was ten, same as himself, and that “all he does is play video games and beat people up.”

“My son doesn’t do either of those,” I said, quickly, and glancing around to see where Charlie was swimming off to. “I mean, a lot of kids like to play video games, but not the beating people up.”

The boy was in earnest and added, “He’s mainstreamed, too. He’s in fourth grade. They had to hold him back a year.”

At that point Charlie was clearly swimming beyond the lifeguard’s orange flag and I hurried off. The boy and another boy, both on boogie boards, floated several times near us and in and out wherever Charlie was going.

The beach is big and the waves themselves are loud. I’d say it’s a place where there’s room for everyone, “whatever” they are (on the first day, we realized that another family on the beach had an autistic son, an adult). There’s still rules—those orange flags to swim between, and not swimming near the jetties or near a fishing pole (Charlie attempted to do both this morning). One reason we like to vacation at the beach is because it is a place where Charlie can pretty much do what he likes a lot, get in a lot of exercise, not have to worry about waiting in lines for rides as we would at an amusement park. Being able to rent a house rather than a hotel room means there’s plenty of room for him to run around and stomp (and we have our own washing machine…….). Souvenir shopping and going to arcades aren’t of interest to Charlie, and the ocean and sand are pretty much the main attraction.

So, we try to seek out a place where Charlie can be himself, in public spaces too, and get ready to play the parent activist at certain moments when a boy taller than his mother who speaks partially in sounds rather than words attracts attention and can be considered disruptive. The August 13th Associated Press has an article about the disruptive behavior of autistic children striking a furor; some cases of autistic children—Adam Race; Alex Barton—being excluded are noted. Is there a limit to how much “understanding can be gained in grocery stores, churches or other public places”? If parents go out of their way to make accommodations and preparations when taking a special needs kid out in public, maybe these are first attempts to help a child learn to be in public places, and to seek the beginnings of understanding.

Maybe—at least they’re ways to get a conversation about autism going.

Now we’ve got the New York Times weighing in on radio host Michael Savage’s savage language about “bratty” autistic kids. As About.com notes, Savage is “successfully sucking time, money and energy” from the autism community (and sucking in ratings, I would think). All I can say again is, ’nuff said!

And, we have found the actual parasite.

It seems no wonder that right wing talker Michael Savage’s last name is, well, “Savage” after reading what he said about autism on his radio show. I’ll list the words he uses to refer to autism:

moron, putz, idiot, fool, dummy, a girl, losers, beaten men

More of Savage’s savagery is quoted on Left Brain/Right Brain.

If Savage’s intent was to shock, using such words about autistic children is a no-brainer way to do it and perhaps ratings will spike as rightfully indignant autistic self-advocates and parents of autistic children respond. What troubles me in particular is Savage’s contention that autistic children are just brats behaving badly, and brats parented by laissez-faire “let it be” types of parents, especially in the wake of more than a few stories of autistic children who have been removed from a church, a kindergarten classroom, an airplane, and a restaurant. In each case, the children’s behavior was cited as “dangerous” to “public safety” and just downright “unacceptable.”

Funny but behavior like Savage’s–his unacceptable pronouncements about autism—gets air-time. Perhaps we have found the actual parasite……

A judge has upheld the restraining order barring 13-year-old Adam Race from attending church in St. Joseph’s parish in Bertha, Minnesota. From KSAX:

Todd County District Judge Sally Ireland Robertson says 13-year-old Adam Race engaged in “repeated harassment” while attending services at the Church of St. Joseph.

Robertson says Adam’s family has been unable to prevent him from disrupting church services.

The ruling on Monday follows a hearing last week that Adam’s mother had requested to protest the restraining order. Carol Race says many of the claims in the restraining order are not true.

I’m not sure that “repeated harassment” is quite the right phrase: While Adam’s behavior in church may have made (did make) others uncomfortable and then some, “harassment” implies a certain kind of intentionality, and it’s not clear if such was the case.

Yesterday, Carol Race took the stand at a hearing in Long Prairie, Minnesota, over the restraining order filed against her 13-year-old son, Adam Race, by the Church of St. Joseph in Bertha. From WDAY.com:

[Carol Race] represented herself at Tuesday’s hearing, and questioned the Reverend Daniel Walz for about 30 minutes.

Walz acknowledged that he did not witness all of the alleged disruptions, but said he believes they happened.

Judge Sally Ireland Robertson took the matter under advisement and said she would rule later.

Afterward, Race said she was disappointed that she wasn’t allowed to question the priest about his credibility. She said she and her family will return to the church if the restraining order is lifted.

While the rest of his classmates went on a field trip, an autistic student at Stephen Decatur School in Philadelphia sat in class with a bus aide, CBS3 news reports:

While his classmates went on the trip, Jimmy was supposed to enjoy a day of learning, but that was not the case.

Dawn said her son was left in a classroom with only his bus assistant who is not trained to teach autistic children.

“I cried, I cried first and I just had it,” Dawn said. “I thought you had a choice, you could just sit there and take it or you do something about it.”

In addition to a bus assistant, Jimmy is supposed to have a special education teacher and a therapeutic support worker.

In the wake of what happened to Alex Barton, I’m wondering if more stories about autistic and special ed students being excluded —- which would be for the better, if it leads to pressure on school districts to provide the necessary supports and services for students.

For the past two weeks, one post after another has been about the exclusion of autistic individuals: 13-year-old Adam Race from church—and by a restraining order. 5-year-old Alex Barton from his kindergarten class—and by a “voting out” process that has had more than a few echoes of the “Survivor” reality TV show.

But these cases weren’t the stuff of network drama (like this TV show—remember the “mercuritol”?). They were real things that happened to real autistic people and—based on what’s been said ‘round the web and here on this blog—this kind of exclusion is not at all uncommon. And it’s not unusual especially when attempts are made to include autistic individuals—in “mainstream” educational settings, in public places in the community, among society.

A couple of times in the back and forth about Adam Race I noted that, even as the discussion was getting pretty acrimonious at times, I was perhaps not glad but heartened that we were having it; that we are having it. Just a generation ago it was not unusual—it was the norm—to institutionalize kids like my son Charlie and then there’d be no debate. And perhaps some (explicitly or not) would prefer that things be this way, that they not have to think about how to make a place for people who don’t act, look, sound, in ways that are familiar to themselves and in ways that they think are appropriate and normal.

Through these past 11 years, Jim and I have made it a sort of mantra to take Charlie to as many places as we can. Charlie dearly loves to be in the city, to be amid the constant busyness, smell the smells and pass a constant stream of delis and restaurants, ride the subway, be amid a crowd yet still be by himself. Being on the street and in motion is the easiest; going into a place—an art museum; someone’s apartment in Brooklyn–is a lot more challenging. Wherever we are, it seems that Charlie stands out more and more as he gets older. Sometimes this is because he’s vocalizing without words or with words in short phrases said a few times over. Other times it’s just because he’s clearly a pre-adolescent, but he doesn’t hold his body or otherwise “act” like boys his age. He’s the proverbial “square peg” and society just keeps making round holes: How to help Charlie not exactly “fit in,” but to make his way into the world as smoothly (bump-free) as possible?

It is possible, I believe. I mean—on a more light-hearted note after a lot of intense discussion—this actress started off as a “square peg” and now here she is on the silver screen version of a somewhat infamous TV series.

(But a definitely fictional one not about reality.)

See this comment for news about Nate Tseglin going home.

Autism rights have been much under discussion of late:

A restraining order was filed against the parents of Adam Race by a priest in Bertha, Minnesota, regarding Adam attending church.

The “voting out” of Alex Barton, from his kindergarten class; the teacher, Wendy Portillo, has been removed from the classroom.

An article about the “autism rights movement” and neurodiversity in the latest New York magazine.

And there is also the case of 17-year-old Nate Tseglin, who was removed from his parents’ home and institutionalized; some more details here and at the website, Get Nate Home.

Recently, at the request of the Tseglin Family, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network sent the following letter yesterday for use in a court hearing to determine the future of Nate Tseglin. If you are as of yet unfamiliar with Nate’s case, please visit http://www.getnatehome.com/faq.html for details. Please feel free to distribute the letter, which is below. Read more