I just read the article and it's really, really sad. Unfortunately, it's very common for some parents to kill their Autistic children for one reason or another. I can understand them being frustrated about not having proper adequate care for their Autistic children after they die, but a murder-suicide is not the answer. From what I've read, it does seem like the author of this article is emphasizing how hard it is for an Autistic person to receive proper services once they reach adulthood and gave countless examples including another failed murder-suicide attempt between a mother and her severely disabled daughter in 2013. But, what these people did is never okay.
In the end, the one that suffers is the Autistic person themselves either through neglect from relatives or the state. And that's basically what happened to that 20-year old man. I personally feel that the reason why many Autistics don't receive proper care, especially after adulthood, has something to do with a rigged, crooked system. The system was set up for failure. No one is truly equal unless you're on top. Many of these Autism organizations have a long waiting list or don't contact you at all even if you've made several attempts. And as far as group homes are concerned, many of them are full of careless staff who abuse anyone who can't defend themselves. In that case, it doesn't matter if you're disabled or just an elderly person. Someone could take advantage of you. If you can't contribute to society like "normal people", you have no rights.
In my case, if anything were to happen to my dad today or tomorrow, I'd have nowhere to turn to. Just asking any of my relatives for help is a burden. No one would take me in because I basically burned my bridges on both sides of my family (I actually feel torn between the two for many reasons). My sister wouldn't want me because I don't have a job. So, I would have no other choice but to go to a homeless shelter. I could live with my other grandma down in Texas, but she's getting up there in age and lives in a senior citizen's home. I wouldn't wanna be a burden on her either. The bottom line is that most of these Autism programs are worthless. I sometimes wonder if some of these people (like the founders of Autism speaks) started these "charities" as a way to get a tax write-off and money from the state. In America, charity is just another word for big business.
26 Jun 2015, 10:25 am
