Return of the Salem Witch Hunt

Mass Hysteria: Anyone with Mental
Health Issues is a Dangerous Killer

I couldn’t help this week but to draw a parallel to the witch trials with the mass hysteria caused by the irresponsible and unethical media. The people are now shouting from their social media rooftops – “hang them – they are killers!” If that were not enough, hate mongers posing as religious zealots are lighting other’s torches preparing for the hunt.

Much like the days of the Salem witch trials, people want a solution to end the wickedness (violence) society has brought upon itself. And our sensationalized media has been delivering by offering a scapegoat – people with developmental disabilities and mental health disorders. Let the burning and hanging begin.

No amount of real data can deter these convinced witch hunters. No, anecdotes and speculation are all the proof they need. “My friend’s sister’s cousin works with these people and she says they are just dangerous.” So it must be true. And then of course, some Bloggers also chime in with their pained stories of how hard it is to parent these awful children – “don’t you feel sorry for MEEEEEEEEEE?” I mean, if it’s on the internet, it must be true, right?

(The answer would be no. No, it’s not true. Data doesn’t lie – but people do.)

Ironically, those with mental health and other developmental disabilities are less likely to commit violent crimes than typical folks. But you’ve heard this before. Yeah, I know – your BFF’s dogsitter’s sister-in-law said….

Some statistics from the American Psychological Association regarding the mental health of the United States:

• Published studies report that about 25 percent of all U.S. adults have a mental illness and that nearly 50 percent of U.S. adults will develop at least one mental illness during their lifetime. (CDC)

That’s a lot of people who are potential killers. And well, 50% pretty much means either you or someone in your home will eventually have a diagnosable mental health disorder if not already. That number doesn’t account for the developmental disabilities also being accused. Better take cover or warn your spouse – you might be living with the Devil’s Spawn!!!

In all seriousness, this hysteria must stop. Remember what happened to a society who bought into the witch trials? It is happening again for people with disabilities. Real people are being targeted this week. They are being told they are killers, and worse – that they should be killed. Children are shouting horrible things to their disabled peers in school. People in store check out lines are viciously discussing how we need to lock them all up.

Each one of us is susceptible to being labeled with a mental health disorder in our lifetime. That does not make us more likely to commit premeditated murder. In fact, it makes us all the more likely to become victims by the hand of an otherwise sane individual.

This is not to say that mental health should be ignored. Far from it. Our society is less likely to seek help for mental health issues because of the stigma associated with a diagnosis. That needs to change. People should not fear seeking help from a psychologist anymore than they fear obtaining an eyeglass prescription from an optometrist. As the statistics show, half of us will need to seek help for our mental health at some point in our lives. HALF. Though I’d guess more than half need eye correction, that’s still a lot of people.

Take a deep breath. Clear your mind. We don’t need to figure out why this happened. We do, however, need to take active measures to stop it from happening again. But that doesn’t start with creating mental health concentration camps or institutionalizing people based on labels. It starts by changing the way we as a society tolerate violence for entertainment. It starts by rethinking weapons laws and accessibility. It starts by realizing we are all human and not infallible. And it starts by letting the families in Connecticut grieve without fear that their loss started the biggest witch hunt since 1692.

Using Tragedy for Personal Gain

What a few days of utter hell! Advocates all over the country have been attempting to extinguish fires set by the media. It seems the media’s mission has been to out-sensationalize tabloid journalism. Highly emotional, the public is outraged and rightly so – too many innocent people are dying by the hands of gun owners with deadly assault weapons (people kill people, right?). The media knows that the public wants immediate answers and solutions that point the blame away from gun restrictions. And so they deliver.

While there was some talk about gun control, the new focus has become mental health. The headlines began to read the “Killer may have had [insert mental health diagnosis].” Thanks to this media hype, the dismayed public is now asking, why aren’t these “dangerous” people with mental health issues being helped? Adding more mental health stigma to an already terrible situation, enter the opportunistic vultures.

Over the weekend, a blogger (whom I refuse to name in effort to prevent feeding her more media attention) created a blog post under her real name (no pseudonyms for this one). This blog openly discussed her child’s dangerous mental health issues. Most disturbingly, the headline compared her thirteen-year-old child to a murderer. The blog post went viral. People all over applauded her bravery for sharing her story – a story that led the public to believe she was in danger and that her son might be the next mass murderer -a Michael Myers meets Jason of Friday the 13th waiting to happen. She used fear and panic to add more stigma about people with mental health disabilities. And the public was buying it.

One only had to dive deeper into this woman’s blog to see that there was indeed a very troubling history. Her child was allegedly sexually abused by her x-husband – a story in which she tells of a court hearing where alleged-molester-daddy-dearest gives the boy the cold shoulder causing the kiddo to break down. Later we read Daddy has joint custody. But that’s not all, no. Daddy has supposedly had this same 13-year-old child “incarcerated” four times!!!  Is it any wonder this child might have mental health issues? Mom also claims her boy threatened suicide to police and was hospitalized in a mental health facility on at least one occasion (we presume during jail time).These grandiose stories were starting to be over the top.

Did I mention Mom is a writer? She’s been interviewed by several local media outlets in the past – never discussing this crazed life she lives.  She has, however, given interviews on a local radio station about using Facebook as a tool to build an audience as a writer. She also worked for a time as a magazine editor. She even tells us on her personal blog about using Facebook to create a persona – someone she “wanted to become.” Hmmmmmm.

There are some very troubling parents who think they are helping their children by posting personal information. I won’t deny that I have seen it. But typically, these parents are “green” when it comes to social media. They don’t realize what they post on Facebook today ends up in Google’s search engine tomorrow. This mother, however, is not green. She’s a college art instructor who writes professional articles and erotica novels in her spare time. She expertly blogs, tweets, and Facebooks til the cows come home and advises others on utilizing these tools for self promotion.This mother did not inadvertently give out personal information that could harm her child without knowing she did so. No, this was contrived. Which leads me to my main point.

I don’t believe her story. Her child may indeed exist – she has his and the family photos on the blog for all to see. He may even have an un-diagnosed mental health disorder. But I am unconvinced that this educated and savvy writer would willingly expose her child risking adolescent bullies and public retaliation. After all, she did not hide her identity (though supposedly changing the child’s first name). No rational parent throws their kid under the bus like that. Mom has seemed to find a lot of time to blog, write books, and tweet. I would think she’d be able to find time to get her child some appropriate help, should he really need it. Our mental health system is far from perfect. But there is help for those who have means. One would think a college instructor has the means. Are we to believe that rather than privately seeking help for him, she blogged about it?

No, I don’t believe that this woman has a child who is dangerous and has driven her to the brink as she’d have you believe. She is someone who saw an opportunity to get her name known. Perhaps this was her chance to get a real publisher to look at her work. Whatever the motive, I firmly believe that this was all about her and never about a social mental health crisis. Because all this woman did was make it worse. She helped link people with mental health issues to violent murderous behavior. I anxiously await the publication of her autobiography.

My Broken Back

After a week of illness I informally deemed “the new black plague” and end of semester finals, I thought Friday’s tragedy was the straw that would break this camel’s back. You see, I loathe guns. I will not have them in my home, regardless of their purpose. I’m not exactly sure when I formed this strong opinion, but know it began at least by my adolescence as I remember having this debate in civics class. Ironically, I grew up in a home with handguns and hunting rifles. I have no traumatic stories to tell that explain my great dislike of guns. Yet I do, very strongly, dislike weapons and see no sign of changing this perspective.

So when I finally came out of my cave of academic study and heard the news, I thought I would crumble. More senseless death, of children no less, in the name of someone’s barbarous argument that it is their “Constitutional Right” to carry and stockpile these killing machines. I have grown weary from the argument. Little did I know, however, that this story would become personal and downright paralyzing.

The media, in effort to sell the story, figured it had better give us the big answer: Why? Why would this young man have done such an unspeakable thing? In reality, because the shooter is also dead we will never know. But let the speculation begin. The media was going to give us that BIG answer, though completely unfounded.

ABC was the first news network to start the rumor. An anonymous relative supposedly said the killer was autistic and had a personality disorder. Within moments, that misinformation went viral. ABC had “dirt” it so desperately needed to stand out from its competing networks. Soon after, ABC removed that information from their website – presumably it was misinformation. But it was way too late. Other news media, bloggers, commentators, you-name-it stumbled on that misinformation and had begun to spread it like wildfire. There would be counters to this misinformation, but it would fall on deaf ears. You see, saying “we don’t know why” doesn’t sell papers or increase sponsorship. People want answers. And they are ready to accept those answers regardless of who gets hurt in the process. They are especially ready to point blame at something other than “the gun.”

Today, I continue to read the horror stories. Not the shooting details. I simply refuse to patronize the sensationalist news media with their nonstop speculative commentary. The families deserve much better. No, I am reading about the “witch hunt” demonizing autistics – the ongoing pleas to stop autistics from hurting others – to limit autistic rights – the nonsense connections from someone who knows someone who knows someone with an autistic family member who was “just like” the shooter. The well-meaning bloggers who plead for better “mental health” for people “suffering from autism.”

Autism, though still in the DSM, is considered a neurobiological disorder by the specialists and researchers who are forefront. It is a different wiring system in the brain that causes the individual to process differently than what is typical. Symptoms of autism do not include premeditated violent behavior.

Autistics and individuals with other disabilities are no more likely to commit violent crime than non-disabled people. In fact, people with disabilities of all kinds, including autism, are much more likely to be the victims of violent crime. Attributing autism as a motive to this heinous crime is no more valid than attributing Adam Lanza’s maleness, human-ess, or the fact that he lived in Connecticut. Though all of these things are true, they do not motivate one to murder.

Today I live in fear because of a rhetorical interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. I fear that I cannot safely go Christmas shopping without the possibility that a “legal” gun owner might go on a killing spree. Leaving our home increases the likely-hood my family will die by gunfire. I fear my family may end up collateral damage so that gun enthusiasts can continue to stockpile assault weapons.

But I mostly live in fear for my autistic child. A victim of abuse by the hands of “typical” people, my child, who values life above all, is now the target of a media frenzy.

Today my back is broken and it is difficult to have hope.

ASAN Statement on Media Reports Regarding Newtown, CT Shooting

Media outlets were quick to disseminate misinformation in regards to today’s tragic shootings. ABC originally reported speculation that the gunman was “autistic, or has Asperger syndrome and a personality disorder.” but has since removed that story. Sadly, other media outlets picked it up and within minutes, this potential misinformation went viral.

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network released this statement.

December 14, 2012

In response to recent media reports that the perpetrator of today’s shooting in Newton, Connecticut may have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum or with a psychiatric disability, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) issued the following statement today:

“Our hearts go out to the victims of today’s shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut and their families. Recent media reports have suggested that the perpetrator of this violence, Adam Lanza, may have been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, or with another psychiatric disability. In either event, it is imperative that as we mourn the victims of this horrific tragedy that commentators and the media avoid drawing inappropriate and unfounded links between autism or other disabilities and violence. Autistic Americans and individuals with other disabilities are no more likely to commit violent crime than non-disabled people. In fact, people with disabilities of all kinds, including autism, are vastly more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators. Should the shooter in today’s shooting prove to in fact be diagnosed on the autism spectrum or with another disability, the millions of Americans with disabilities should be no more implicated in his actions than the non-disabled population is responsible for those of non-disabled shooters.

Today’s violence was the act of an individual. We urge media, government and community leaders to speak out against any effort to spuriously link the Autistic or broader disability community with violent crime. Autistic Americans and other groups of people with disabilities persist in facing discrimination and segregation in school, the workplace and the general community. In this terrible time, our society should not further stigmatize our community. As our great nation has so many times in the past, let us come together to both mourn those killed by acts of heinous murder and defend all parts of our country from the scourge of stigma and prejudice.”

Media inquiries regarding this shooting may be directed to ASAN at info@autisticadvocacy.org.

http://autisticadvocacy.org/2012/12/asan-statement-on-media-reports-regarding-newton-ct-shooting/

Discrimination

“to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

The above is a powerful selection from Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal law that applies to all public schools in the United States who receive federal funding.

“The School Board of Hillsborough County, Florida, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, or age in its programs, services, activities or in its hiring and employment practices. School Board Policy 1122 ensures equal opportunity for all in its personnel policies and practices” (emphasis added).

The above is an excerpt from the Hillsborough County, Florida school district website. It is, in fact, listed as a disclosure on the homepage of their website, found here.

Henry Frost

“I am Henry, a self advocate. I want the same rights as everyone.
Today I read about Martin Luther King.
The worksheet said because of Dr King’s work, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave equal rights to all people.
I am a person.
I want these rights.
I want to go to school in my neighborhood.
Why can’t I”?

The above is a plea from Henry, a thirteen year old autistic self advocate. Henry is a resident of the Hillsborough County school district. Henry uses assistive communication software on his tablet computer to communicate. He also has hearing loss and relies on special hearing-aids.

As you likely realize from Henry’s plea, the Hillsborough County school district has refused to allow Henry access to the least restrictive environment. In fact, Henry isn’t even allowed to go to the same school his neuro-typical sisters attended (edited 2:55pm) – a school which is across the street from his family home. Hillborough County has decided unilaterally that Henry isn’t capable enough to attend their educational program.

Henry’s school district has, to date, not held an appropriate IEP meeting. Instead, they have created an internal “good old boy” court in which Henry cannot give input and which his parents are not allowed meaningfully participation. At Henry’s last IEP meeting there were 18 district staff members present.(edited 2:55pm) Henry and his family were put on trial in attempt to convince the school of Henry’s rights. Instead of allowing the IEP “team” to discuss the goals and accommodations for his educational plan, the school unilaterally determined Henry cannot attend without passing their proprietary “tests” to prove he can cope. Tests of these sorts are not legal.

“Wait. What,” you say? Isn’t Hillsborough County discriminating and breaking the law? How can a school discriminate like this and not be sanctioned? Yes they are discriminating and the reason is simple.

Every single case of discrimination is processed separately through expensive and stressful due process. Families must hire attorneys at great costs and file discrimination suits. Schools routinely retain attorneys for all their legal troubles. They have lawyers at their beckoned call who stand ready to defend. Schools like Hillsborough County know they have the upper hand. They know that resources are scarce for most of the families they discriminate against. They gamble on the fact that most families do not know the law or do not have the financial or legal resources to fight back. The system is broken.

What Hillsborough County is doing is not uncommon. This is a systemic problem in the United States. Schools know the law better than the families. School districts have legal know-how to continually break the law with little worry. The students who suffer are collateral damage so that the schools can keep the status-quo; that is, to only properly educate the students who are easy – the typical, average student.

What Hillsborough County school district fails to realize, however, is that Henry and his family are not alone. Thousands have taken to blogging and social media to make sure this story is heard. It is only a matter of time before Hillsborough County school district begins to feel the sting of their actions.

I stand with Henry. Won’t you?

https://www.facebook.com/IStandWithHenry

http://youtu.be/UuFp5O8Pzq0

Edited 2:55pm– originally stated a regular education teacher was not present. This may be the case but has not been confirmed. & The student’s sisters no longer attend the same school building as they now attend high school which is a different building.

I Stand With Henry

On the tails of my last entry – how functioning labels are harmful, comes young nonverbal autistic, Henry. Henry wants to be treated like a human being. He wants people to stop talking in front of him – about him – like he’s not there. He wants to go to his neighborhood school. Not in some self contained segregated classroom. He is smart and wants to be treated with dignity and respect. Henry is not an anomaly and we must stop thinking that he is. Many autistic people with communication differences are labeled with low IQ and lack of potential –  inappropriately so. We must STOP. NOW.

I stand with Henry because every student and every human should be afforded equal rights and respect no matter. Only when society stops sorting and valuing people based on labels will society truly be free.

School House Rock and Autistic Labels

“Conjunction junction, what’s your function” is still running through my head after whipping out the School House Rock DVDs to supplement my kid’s grammar lesson yesterday. Whatever happened to that priceless educational Saturday morning cartoon extravaganza? I can still recite the preamble to the US Constitution (there’s some useless trivia). School House Rock just rocked. So today when I stumbled on yet another tireless debate about autistic function levels, I thought,

“Hey! Conjunctions have functions. My child is not a conjunction!”

(side note, I totally used an “Interjection, for excitement or emotion – generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, or by a comma when the feelings not as strong…” carry on).

The old school lingo of high functioning and conversely low functioning autism has been wrought with problems. First off, who wants to be given a function level? Am I a high or low functioning writer (wait – don’t answer that)? Are you a high functioning or low functioning reader? How about my music skills in which I’m a tad prideful? Should I refer to myself as a high functioning musician or a low functioning musician? You get my point. These labels are subjectively defined and have no real definition.

What makes someone “high functioning” as an autistic? Does that mean they must communicate verbally with average to high intelligence as based on standard measures? Or does it mean, they can speak their mind through writing even when they cannot speak verbally? Or is it based on some wacky formula for calculating potential? Furthermore, who sets the bar on what potential even is? 

Many autistics cannot communicate verbally or struggle to do so. If a person cannot communicate their needs undesirable behavior ensues. If someone were to take away the average person’s ability to communicate, we can imagine that frustration would overtake and undesirable behaviors would result. It’s really not rocket science (for that we need Interplanet Janet).

A good many of autistics who cannot verbally communicate, are extremely eloquent with the written word. A good many outperform typical people in academics. But here’s the thing. Someone had to recognize these autistics had potential. Functioning labels prevent us from recognizing potential.

Every child should be given and taught to use tools for communication. I don’t mean PECs – I mean real techno-savvy language tools. Word processing, Ipads, whatever we can find to help these people get their voices heard. With today’s technology, there is little excuse for a human to be kept from communicating. 

So the next time I hear someone use a function label to describe a human, I’m going to relentlessly sing School House Rock songs until they recognize how harmful those labels are. 

Using Our Children for Perks

The universal accessible parking sign is well known to most folks. Certain parking spots in the United States have designated signs that indicate only those with valid passes can use these spots to park their vehicles. Though states differ on qualifications and fines for abuse, each state seems to offer either a license plate or hanging placard that grants the vehicle close access.

We often find ourselves making quick judgments on those using these passes at local establishments. Many times, seemingly “typical” people walk exceptionally well across the lot to the store and we think “abusing the system.” But in reality, we cannot and never should judge a persons abilities by their looks. Many of these folks may have invisible disabilities that do require shorter walks (asthma, emphysema, or neurological disabilities come immediately to mind). So today when I stumbled on an blog promoting the use of such cards for families with autistic children, I thought, “what a great idea!” Some autistic children do have difficulties with parking lots (mine is one of them).

When my kiddo was younger, one of these passes would have prevented much anxiety for all of us. But as I read on, the tone of the blog took a turn for the worse. Language such as “playing the A card” and “perks of Autism” paint a very different reason for obtaining the pass. This language indicates that parents should take advantage of the system because of their burden autistic child.

This blogger may have had well-meaning intentions. It does, indeed, sound like his child benefits from having such a pass. But the language used in this article gives justification for systemic abuse that helps foster resentment of our children by society, in general.

Day Two of Voter ID Trial – Stats

Highlights from the ACLU Blog:
The full version of the study is available to the public here.

“Less than 86% of eligible voters in the state hold a form of ID that will qualify them to vote.”  

“Roughly 379 thousand Pennsylvanians currently have no valid ID for voting, and no ability to obtain one. 174 thousand of those people voted in 2008.”

• 17.2% of women lack valid ID, compared with 11.5% of men
• 18% of Latino voters, compared to roughly 14% of black or white voters
• 18% of voters ages 18-34, or age 75+
• 18.5% of voters with less than a high school education
• 22% of voters earning less than $20 thousand per year

“42% of voters who said they had no access to regular transportation also had no ID that would permit them to vote. Remember, please, that polling places are frequently within walking distance of an individual’s home – PennDOT licensing centers are generally not.”

“Baretto remarked that any voter who has an ID with a name that is not an exact match with his or her name on the voting rolls is “at risk” come election day.”

PA Voter ID Debacle

Pennsylvania’s voter ID law is under high scrutiny right now. After the ACLU found that more than 1,000,000 voters in PA were without the proper ID, Harrisburg started scrambling. Even more troublesome is that some older folks were not going to be able to obtain an ID due to lack of official documents that were not available. So this week, presumed to curtail the lawsuits and dispute the intention is voter suppression, the Corbett administration unveiled a new Voter ID that is obtainable with much less stringent conditions.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer,

“PennDot requires Pennsylvania residents seeking a nondriver ID to provide a Social Security card; a birth certificate with a raised seal; a certificate of U.S. citizenship or naturalization, or a valid passport; and proof of residency, such as tax records, lease or mortgage documents, a firearms permit, or utility bills.”

Guess what…those forms of ID are the same exact forms of ID voters have always had to show at the polls in order to vote in a precinct in Pennsylvania the first time. In the past, voters could not vote in a precinct until their identity was confirmed via the same IDs that will be required to obtain a new Voter ID. This was only required the first time they voted in that precinct. However, if a voter moved, they would be required to show ID again.

So let’s walk through this. According to the Inquirer article, instead of showing the acceptable forms of ID to say three poll workers when a voter signs into to vote, the voter now shows the IDs to one PennDOT employee. This employee then uses the given identification to create a Voter ID with photo that is good for ten years.

Let’s presume for a moment, that voter ID fraud actually happened in PA (there is no evidence that is has). How did it happen? Well, since people who have not voted at a precinct before had to present a form of ID (as stated above), the fraudulent voter would have had to stolen or borrowed someone else’s social security card, utility bill, birth certificate, etc. etc. The voter would then have presented these IDs to a poll worker while at least two more poll workers looked on. If a poll worker, or anyone else for that matter in the polling location, suspected this person was not who they claimed to be, the vote could be contested and the precinct judge would be required to fill out paperwork.

Now let us look at how this new ID will prevent such fraud from taking place. A potential criminal looking to obtain a fraudulent voter ID will have to steal or borrow someone else’s social security card, utility bill, birth certificate, etc. etc. The criminal would then present these IDs to one Pennsylvania Department of Transportation employee. This employee would then create a photo ID that  has the mug shot of the criminal on a legal voter ID that will allow the criminal to commit voter fraud for ten consecutive years until the ID expires. 


Wait…that doesn’t seem to prevent fraud at all, does it? 


No, it does not. While many people do have a proper form of ID to present at the polls, requiring a photo ID does not prevent fraud. Ask any underage drinker who cons his way into bars with Fake IDs how easy it is to obtain fraudulent ID. And well, I think this new Voter ID just makes it so much easier to commit fraud because you only have to fake it one time to obtain a ten year ID.