Comments mount on church ban of teen with autism
May 21st, 2008The ABC News site had drawn more than 700 comments at last count to its Associated Press story about the church in Minnesota that took legal action to prevent Carol and John Race from bringing their 13-year-old son, Adam, to services. Adam has autism.
Here are a few recent ones:
- Which of Adam’s rights is more important here: his ‘right’ to attend a church service in which he may or may not get the ‘message’ over top of the other sensory input; or his right to be in a situation that is not overwhelming to his senses. I am under the impression that this is not so much about Adam’s rights, as this is about Carol Race’s demands to have her own way.
- I don’t see autism as a major problem for those not directly affected. Violent behavior is a major problem for everyone within reach. The fact that young Mr Race is autistic is a secondary or even tertiary consideration. The fact that he is violent is the primary consideration. He is not denied attendance to the church because of his autism. He is being kept out because of violence. He has rights to attend church. Others have a right to attend church without physical pain inflicted by Mr. Race.
- I have experienced discrimination against my son because of behaviors he cannot control. It’s true that some people are very ignorant and do not want to deal with reality. They think children with autism should be locked away. In Minnesota, 1 in 81 children have an ASD diagnosis. So maybe over 1 in 40 families have a child with autism. We will not stand to be treated as second class citizens.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 12:44 pm and is filed under autism, behavior, civil rights, law, law enforcement, media.
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