Please sign this petition: show the government that disability hate crime must be taken seriously

[Toffeefudgecake]

Following the appalling story in the news about the boy with Asperger syndrome who was tortured by three men here, the NAS and Mencap are working together to get the government to take disability hate crime as seriously as other hate crimes (racial/religious).

Sign the NAS/Mencap petition here

Mencap wants to build up a picture of hate crime (the government admits it does not know the true scale of hate crime affecting people with a disability) and is asking people to send in their experiences of hate crime here

For those who want to know more about the extent of bullying against some of the most vulnerable members of our society - those whom we should be protecting - watch the recent documentary, Tormented Lives, here.

bump.

Anyone?

Me, I'm here.
And I'm signing.

Am here .. Have signed and am doing the hate crime thingy :(

Thank you . Thought I was all on my own with this one.

Petition signed and bump

No, never.
It's late on a Thursday and most are probably girding themselves for One More Day at school before half term.
We'll just have to keep waving the flag until the rest of the crew turn up.

Would have signed but why do you HAVE to put someone elses e-mail in afterwards.

Oh good, glad to hear I have company after all .

Yes, you're right, Coin - you do have to put in at least one email afterwards. It's a shame if it stops people like you from signing. The people the petition is forwarded to don't have to sign it themselves, though, do they? (And surely most people would want to sign it, wouldn't they?).

If you really don't want to forward it to anyone else, I wonder what happens if you put your own details in?

If you had watched 'Tormented Lives' the other night, I don't think you'd be worried about this, by the way. You wouldn't hesitate to sign.

If I can explain why this is so important.. Both my ds's have physically been attacked either at school or just outside school ( even though I pick them up).. Ds2 f coupje of years ago had his face smashed into the ground AT SCHOOL breaking bones in his face... Because he couldn't communicate and express himself and because of the sensory issues he has... He was made to sit in class for the rest of the afterooon .. I wasn't contacted.
He has been kicked.. Punched, tormented, his things have been taken , damaged, thrown in his face. On an almost daily basis.
His brother has physically been assulted IN SCHOOL and out of school, he puts up with being hit, called names rumours about him etc etc...
This is just because ds has aspergers.. He is in mainstream school and is very bright.
The stuff shown on tormented lives is actually quite NORMAL to have to put up with! So if your thinking it looks terrible.. My dc's have to deal with that every day of their lives!

We are in the middle of trying to get this resolved
through the school and police and justice system..

But we will end up moving away from the area.

Oh, Arsenic, I am so sorry. Thank you for your post. It is appalling that you say that what was shown on 'Tormented Lives' is "actually quite NORMAL to have to put up with".
The idea of having to live like that on a daily basis....

Why on earth haven't the school dealt with this behaviour? I cannot imagine that sort of behaviour being allowed in my own DC's school. The one time my oldest was bullied, it was swiftly dealt with by his teacher and it stopped. But this is primary school - sadly, I expect it is different at secondary.

Where do the children get the idea that it is OK to pick on children who are different from themselves? From their parents? From our culture? Certainly from their school, if the school does not react appropriately.

I'm so sorry for you and your two boys.

well .. Things are now being done.. Some through legal means some through the school and I'm now on a muti agency team to promote awareness and education.. So things are slowly changing.

The trouble with it is this kind of thing ( as we have experienced) tends to follow us into different schools etc .. So it's going to be the awareness and education that will have the longer term benefits .. Not only to us .. But to lots of other families.

And of course programmes like tormented lives.. And petitions.
If I can let just one family know that the tormented lives programme isn't a hyped up documentory though and this is very common place .. Then I have changed a little bit more!

I'm glad things are being done, Arsenic. Your story is really shocking - and it is even more shocking to know that it is "commonplace". The trouble is that, for most people, this isn't even on their radar. They may not know anyone with a disability, so it is easy for them to see them as "other", rather than individuals who should be treated with respect. I agree - it is awareness and education that will make the difference.

Did you send in your experiences to Mencap? Your story is exactly what they need to know about.

Not yet.. I have clipped it very short and without much detail for here... As we are in the middle of legal proceedings with regard to some areas of it..
Soon as we get through that.. If I'm not gagged you will all see our story!
It makes quite interesting Reading tbh.. As five years ago we were your typical middle class ( ish) family.. Who were just getting on with our lives, careers and family life... Blimey I even had the dc's wearing Boden and there wasn't a frootshoot in sight! :o

Good luck with the legal proceedings. Sorry it had to come to that, though.

Added in my experience. And bumping.

Thank you Maim. Bumping too.

All quiet here again. Hope people are signing the petition, but not adding their names here, rather than that people don't care.

Different petition this time though, Small. It was focusing on a particular case last time; this time it is about disability hate crime in general.

I am relatively new to MN, but I thought there would be lots of support for an issue such as this here. There must be lots of mums with children with disabilities who are aware of this issue. And I imagined that those who are not personally involved with such issues, would at least have the imagination and compassion to support a change in the law.

The thread on changes to child benefit had huge support, I noticed. Does this mean people care more about losing a bit of money every month than they care about how the disabled are treated in society?

Hi Smallwhite and thanks for your welcome. Maybe I didn't make it clear enough in the title that this was a new petition. Because the NAS/Mencap discovered that they weren't going to be able to appeal over the sentencing of the men who tortured the boy with Asperger syndrome (because it doesn't fall under the right category), they set up a new petition against disability hate crime in general. If this is given the same status as, for example, racial hate crime, it will be a more serious offence and get a more severe sentence.

It's very sad that you have to agree that people care more about losing a bit of money every month rather than issues like this. I suppose people focus on what relates to them. We all do it, I'm sure. There are so many good causes that we filter things out. It helps if people hear more personal stories to relate to a topic they don't 'get'. It was good when Arsenic explained her situation and showed how disability hate can affect anyone. Rosa Monckton's documentary, 'Tortured Lives', really hit home. The trouble is, the people who watch such a documentary are those who probably don't need educating on the subject.

In the last few years, I have learned a huge amount about people with autism - a subject I knew nothing about before. I childminded for a young boy with autism, I have quite a few friends with boys on the autistic spectrum and my own son was twice assessed for Asperger syndrome (not diagnosed - but he is dyslexic, suffers extreme anxiety at times and has OCD). I know what it is like to have a child who is 'different' and challenging. At the moment, all these boys are living in loving, caring environments, but it breaks my heart to think of them being treated cruelly.

Done.