Interesting case...

[eidsvold]

uproar in Aus at present at mother who killed her autistic son...

here

and

here


such a tragedy....

[lou33]

How terribly sad

[busybee123]

so very very sad....there is nowhere enough support for families as there should be.

[twiglett]

message withdrawn

[blossomhill]

[Jimjams]

Very sad. Almost idential to a case here a couple of years ago- except the mother did kill herself as well. The story is here IIRC SS and the NHS were criticised quite severely in the enquiry. Don't think its changed anything though. These cases never surprise me- other than being surprised there aren't more of them really.

[Jimjams]

The results of the inquiry . This article is quite polite about it but I remember at the time there was quite a lo tof criticism about lack of communication between the different services.

When I had the SW round a couple of weeks ago she was saying how disgusted she is that there is just no help available to families of autistic children....... I think that in our case the criticisms made in the Rogan report would apply equally down here as well.

[coppertop]

What tragic stories. Afterwards we hear all the promises that things will be improved but nothing really seems to change. Getting any kind of help is a constant battle. Half the time parents aren't even made aware that help is available.

I think one of the quotes in those stories was probably a massive understatement. A relative said that the child "became agitated" if his routine changed. Agitated???! Ds1 is at the high-functioning end of the spectrum and I certainly wouldn't describe his reaction to change as "agitation"!

[Davros]

I remember a story a year or so ago about a couple in America who were getting on a bit and had an young adult autistic son. They had to care for him on their own over Xmas and they couldn't cope. They were quite well off but getting help, managing the help and getting enough help is still always difficult (as we all know) and I don't think they had any help. During the Xmas holidays they abandoned him at a local hospital as they were at their wits end. It was very sad I thought but I think they got prosecuted, although treated with some understanding. There were a lot of terrible things written about them but also a lot of people coming out in their support. I'll see if I can find the story as my version is probably not totally accurate.

[Jimjams]

I think anyone writing terrible things aboutthe parents involved in any of these cases just hasn't got a clue really. When you are at the end of your tether and in danger of hurting your child (or lets face if they had a young adult- you are in danger of being hurt by them) surely abandonning him at a local hospital was the only thing they could do.

[Jimjams]

Is this and this the case you were thinking of Davros? Sounds similar alhough it was a boy of 10 with CP. Think the first article sums it up well though (although my family are fantastically supportive).

[juniper68]

This is all so very sad I imagine the Kelsos live with the guilt every day but like it says it's better than killing him.

My nephew (28)is severly autistic and my BIl is left alone to care for him as my sister died last year. He does get a weekend break occasionally and nephew goes to a centre daily. Even so it's very hard. My late sister didn't let us in though. She tried to hide him as much as possible. They never took him out sociably. Now my BIL who did go out before she died takes him out. BIL went away abroad every year with his friends and didn't ever take my sis anywhere, not even a day away. My mum did though so she got some joy in her life.

[coppertop]

Surely if the family in the article were unable to cope then taking him to the hospital was the best thing they could have done under the circumstances? I don't understand why the parents got such awful publicity. After all, in many countries there are campaigns to encourage new mothers who feel unable to cope, to leave their baby at a hospital rather than just abandon it.

I must admit there are days when I could quite literally leave ds1 on someone else's doorstep.

[pickledbeetle]

I am not sure any of us have the right to criticise unless we have 'walked in that person's shoes'. I take my hat off to the families who have a child with autism - it must be impossible to describe that kind of situation - people who can't 'see' any disability often assume it is exaggerated.
Caring for anyone with a disability is a full-time job and parents who do so deserve all the credit.