To think an autistic child should not be treated like this by the police?

[Immoralplant]

I don’t know the background to this video, but at no point is there any suggestion by the police that this autistic teenager has done anything other than say words the police didn’t like.

I am absolutely shocked that this is happening in Britain.

IABU - that’s an appropriate police response to homophobic words
IANBU - those police officers should be sacked

Warning: the video shows scenes of an autistic teenager being hurt.

twitter.com/SineadKelly113/status/1689176155562143744?s=20

@Sheog - asking why a person with autism can’t “handle their emotions more effectively” is exactly the same as asking why a person in a wheelchair can’t just use their legs more effectively. Their brain struggles to do something that most people find reasonably easy most of the time. Just like the person in the wheel chair can’t just try harder and walk, the person with autism can’t just try harder and manage their emotions effectively.

Sheog · 14/08/2023 10:32

No. I just don’t understand why people can’t handle their emotions more effectively.

Well, the girl isn't able to, because she's young and autistic. She simply isn't capable, especially when she's in a situation where she's done no wrong and a bullying copper is determined to drag her away.

Many autistic people struggle in social situations, never mind with the added stress of a nasty cop, who is gleeful about their fear and suffering.

You are showing no evidence that you understand the first thing about autism and still less at even attempting to gain some understanding of it.

Note also that the girl in question has a spinal deformity, is that enough of a disability for you?

And do you expect paranoid schizophrenics to just turn the voices off and act normally?

If a schizophrenic person does not engage in treatment and takes their mediation I consider them culpable and at fault for their condition. I don’t think this comparison fits here.
Her spinal condition would not have been an issue if she had complied with the police orders and not laid down on the ground. As there is no audio available for this part of the video (unless there are different versions) I cannot comment what was being said.
Other posters are correct that there is no point to engage me further on this topic. I am not changing my mind. I can accept that most people have a different opinion on the matter so there is no point debating.

She couldn't 'comply', because of her disability. She literally couldn't behave differently than she did, because of her disability. It wasn't a choice.

The clinical features of autism is not 'a different opinion'. You're just prejudiced. That's like having a different opinion on whether people with no legs can walk.

Yes I am probably prejudiced because I am wondering how she is able to socialise with friends and drink if she reacts like this to confrontations. But I am getting bored discussing this now.

You’re confused at how an autistic child can hang out with people her own age that she also knows….compared to an aggressive authority figure of someone she doesn’t know?!

The fact that it's been explained a number of times and yet you still don't understand implies either an unwillingness to try or an inability to comprehend.

Neither alternative speaks highly of you.

If she were able to control her emotions in a stressful situation she wouldn't meet the diagnostic criteria for autism.

If a schizophrenic person does not engage in treatment and takes their mediation I consider them culpable and at fault for their condition. I don’t think this comparison fits here.

You clearly have a profound lack of understanding as to what constitutes this type of mental illness. But that’s hardly a surprise.

Just as neither of you can see the world through my eyes. Can’t be changed

OK I'll bite as the parent of one definitely, one waiting diagnosis other but 99.9% experts sure they also are teens.

My elder teen is 16. Younger one is 15.

Younger one with confirmed ND is often shy, can be mistaken for withdrawn. As a result with Covid cutting in person lessons, teachers didn't pick up on how bright he is. He was pigeonholed as mostly near bottom group for attainment.
In fact, he was bored. Found the work tedious. Would not speak up as he didn't trust the staff yet. Wouldn't let me either.

Once he got to know the staff, especially his tutor, he has excelled. He has a close group of 6 friends who all have gaming in common but who have also made him dip his toe into a love of football. He can be himself with his, some would say interesting, sense of humour. He becomes hyperfixated on something every few years (unlike the other one whose fixations change almost monthly, more if stressed). It's currently flags.

Staff now know to check in every so often, because he won't always moan.

So yes, around trusted people, friends, family, family friends, teachers, he is happy to chat and comes across as a normal, if not somewhat nerdy, teen. Around new people? We go back to withdrawn, quiet, shy teen who is unsure of himself and their viewpoint of him.

The worst point was the time in late August 2020 when school announced it was reopening post lockdown, and there would be different timings and a one way system, along with zones for break time for each year group.
This resulted in a huge meltdown in the car. He couldn't sit where his friends sat every day prior to lockdown. Would they find each other? Would he get detention if the one way system made him late to a class? What if he had new staff?

Literally he was inconsolable to the point of making himself vomit. It was some what helped by a staff member who asked him to pop up to school the day before it reopened so she could show him where everything was, give him his timetable and a card that allowed him to have 5 minutes grace to lesson. Even his mates, who are stars, text him and they arranged a designated meeting spot for break time. If those kids could understand how certain situations can effect a ND friend, how the hell can't a grown adult?

It's a juggling act. To suggest teens with ND won't do what all teens do and go out and be a bit naughty with drinking is ridiculous. The way you speak makes me think you're the type who thinks that people with illnesses or issues should be locked out of public view.

Is that comment meant to be a (very unfunny) joke, or just incoherent?

Ok that is somewhat interesting. The only autistic people I have met so far were either well functioning adults or more severe cases which were nonverbal

So from your limited interaction, you think that’s the only two presentations of autism? And you are confident enough to come online and give your opinion?

Do you struggle with other incomplete data sets?

And how do you know they're well functioning? I'm guessing by how ignorant you are that you don't know them that well.

They spoke about it as we could compare some things.

Neither. Most of you don’t make sense to me

I’ve been following this thread from the beginning, and have found it upsetting, as I have a DB I could easily imagine in this situation, as a very vulnerable adult. I could easily imagine him in this exact situation.

I also have 2 adopted DDs, both of whom have special needs which are invisible (apart from DD1 having hearing aids). DD1 has no filter and has been banned online from various sites for making unacceptable comments, including one that included calling someone ‘gay’. She couldn’t see why the word could be construed as an insult.

I’m not surprised at the way @Sheog is commenting on this thread. He was on the ‘Psychopath’ thread recently telling everyone that he had no empathy with anyone he considered less intelligent than he was. That has been amply demonstrated on this thread.

My DDs (14 and 11) are currently being assessed for autism, ADHD and FASD.

Funny that. Usually it's autistic people who are accused of lacking empathy and being unable to see things from others perspectives.

Are you posting in good faith, or are you just edgelording? Because you seem to want to pronounce your opinions, and have no intention of hearing anyone else's, which doesn't really move the conversation along. Quite aside from your seeming inability to recognise that you are not the expert here and others have quite a bit more knowledge and experience of the topic under discussion than you do.

It's someone being an absolute bell end. Autism seems to be the current wind them up and watch them go fodder on MN specifically and in society in general at the moment... and it's the boredom point of the school holidays as well.

I responded to one poster whose post made sense to me. The others were primarily hostile from the start. I explained that I have no interest in engaging further in the discussion because it seems irrelevant and it won’t change my opinion on the event.
In short: I can’t identity with either autistic people as described nor with the majorities of the posters on this thread, so there is no point in engaging me further.

Off you pop then.