| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Autistic Boy Charged With Making Terrorist Threats Over Stick-Figure Sketch |
| 2010-05-14 |
| SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. - A fourteen-year-old autistic boy is facing terrorist charges after a sketch he made in school. Looks like the school district has more money than they need if they are willing to devote attention to this situation in this manner. Have the counselor look at it instead if they must. The sketch shows two stick-figures. One of them is labeled 'Me' and is shown shooting a gun at another with a teacher's name above it. You can get this kind of reaction from an autistic kid for the smallest denial of a preferred activity or item. Nothing to see here, folks. Karen Finn says that her son, 8th grader Shane Finn, doesn't understand why he is in trouble. She says the boy is autistic and has the mental capacity of a 3rd grader. That's OK, some adults in positions of responsibility have the maturity and mental capacity of a third grader, too. Officials at Ridgeview Charter School say the student will face a tribunal and is being charged with making terrorist threats. We need better school officals. These folks don't have a clue and don't belong where they are. A charter school? I thought they were supposed to know better. Finn says she plans to fight the charges. Why bother? Let them show the world what they are. Then sue them in court and take home a pile of $$$. Hitting them in the pocketbook is the best way to get a school district's attention. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #4 This is probably doing a *lot* of damage to the kid - punishing him for communicating is just going to drive him to not communicate at all. What they should have done is use this as an opprotunity to communicate with the child - attempt to get him to open up about his feelings and express himself more (and possibly in a more constructive way). They are just going to drive him to follow his tendency to *not* communicate. As for the school officials - someone ought to be fired. Not allowed to resign or laid off - outright F-I-R-E-D. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-05-14 18:54 |
| #3 Autistic kids can be a big challenge. I recall seeing autistic twins one time. They had invented their own language. It seemed they knew what they were communicating but no one else did. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-05-14 18:06 |
| #2 If the kid is genuinely autistic, they may have bitten off more than they can chew, legally. |
| Posted by: Bugs Speart6083 2010-05-14 12:58 |
| #1 Doesn't sound like these school officials have too much experience with autistic kids. These kids require a lot of patience. Some have little or no expression and no communication. The fact that this boy is expressing himself gives a teacher something to work with if they are willing to set aside preconceived notions about what they think is going on in the kids head. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-05-14 09:04 |