Letter asking to 'euthanize' boy with autism -- WTF??

[Miss*Bijou]

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What the hell is wrong with some people??







Letter asking to 'euthanize' boy with autism not hate crime


The Crown Attorney's Office in Ontario says a letter asking the family of a boy with autism to move or euthanize him falls below the threshold for a hate crime, despite the hateful language, Durham Regional Police Service said in a release Tuesday.

However, police will consider whether the letter violates other Criminal Code issues.

A criminal investigation is currently underway after the Newcastle, Ont., family of a 13-year-old boy who has autism received an anonymous letter telling them to either leave the neighbourhood or have the boy euthanized.

The boy's grandmother, Brenda Millson, said she was shocked when she read the letter, which arrived in her mailbox on Friday.

The author of the typed one-page letter claimed to be a mother who lived in the neighbourhood and was upset at the noises Millson's grandson Max made when he was outside.

The letter went on to say the boy's "noise polluting whaling (sic)," scared the author's "normal children."

It also included statements such as "he is a hindrance to everyone and will always be that way" and "do the right thing and move or euthanize him."

Millson said she immediately reported the letter to police.

She said Max lives with his parents and older brother in Oshawa, Ont., but he had been visiting her home in Newcastle.

She said the author of the letter may have assumed she is Max's mother.

"At first I couldn't believe what I was reading," she said, adding that she was shaking in disbelief.

"It's just so sick."

Durham regional police said they have been investigating since Friday and that they are taking the letter seriously.

Max's mother, Karla Begley, 44, who is in a wheelchair with multiple sclerosis, said police told her they had never seen a letter "that despicable."


Earlier incident after ball thrown into neighbour's yard

The only hostility the family had sensed in the Newcastle neighbourhood was four years ago, she said.

At the time, Max loved to throw a ball in the backyard and as he often threw it over fences, Millson had written her name and address on it, Begley said.

One day it arrived in the yard tattered, she said. "They took the time to shred the ball with scissors and throw it back over."

Begley added the family did not know what yard the ball was thrown into.

Millson said Max is a wonderful, sweet and lovable boy with a 16-year-old brother who was "infuriated" and "disgusted" by the letter.

Millson said the letter is "pretty gutless."


Neighbours rally to support family

On Sunday night, at least 120 people waited outside the home for more than an hour in order show their support, Begley said. Families with autistic children drove in from Oshawa to show their support.

"Max was high-fiving everyone. He didn't understand but knew it was for him," Millson said.

Begley said support for the family following the letter has been "bittersweet," adding it's too bad it took such a letter to bring attention to a special-needs child.

"It's just a reminder, you know, you've got to treat these kids like they need to be treated," Begley said. "They just want to belong."



Anyone with any new information regarding the investigation is asked to contact Const. Thompson of the East Division Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 1604.

Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or at www.durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story...hanize-letter-ontario-newscastle.html?cmp=rss






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[Miss*Bijou]

So you take the 120 people, remove all out of towners and any neighbours more than a few houses down.
Then you look at those left, and pick the Mothers.
Now you only have I would say 10 or less typewriters to check for a match.

I don't think it was an actual typewriter and I doubt there would be as many as 10!lol But most people nowadays use a computer and printer to type letters



I also have doubts that the author is actually a mother.. (or maybe I just hope it's not cause that is just so disturbing?!)

 

[wilde]

The letter is despicable, no doubt about that. But I don't think I see an obvious threat anywhere within the letter. Criminal case, I doubt it.

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Maybe Printed, but the article does say typed.
"The author of the typed one-page letter claimed to be a mother who lived in the neighbourhood"
Even if journalism is a lost art, one would hope that the author would at least know the difference... Maybe?

Typed, meaning..as opposed to hand written. How would you have said it instead? PC written? lol Typed applies to computer too...

 

[vancity_cowboy]

Typed, meaning..as opposed to hand written. How would you have said it instead? PC written? lol Typed applies to computer too...

Actually, I would have said printed as opposed to typed.
I type on my computer and print out the results of my typing.

another term i have seen used to differentiate is 'word processed'

 

[CJ Tylers]

Sounds like there is a mentally disturbed individual on the loose, whose children should perhaps be put into the custody of child services...

 

[VanessaofBC]

This disgusts me on so many levels. Sheesh.

No kidding!!!

Looks to me like it was written by a 15 year old child.

What nerve.

 

[The Lizard King]

Unconscionable letter no doubt, and I can't even comprehend what that loser was thinking, but even mentioning it as a potential "hate crime" as the CBC did is as equally as idiotic as the letter itself.

 

[Tugela]

You are assuming of course that someone else wrote the letter . Ask yourself this - after receiving a single letter, what kind of person would immediately call the cops if there were known issues involving the kid and the neighbors? Doesn't add up or pass the smell test.

People will do weird things for attention.

But, in any case, if it was someone else, it should be pretty easy to figure it out. Either the kid was causing issues for one particular person, or it was causing issues for the whole neighborhood. Just ask him what he does and when, it should narrow it down

 

[Tugela]

Well, I have autism, so I understand it perfectly.

This woman is over-reacting unnaturally, which makes me wonder why.

On one hand she claims that there were no problems with the neighbors for four years, but then she claims this "letter" arrived out of the blue for no apparent reason. Either she is lying about there being no problems or she doesn't have a clue what this kid is getting up to, and even less inclination to do anything about it (denial).

In spite of all that she immediately runs off to the police.

Oh, and when she claims 4 years back, he accidently kicked the ball over the fence, it came back shredded to pieces. Again, just out of the blue for no reason at all.

Seriously????

 

[Smilf]

I have a few friends with children whom have autism and have seen many a nasty look and attitude towards them, it's never a fun situation going out any where with people sneering and snickering at them, it's really quite pathetic. People can be very mean and cruel and honestly it wouldn't surprise me in the least that someone would say such a thing or do such a thing. When you think about what some people say about gay people or people of other cultures, why is it surprising that someone would do such a thing for no apparent reason?

That letter made me sick to my stomach.

Sheesh just look at some of the news stories on here as of late, 3 kids killing a guy because they were bored and you're wondering if someone could send a mom a letter like this for no reason?

 

[Miss*Bijou]

On one hand she claims that there were no problems with the neighbors for four years, but then she claims this "letter" arrived out of the blue for no apparent reason. Either she is lying about there being no problems or she doesn't have a clue what this kid is getting up to, and even less inclination to do anything about it (denial).

In spite of all that she immediately runs off to the police.

Oh, and when she claims 4 years back, he accidently kicked the ball over the fence, it came back shredded to pieces. Again, just out of the blue for no reason at all.

Seriously????

I really don't see how that even matters. People react the way they react.

The point isn't the way they reacted, the point is someone wrote that fucked up letter!!

 

[CJ Tylers]

Well, I have autism, so I understand it perfectly.

score +1 for Tugela.

 

[Bartdude]

Tugela, curious as to the nature of your Autism. In my work, I have done casework on a variety of young people classed as being under the umbrella of autistic conditions. Hope I'm not being too personal.

Anyways, I can see how you would want to throw some scrutiny on the letter and its true origins. But I disagree that the mother is 'overreacting'. As for those who think this is no big deal - substitute gender, sexual orientation, or race into this incident, and then say it's harmless. If this were my kid, I'd have gone ballistic.

 

[Tugela]

Sheesh just look at some of the news stories on here as of late, 3 kids killing a guy because they were bored and you're wondering if someone could send a mom a letter like this for no reason?

It didn't happen for no reason, real life doesn't work that way. There are really two options here: (a) she sent it to herself because she has some sort of axe to grind (people do that sort of thing all the time); or (b) there is a whole bunch of other stuff that happened before, which, for whatever reason, she is either ignoring or choosing not to tell.

Going to the police is a "last straw" act, not a "first straw" act. This story does not add up. If someone really did send that letter, then it would have been a "last straw" act for them, which means that there is an extensive back story. And in all probability that back story does not reflect well on the woman making the complaint, which is why it is not mentioned.

 

[Tugela]

Tugela, curious as to the nature of your Autism. In my work, I have done casework on a variety of young people classed as being under the umbrella of autistic conditions. Hope I'm not being too personal.

Anyways, I can see how you would want to throw some scrutiny on the letter and its true origins. But I disagree that the mother is 'overreacting'. As for those who think this is no big deal - substitute gender, sexual orientation, or race into this incident, and then say it's harmless. If this were my kid, I'd have gone ballistic.

Aspergers, If I can write this then that would be it. Further down the spectrum I wouldn't be doing that.

You might be angry about it if it happened to you, but if there was no history then you probably wouldn't take it further unless a history developed.

Analysing this further, ask yourself why are we even hearing about it? Obviously the police wouldn't have held a press conference to highlight it, so the media must have been informed by someone else, almost certainly the person making the complaint.

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Aspergers, If I can write this then that would be it. Further down the spectrum I wouldn't be doing that.

You might be angry about it if it happened to you, but if there was no history then you probably wouldn't take it further unless a history developed.

Analysing this further, ask yourself why are we even hearing about it? Obviously the police wouldn't have held a press conference to highlight it, so the media must have been informed by someone else, almost certainly the person making the complaint.

I think you're reading far too much into it. First, the article explains that's not even where the kid lives. That is the grandmother's home and the kid only visits her.


I don't see how her telling an anecdote about a jerk neighbor 4 years ago changes anything. Even if it had been an ongoing issue for an unknown neighbor, that doesn't justify writing a disturbed, anonymous letter like that. Obviously no one has come up to her directly and brought up any issue they might have with the boy.. That's usually what normal people do: they talk about things, they don't write vile anonymous letters or shred kids balls before throwing them back to them! That's not normal, well adjusted adult behavior. That's disturbed, passive aggressive and just mean spirited.


The kid could have lived there permanently, spent every entire afternoon screaming in the back yard and the normal way to deal with it still would *not* have been to send a nasty letter like that. It's these people's own problem if they're too cowardly to bring up specific issues directly to those concerned and deal with it face-to-face. If they can't do that, that doesn't make anonymous letter like that acceptable or even understandable.


So I really don't see why that is somehow important according to you? Are you saying there might be more to the story that might justify a neighbor writing that letter? Or are you saying you're simple convinced the she (the mother? the grandmother?) wrote it herself? And she was have written it strictly for attention?


I don't have a kid but I have a feeling most parents would feel the need to do something if they received such a letter. What do you expect the grandma to do? Shrug, say 'oh well', put it in a drawer and forget about it. I'm sure some people would have been able to do just that but I don't think most could. If someone sends you a letter suggesting euthanasia anonymously, *what* exactly do you suggest she should have done as a 'first resort' and what would qualify as a 'Last resort' when it would make sense to alert the police.


You don't know whether or not the police or the grandmother contacted the press. Maybe the police did. Perhaps they were disappointed they could not do more about a letter that disgusted them so they thought it should at least be made public. Maybe the family is a part of some support organization (which would have set up the support of other families who showed up), it could have been that organization or any of the families who showed up. Maybe it was a friend of a friend - how hard is it for anyone to go to the cbc website, scan the letter and send an email? It's not exactly hard to do that.


The point is we don't know and there are numerous possibilities and reasons. So unless there's more I have missed, I'm not finding your theory really convincing. IMO.

 

[mimi]

It didn't add up to me, either. I didn't bother to open it on facebook cause it sounded like one of those sensational things women send each other, and what not.

I just don't get how you can live in a neighbourhood, for four years, and be within earshot of someone who hates you and not be aware of it. Ever had a bad neighbour? You can feel their thoughts through the fence.

 

[Tugela]

The point is we don't know and there are numerous possibilities and reasons. So unless there's more I have missed, I'm not finding your theory really convincing. IMO.

You should not believe everything everyone says, just because it outrages you. They might be exploiting you.

One of the things I do a lot is observe people, because it helps me understand them better. I have noticed that when someone cries victim, they are granted the benefit of doubt pretty much almost always, and the person they are accusing is assumed to be guilty, even if there isn't any real evidence. The accusation is enough, and the first person to do it is assumed to be truthful. And after that close inspection of the actual facts usually does not happen.

The thing is, there are plenty of people who abuse that tendency in human nature to their own ends. You always need to be wary of that, NEVER believe someone just because they say so. You need corroboration, and in this case there is apparently none.

Now, if this kid had been causing problems in the neighborhood, no one will dare complain about it in the future, because if they do they will be branded as the "letter writer". If you were the parent of a troublesome child, that is a valuable card to be holding.

If you can't see why someone might find that an attractive option, I have a few bridges I'm sure you would be very interested in buying .

 

[VanessaofBC]

It didn't add up to me, either. I didn't bother to open it on facebook cause it sounded like one of those sensational things women send each other, and what not.

I just don't get how you can live in a neighbourhood, for four years, and be within earshot of someone who hates you and not be aware of it. Ever had a bad neighbour? You can feel their thoughts through the fence.

Yes, I have had a bad neighbor and she made her thoughts known.

As for living in a neighbourhood with someone who has autism, that is something I can relate to. As children, we knew he was different but no one made fun of him or anything. He just sat at the front of the bus in his own little world. His sister always helped him on the bus.