11 year old autistic girl tased
- Thread starter rmscustom
- Start date
Hmmm somewhat of a hard one for me....
I have a 4-year old son who is developmentally challenged, he has not been diagnosed as autistic but is diagnosed as "on the Autism spectrum". He has the body of a 4 YO and the mind of a 12-month old. He is double- jointed, very "loosey-goosey" in his muscle structure but can be very tight and strong when he gets agitated. And he will bite if prone to being upset if you don't watch his demeanor. These moments are rare and he is generally a loving, affectionate kid who, can walk and pick things up, but can't speak or comprehend words.
I can see where the trooper would be concerned for the child's safety, and not knowing the child's demeanor and what a person who is mentally disabled is capable or incapable of if approached by a stranger, chose to do what he did. My question is why was the child naked and alone along the highway and where were the parents while this was happening? A child like this requires so much extra attention, you cannot let your guard down for an instant. Yet I agree that maybe the taser wasn't the best solution, but it was the solution the officer felt he had available to him for the given time to react.
I have a 4-year old son who is developmentally challenged, he has not been diagnosed as autistic but is diagnosed as "on the Autism spectrum". He has the body of a 4 YO and the mind of a 12-month old. He is double- jointed, very "loosey-goosey" in his muscle structure but can be very tight and strong when he gets agitated. And he will bite if prone to being upset if you don't watch his demeanor. These moments are rare and he is generally a loving, affectionate kid who, can walk and pick things up, but can't speak or comprehend words.
I can see where the trooper would be concerned for the child's safety, and not knowing the child's demeanor and what a person who is mentally disabled is capable or incapable of if approached by a stranger, chose to do what he did. My question is why was the child naked and alone along the highway and where were the parents while this was happening? A child like this requires so much extra attention, you cannot let your guard down for an instant. Yet I agree that maybe the taser wasn't the best solution, but it was the solution the officer felt he had available to him for the given time to react.
My exposure to autism has left me with the lasting impression that they require different types of action as they process differently. On the extreme end of the scale they do not even comprehend the most basic of interactions and demands we see as normal in society. If this poor kid was in that position, he may well have had no idea what he was doing and could have been quite violent before things got to this point. I also have had enough exposure to the varied responses of law enforcement in life/death situations that either end up in the emergency department or the morgue to know that I would be the first pulling a trigger in a lot of cases. Either that or filling my pants. Maybe both. Mental health in general is a huge concern in this country. Just ask anyone involved in every school campus shooting that has made the news... 
I could not veiw the video so I cannot comment on what led up to the use of the tazer by the officer or the demeanor of the 11 year old girl or officer. However the tazer was designed as a tool to be used to gain control of a subject without having to go hands on the subject. Antime you go hands on with someone the chances of the officer and or the subject getting hurt are very high. The tazer keeps the officer from being hurt while gaining control and causing minimal physical injury to the subject. I personally would find it difficult to use a tazer on a 11 year old girl but I was not there in that officer's shoes. I do know of a case in my community where a 10 year old male required 2 officers to control and one officer ended up taking a hard hit to the groin. This 10 year old assauted his grandmother, pulled a knife on various classmates (including my son), and kicked and punched 2 officers.
I didn't see the vid nor could I open the link...but read all the posts here on this thread.
I hardly belive that it was a case of the officer knowing the child was autistic, so here comes a taze. There is always more to it than that.
Did the officer KNOW the child was autistic when arriving on the scene? How much info does the cop have when they take the call?
This officer may not know if the kid is normal, autistic, develpmentally delayed, high, stoned, tweeked on meth, packing a .40, etc.
If an officer doesn't know of the child's condition and the child fails to respond (or perceived to IGNORE) the officer's commands, it would be likely that protocal could allow for the officer to taze the child to keep it from darting out into traffic and hurting herself even more.
Officers often utilize tazers as a means to protect the subject from making sudden and possible deadly impulses, such as jumping out into traffic lanes.
Also, since every person is unique in personality and thoughts...especially those on the Autism spectrum, you never know what they are capable of. Often times the parents aren't always able to manage their own autistic child consistently, let alone a strange policeman who arrives on scene.
I hardly belive that it was a case of the officer knowing the child was autistic, so here comes a taze. There is always more to it than that.
Did the officer KNOW the child was autistic when arriving on the scene? How much info does the cop have when they take the call?
This officer may not know if the kid is normal, autistic, develpmentally delayed, high, stoned, tweeked on meth, packing a .40, etc.
If an officer doesn't know of the child's condition and the child fails to respond (or perceived to IGNORE) the officer's commands, it would be likely that protocal could allow for the officer to taze the child to keep it from darting out into traffic and hurting herself even more.
Officers often utilize tazers as a means to protect the subject from making sudden and possible deadly impulses, such as jumping out into traffic lanes.
Also, since every person is unique in personality and thoughts...especially those on the Autism spectrum, you never know what they are capable of. Often times the parents aren't always able to manage their own autistic child consistently, let alone a strange policeman who arrives on scene.
I wouldn't want any of my boys tazed or any other sort of restraint placed upon them UNLESS they were posing a danger to others or themselves (of course). And my son is definitely unique in his personality and what he can and can't do. The things we take for granted, like picking up a spoon or opening a door or getting dressed are things he will likely struggle with all his life. And I agree, trying to manage him consistently is a challenge, because with his other health problems along with his mental disability, there is no "normal" routine with him.
Man I hear ya.
Parents of special needs kids are special themselves. What a tough job.
Didn't watch either but an interesting topic still.
I'm in the same boat as wrtmani. My son is 3.5 and has Fragile X...yes fragile what? Google it, the most common form of retardation in boys, and apparently the least known.
He isn't as bad as others but he is somewhere around a early 2 year old in certain areas.
Some days he can do exactly what you want, others off in his world. Especially when it comes to pain, he can cry over just a small scrape but slam his head off the sidewalk and he hardly cries.
Even knowing he can at times not respond right away or as I want I personally would be beyond upset if someone like a cop were to use a tazer on him even at 11.
The thing is most people who suffer from some sort of retardation be it autism, fragile x or whatever carry some fairly obvious physical characteristics that should clue anyone in an authority position that something is off with said person.
I'm in the same boat as wrtmani. My son is 3.5 and has Fragile X...yes fragile what? Google it, the most common form of retardation in boys, and apparently the least known.
He isn't as bad as others but he is somewhere around a early 2 year old in certain areas.
Some days he can do exactly what you want, others off in his world. Especially when it comes to pain, he can cry over just a small scrape but slam his head off the sidewalk and he hardly cries.
Even knowing he can at times not respond right away or as I want I personally would be beyond upset if someone like a cop were to use a tazer on him even at 11.
The thing is most people who suffer from some sort of retardation be it autism, fragile x or whatever carry some fairly obvious physical characteristics that should clue anyone in an authority position that something is off with said person.
We did have the Fragile X test done upon the reccomendation of the genetic specialists at Shodair Chioldren's Hospital in Helena, and the results on my son were negative.
Had to write a letter of appeal to my employer's health insurance company, however, to get them to pay for it. They felt it wasn't "medically nessesary" and wouldn't pay the $5,000 bill for it.
Had to write a letter of appeal to my employer's health insurance company, however, to get them to pay for it. They felt it wasn't "medically nessesary" and wouldn't pay the $5,000 bill for it.
Wow, glad we didn't have to deal with insurance like that.
Instead we are in the process of beating our heads against the brick wall known as the governement and all that BS trying to get access to SS and other benefits I pay for....that apparently I make to much to have access to for my son.
X
X2Freeride
Well-known member
minimal physical injury? Have you ever been tazed? I've never been tazed by a police officer or another person but I accidentally got my personal tazer too close to my leg once, and it arched across from about an inch away. When I woke up I had pissed my pants and hit a door knob with my eye socket which left a nice scar. There is nothing at all minimal about what a tazer does to you physically.
