As parents, we all want to raise healthy and well adjusted kids... so when they turn 18 they can face the world and be strong. Some parents however don't have the luxury of letting go of the parental reigns when the magical 18th birthday hits (or 21st, 25th, etc... depending on when our child's maturity level catches up to adulthood). Parents of children with disabilities may spend the rest of their lives trying to keep their children protected. I saw an article shared from the paper on facebook this morning. When I read it, I was just floored at how cruel our society can be. Our society is a one full of bullies. I seem to think that people take pleasure in making others feel not as important as they are.
Posted online for the paper today, was an article about a mother who requested a sign alerting motorists of her 21 year old autistic son in case he were to enter the street without looking. The sign was posted in January and it was recently vandalized with derogatory words in spray paint. What's even worse... the police don't want to classify it as a hate crime. A statement from the police department stated, "Obviously this is very distasteful, but it would have to go a little bit further to be considered a hate crime."
Those words sound awfully familiar to me. How many times in the past 2 years have I gone to the school or gone to the authorities and been told that the situation wasn't severe enough to be handled? Any act that causes any kind of pain... regardless if it's physical or emotional pain... should be treated as a severe situation. How is NOT trying to investigate this vandalism going to help when the grade school kids in her neighborhood see that vandalism happens, gets washed away, and there's no punishment to be had...? Did the police even attempt to get fingerprints off the sign? The vandal might have very likely leaned on the sign at some point. Did they try to talk to neighbors to see if they heard or saw any suspicious in the area? Someone may have seen a car parked out of place. I know in my neighborhood I recognize the cars that are parked on the street everyday. Anyone from the neighborhood could've been letting their animal out for a walk or just coming home from work when the incident was taking place.
This was very much a hate crime and it should be treated as such. How do the police know there's no evidence to go on if they don't even attempt to launch an investigation? If every avenue they take turns out to be a dead end, well then set it aside. At least they would've given that mother a bit of piece of mind that someone, other then herself, is looking out for her son.
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