Posted on 12/24/2006 3:18:51 PM PST by MovementConservative
PORTLAND - An autistic child was tasered by police in the early morning hours of Dec. 5, when he was found walking shirtless and shoeless down the Broadway Bridge.
According to his great-grandmother, Sir J. Millage has an extremely severe case of autism. He also has a disease where cannot feel extremes in temperature, which is why he was able to be out in cold weather without clothing. His head swerves from side to side and he has outbursts of profanity that can last from three hours to three days due to Tourettes syndrome. He has never been known to be physically violent.
When police saw the 5'10", 260 pound 15-year-old walking down the bridge, they say they were unaware of his illness. Police say it appeared he was holding a metal rod or stick. After Millage did not respond to commands, officers used tasers and struck him with a baton.
Millage lives with his great-grandmother Pastor Mary Overstreet Smith in Portland. She says he snuck out a window that night and the incident with police "tore her heart out." She says that because of his low intelligence level, he cannot respond to commands and that police should be able to tell the difference between a person who has autism and one that is high on drugs.
Smith says that her grandson now constantly thinks people want to shoot him and says he would like to return to his other home in Arizona.
Police are standing by their decision to use force, claming that Millage was acting aggressively. They say decisions must be made in a split second and they did the best they could.
One day his father, who was a student at Gallaudet (the university for the deaf in Washington DC) got involved in some meaningless dispute with the guards at the school.
They ended up killing him with a neckhold.
Seems someone had forgotten to train them in how to manhandle deaf people, particularly the part where many of them cannot talk ~ which he couldn't ~ and are unable to let folks know they are being choked.
Life is tough sometimes almost beyond bearing.
Just little things like, for example, 9/11 and home invasions. Crazy half naked guys cursing down the street untasered don't tend to calm my nerves much either. You really should get out more, and buy a newspaper. These days they make Stephen King novels seem tame by comparison. I'm not one to go looking for trouble, but if it finds me I am prepared to deal with it in an appropriate manner.
Autism is not a mental illness.
It ain't mental health.
B/3/325
Be very careful of those Wikipedia references. They are frequently driven by abnormal agendas.
So are half naked crazy guys. Wiki somehow seems less dangerous to me.
If you've discovered the linkage between vision and confusing one word for another, I suggest you take it to an ornithologist (eye doctor, of course) right away.
I would have mentioned it sooner, but you know that you are celebrating my birth this day and you might want to be a little kinder to someone who's over 2000 years old.
Because prejudice in any form is a mental illness.
WTH are you talking about?
…but, you're out there, right?
I have an autistic son who used to have bouts of anger and would lash out. I think police today are critcized too much and not given enough credit for all the good they do.
Ben posted You have a problem and need to seek help right away.
Two points were implied by her post [1] all cops are bad and I distrust them [2] I default to not believing the police when there is any doubt.
These points prejudge the police therefore indicate prejudice. She paints all police with too large a brush. This level of prejudice indicate some reason behind her prejudice that exceeds reason. Any mental state that denies reason is inherently illness and can be treated with counseling.
That is "WTH" I mean.
ok
Ha ha ha. Just keep your clothes on and don't make eye contact.
You are reading too much into what I said. I actually like some cops and count my local sheriff among my friends. There is a difference between 'in general' and 'all'. I don't like sharks or alligators in general but if I got to know some I might like them. A friend of mine used to have a pet skunk I was fond of, but I'm not going to start trusting all skunks. I actually took the cops' side on this deal and believe they did the right thing, but I'm not going to start hanging out with them.
Because all the institutions are closed due to lack of funding. For libs its a "rights" thing and for conservatives, a money thing.
Plus, MOST mentally ill people don't need institutionalization. Historically, they have proven to be human warehouses, rarely theraputic and often more cruel than prisons, which have become their substitute.
I think I have understood your position correctly.
Your corollary is backwards. It should be that your friend had a dog that bit someone. That doesn't mean that you distrust all dogs.
A healthier position would be that just because there are a few bad police, one doesn't distrust police in general. That has the result of placing a much larger group of good in with the bad rather than a small group of bad in with the good.
I never said I distrust them. I also never said I dislike them. You are the one who said that. I said I don't like them and that is not the same thing. I don't like liver, I dislike eating it. BTW, I don't like dogs either, and I dislike cats.
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