Posted on 05/18/2008 6:54:58 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
The mother of a 13-year-old autistic boy who was banned by a court order from attending services at a Roman Catholic church in Bertha, Minn., woke up Sunday determined to take her son to mass.
But Carol Race changed her mind when Todd County Sheriff Pete Mikkelson met her at the end of her driveway Sunday and told her she would be arrested if she brought her son, Adam, into the Church of St. Joseph.
Instead, Race took Adam and her four other children to mass at Christ the King Church in nearby Browerville, Minn. "It occurred to me that if I step foot in [St. Joseph], they will arrest me and I won't end up going to mass anyway," she said.
She is scheduled to appear in court today over a citation she received last week for violating the restraining order by taking Adam to church on Mother's Day.
The dispute has drawn attention to what Race and advocates for the disabled say is a lack of education and understanding about autism. Race said that even though her son, who is home-schooled, sometimes acts up in church, the experience benefits him.
"He has a sense of the routine," she said. "That's one of the beautiful things about the Catholic mass for autistic individuals, its routine."
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
minnesota is giving florida a real run for its money in the “really screwed up” category.
A court order banning someone from church? What was that thing about prohibiting free exercise of religion?
You don’t get the rest of the story until almost at the end.
The forces of tolerance might say that such a person should not be banned from attending. Since when are tolerance and inclusion the only considerations?
Actually, the Catholic church needs to step up here and try to do something to improve their public image.
It’s not a MN thing.
Yall read the article.
The Rev. Daniel Walz, who did not return calls left at the Church of St. Joseph parish office, wrote in court documents that Adam's behavior was "extremely disruptive and dangerous." He alleged that Adam, who is more than 6 feet tall and weighs over 225 pounds, spits and urinates in church and has nearly injured children and elderly people.
It sounds like the church doesn't want them there. It's a trespassing/restraining order issue.
Announcement:
Everyone on this thread will now commence to bash the church!
Gee, what a little angel. Maybe the parishioners should take a dump in the lady's car and tell her she needs to be more tolerant.
I was outraged by the title and the first few paragraphs. After reading the whole story I can understand why the pastor did what he did. It’s sad but understandable.
I feel bad for the mother but I think I have about all the "education and understanding about autism" I need for this situation.
The simple solution is for the pastor to bring communion to the child.
Why can’t the mom put him in a diaper if he’s incontinent. For goodness sake, if an old person or a baby was there, we wouldn’t expect them to pee themself in public either.
Looks to me like the mother has failed in her job to teach her son manners and discipline. Now she has an overgrown, out of control monster on her hands. The kid needs help. The parishioners should not be expected to endure this behavior.
Nope.
My church has several “special” situations.
We don’t call the cops.
We all pitch in and do what we can to make the families involved feel welcome. We don’t complain, we accept and help out as best we can. We understand.
Autism Ping.
Why should the Catholic Church try to “improve their public image” by allowing a 6 foot, 225 pound autistic boy to spit and urinate and flail his way through Masses? People go to Mass to WORSHIP, something which this unfortunate boy is clearly not capable of doing in the context of a public Mass.
"Race said that even though her son... sometimes acts up in church, the experience benefits him."
This ring any bells to ya?
Alarm bells go off even if you don't read the rest of the story...
Excellent idea! Having communion brought to him would be a step in the right direction. The parish does have a responsibility to keep its parishoners safe while worshiping. Unfortunately, this is the way it has to be. The parish has obviously tried to learn more about dealing with this sort of situation. This young man cannot go about spitting, urinating, and causing possible harm to others. Before someone says something that I don’t know what if feels like, I have an autistic son, grandson, and I am on the spectrum myself.
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