Autistic teenager kicked baby in the face

memphisto said:
that autistic kids of 18 have no understanding of right and wrong ?

and just as an aside, if that was my baby he'd still be picking his teeth out of various locations in the cafe.
Click to expand...


That is exactly what has been said in this thread, we don't know what his exact symptoms are but his ideas of right and wrong must be skewed. Saying that, he is obviously a danger to the public and should be kept away from children as he cannot be trusted to control himself.

And your comment about if it was your baby, wow just wow, internet hardman. I personally would be preoccupied with my baby who was stamped on, not showing how alpha I was by attacking someone.
 
OliP said:
That is exactly what has been said in this thread, we don't know what his exact symptoms are but his ideas of right and wrong must be skewed. Saying that, he is obviously a danger to the public and should be kept away from children as he cannot be trusted to control himself.

And your comment about if it was your baby, wow just wow, internet hardman. I personally would be preoccupied with my baby who was stamped on, not showing how alpha I was by attacking someone.
Click to expand...

^ This, as a parent myself my first thought would be to stay with my child offering comfort and reassurance, not stomp off and have a fight.
 
wozzizname said:
^ This, as a parent myself my first thought would be to stay with my child offering comfort and reassurance, not stomp off and have a fight.
Click to expand...

would hardly be stomp off and tbh if hes in front of your child and stomped on her / him what would you do gently and calmly ask him to move over while you comforted the child and he stood a yard away ?

the article mentions nothing about whether he was done after one stomp or was going for another, would you risk the animal doing it again while you calmly asked him to move out of the way ?

lets face it if he was annoyed to the point of stomping on a babies head when it whimpered for food what would he have done if the baby started undoubetdly screaming after its face had kindly been rearranged ?

in that situation 99% of people would make sure that animal couldnt do what he had done again before comforting the baby, and in that situation his mother, sisters / brothers were there as well.

and in all honesty i said if it was my baby i would do that which is wrong, tbh if it was any baby and i was in that shop he'd be picking his teeth out of the nearby furniture or he'd turn on me and beat me half senseless but thats better than him attacking a baby again.
 
Last edited:
It's interesting reading all the different opinions in this thread.
From the 'string him up' knee jerk responses to the more measured responses of others.

As a professional who works with severely autistic young adults who need constant supervision in a specialised education setting. I think I may be qualified to have an opinion.

The article linked to in the original post was not giving all the details. While the individual would not have been prosecuted a whole range of measures would have followed the incident. I have attended a number of such meetings because these things do happen.

All people working with in education or with with special educational needs / disabilities do risk assessments. Unfortunately things do go wrong. Ever had a car crash or dropped a mug of tea? You cannot plan for every eventuality. Some people out there have no idea about appropriate and suitable risk assessment.

However you can be confident a whole raft of measures will have been put in place as a result to minimise the risk of it happening again.

As for the people who are sounding off about how they should do x.y. or z. It is understandable that in thee heat of the moment a visceral response would be natural. Once the dust has settled a more measured approach is needed.

Mental illness is no joke. Autism isn't one thing. It's called the autistic spectrum for a reason. It covers a range of difficulties from social awkwardness at one end of the spectrum to people who are unaware of themselves or other people at the other end. The social and language difficulties are common but not not present in everyone. For some people with autism, they are noise intolerant and the noise of the child may have caused them pain. Ever taken painkillers for a headache to make it stop? Could be the same thing. Some have low pain sensitivity. Some are touch adverse, while some eat their own faeces.

Care and understanding is needed when dealing with such people. If you think otherwise, your on a slippery slope. morally and ethically.
 
memphisto said:
would hardly be stomp off and tbh if hes in front of your child and stomped on her / him what would you do gently and calmly ask him to move over while you comforted the child and he stood a yard away ?

the article mentions nothing about whether he was done after one stomp or was going for another, would you risk the animal doing it again while you calmly asked him to move out of the way ?

lets face it if he was annoyed to the point of stomping on a babies head when it whimpered for food what would he have done if the baby started undoubetdly screaming after its face had kindly been rearranged ?

in that situation 99% of people would make sure that animal couldnt do what he had done again before comforting the baby, and in that situation his mother, sisters / brothers were there as well.

and in all honesty i said if it was my baby i would do that which is wrong, tbh if it was any baby and i was in that shop he'd be picking his teeth out of the nearby furniture or he'd turn on me and beat me half senseless but thats better than him attacking a baby again.
Click to expand...

In truth I would have killed him, he needs locked up in a mental institution till the day he dies.
 
tophee said:
It's interesting reading all the different opinions in this thread.
From the 'string him up' knee jerk responses to the more measured responses of others.

As a professional who works with severely autistic young adults who need constant supervision in a specialised education setting. I think I may be qualified to have an opinion.

The article linked to in the original post was not giving all the details. While the individual would not have been prosecuted a whole range of measures would have followed the incident. I have attended a number of such meetings because these things do happen.

All people working with in education or with with special educational needs / disabilities do risk assessments. Unfortunately things do go wrong. Ever had a car crash or dropped a mug of tea? You cannot plan for every eventuality. Some people out there have no idea about appropriate and suitable risk assessment.

However you can be confident a whole raft of measures will have been put in place as a result to minimise the risk of it happening again.

As for the people who are sounding off about how they should do x.y. or z. It is understandable that in thee heat of the moment a visceral response would be natural. Once the dust has settled a more measured approach is needed.

Mental illness is no joke. Autism isn't one thing. It's called the autistic spectrum for a reason. It covers a range of difficulties from social awkwardness at one end of the spectrum to people who are unaware of themselves or other people at the other end. The social and language difficulties are common but not not present in everyone. For some people with autism, they are noise intolerant and the noise of the child may have caused them pain. Ever taken painkillers for a headache to make it stop? Could be the same thing. Some have low pain sensitivity. Some are touch adverse, while some eat their own faeces.

Care and understanding is needed when dealing with such people. If you think otherwise, your on a slippery slope. morally and ethically.
Click to expand...

Well said, and nicely put as well. :)
 
memphisto said:
HGe should have been prosecuted even if the outcome was not a jail term and a stay in a mental institution, probabtion, 24/7 control, whatever, unless you are telling me that autistic kids of 18 have no understanding of right and wrong ?
Click to expand...

Some of them don't even know their own name so right or wrong doesn't even come into it.
Giving them a 'punishment' (even a whipping) would mean nothing because they wouldn't know what they have done.

tophee said:
Care and understanding is needed when dealing with such people. If you think otherwise, your on a slippery slope. morally and ethically.
Click to expand...

Great post.
One of my wife's children in the special units is now 7 but at the age of 5 he put 2 teachers in hospital.
He's also bit my wife and he has no idea he's done it.
He has calmed down now.

The problem with autistic people is that they look 'normal'.
There is no way you can tell and I must side with the keyboard warriors on here.
If I saw a normal person stamping into my childs pram, in the heat of the moment I would try to knock him out and ask questions later.
The often shown You Tube video on here of the incident in a shop concerned a Down's kid and on seeing the face I would have stopped.
 
I sincerely hope that some of the posters in this thread do not have and never will have children with the violent and uncaring attitude they are displaying.

There are some reasoned and well thought out posts and for what it is worth my view is that yes, I would have been extremely angry, upset and confused at the time of the incident but my first priority must be the well being of my child.

Should the attacker be prosecuted? If I were the parent of the baby i would probably say yes but as a bystander with no personal involvement I have to say no (notwithstanding the law would probably not allow a prosecution).

Should the attacker be locked away? Once again we don't lock away young chavs that fight, steal and generally cause more mayhem per day than this guy will in his whole life so I don't know is the simple answer.
 
dmpoole said:
Some of them don't even know their own name so right or wrong doesn't even come into it.
Giving them a 'punishment' (even a whipping) would mean nothing because they wouldn't know what they have done.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
memphisto said:
whether he should be prosecuted, I would say yes he should, the law applies to everyone i thought, the sentencing is what can be different dependant upon situation.
Click to expand...

The law does indeed apply to everyone, hence why a severely autistic person could not be tried in any court of law.

Such a mental state blows the absolute requirement of mens rea out of the water.

Personally I in no way defend the lads actions but the decision not to prosecute is the only logical conclusion.

I am sure that strong words of advice were given to his carers, not enough some might say but what possible sentence or deterrent is there for an autistic male ?
 
I've quite enjoyed reading this thread, despite the disturbing nature of the subject matter.

Being a parent myself I find it hard to imagine exactly how I would react in such a situation, I am admittedly a hot headed person and although I would like to think I wouldn't react violently in that sort of situation I suspect my initial concerns would be first neutraliazing the pereceived threat and then seeking to care for any injuries my daughter would have from such an incident.

I know this may not be morally perfect or possibly the right thing to do, but seeking to nullify the chance of further damage seems to be a suitable reaction. Removing the threat from the equation seems to me to be the most logical form of protecting my daughter from further harm. It isn't always easy to take the moral highground or make the right decision in the heat of the moment and especially when your own child is in danger.

My initial reaction as well to this is to blame the carers, obviously it's very difficult to pre-empt these kind of things but surely as carers they should be constantly alert to the possibility of such things happening.
 
memphisto said:
it has also highlighted the ignorance towards the actual victim here and the newfound love for the perpetrator is actually the victim that exists in our society.
Click to expand...

The real victim is the recipient of the assault but I say again memph, what possible deterrent or sentence is applicable to a severely autistic male with little control over their actions ?
 
Von Smallhausen said:
The real victim is the recipient of the assault but I say again memph, what possible deterrent or sentence is applicable to a severely autistic male with little control over their actions ?
Click to expand...

monopolybankerrorcard.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nitefly said:
Yes for real. If the person was profoundly autistic then the problem lies with those he should have been supervised by.
Click to expand...
If it was your baby I don't think you'd give a flying **** if he's "profoundly autistic. He sounds like a danger to the public, and if it was mental health problems that had caused this he would be sectioned. If he's that temperamental at 18, and can't be held responsible for his actions, he shouldn't be allowed out in public for his own safety as well as others.
jaxon said:
also, autistic people have a high pain threshold. if you were to punch someone with autism in the face they might say nothing more than "oww" where as most of us would feel the pain and go mental. they don't know what pain they are causing because they cant feel it themselves so they have no benchmark
Click to expand...
That's probably evolutions way of saying be prepared to get a good punch in the face.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom