Death of a young boy has been ruled a homicide

Jaylen Brown, a 13-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and developmental disabilities, died on Thursday of complications from neglected "bone-deep bedsores," according to the Chicago Tribune.

Jaylen died at Chicago's La Rabida Children's Hospital, two months after doctors and nurses alerted authorities that he was suffering from neglect and malnourishment after his mother brought him in with a breathing problem, the Tribune reports.

His mother and two health-care nurses were charged last month with felony neglect of a person with a disability and for failing to report a neglected child, it is reported. Now that Jaylen's death has been ruled a homicide, police are considering more serious charges against the women.

To read the details of this heartbreaking story, click here.

RIP, Jaylen Brown.

FRIDA links

for the week 5/9/2008 to 5/16/2008

According to police in Austin, Texas, a man arrested for paying a 15-year-old deaf student at the Texas School for the Deaf to expose himself is a serial predator. The man was a dorm supervisor at the school. He was also a church youth group leader and may have abused adults with intellectual impairments.

A 20-year-old man saved an elderly woman in a wheelchair from being struck by an on-coming train after her wheelchair became stuck on rail-road tracks in Lodi, California, KTLA-TV reports.

This disturbing article in the Pioneer Local draws attention to the growing problem of the abuse of the elderly in Illinois. According to the most recent state data, the number of elder abuse cases in Illinois has risen by 5.4 percent, from 8,999 in 2006 to 9,489 in 2007. The most common form of elder abuse is financial exploitation, according to the article, followed by emotional abuse, neglect and physical abuse. Sexual abuse is rarely reported, but it does happen.

Neil Sauter, a Michigan man with cerebral palsy, has begun a 830-mile walk across Michigan on wooden stilts to help raise money for United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The Oregonian has this rememberance of Amelia Lewis de Gremli, who died on Friday at the age of 88. Amongst many other things, Ms de Gremli is remembered for drawing attention to the plight of elder abuse in Oregon.

A British woman with disability has been given permission by a High Court judge to bring a test challenge over the closure of local post offices, the Times (UK) reports. If successful, the challenge could stop the closing of thousands of post offices and put further closures under scrutiny.

The British government has issued new guidelines aimed at stamping out the bullying of students with disabilities and special needs, the Education Guardian (UK) reports.

For the first time, a UK recruitment agency has been found guilty of disability discrimination, according to this report in the Guardian (UK).

Request for assistance to advocate for people with disabilities displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

The following is a request for advocacy assistance from the Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council.

Dear Friends,

I would normally never ask for your advocacy assistance on something for my home state, but I could really use your help.

We have been working on an appropriation for Permanent Supportive Housing for people with disabilities displaced by the hurricanes for two years and we're about to lose it. This action will only take 2 - 3 minutes of your time.

A spending bill in the U.S. House of Representatives has omitted critically needed funding for people with disabilities and the elderly who are victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This bill is now expected to come to a vote of the full House this Thursday, May 15.

Our coalition leaders are asking people to call Rep. David Obey, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Rep. James Clyburn- the three key national Congressional leaders on this issue -- and urge them to include funding for 3000 Permanent Supportive Housing rent vouchers for people with disabilities affected by the hurricanes in Louisiana!

It's quick and easy - one minute per call -- just leave your message; you will not be asked any questions; but your call will have a real impact!

Message: "Please consider including funding for 3000 Permanent Supportive Housing rent vouchers for people with disabilities affected by the hurricanes in Louisiana in the Supplemental Appropriations Bill. They can't wait any longer. Please also consider providing housing funds for Mississippi. Thankyou very much."

Here are their phone numbers:

The Hon. David Obey (chair of House Appropriations Committee): (202)225-3365

The Hon. Nancy Pelosi (House Speaker): (202) 225-4965

The Hon. James Clyburn (Majority Whip): (202) 225-3315

If you choose to make the calls, please email me to let me know at swinchel@dhh.la.gov so we can have an idea of how many people are responding. Much more background information on this funding request is below if you are interested. Thanks so much!!
Sandee

Sandee Winchell
Executive Director La. Developmental Disabilities Council
(225) 342-6804
swinchel@dhh.la.gov

Your Legislators: Click <http://www.ciclt.net/sn/peo/p_optout.aspx?ClientCode=gcdd&P_ID=101610>

"We need to give both women and men the option of single gender units in the new Western State Hospital that is being built."

That's a quote from a post by the blogger Hymes called "No reason for option for single gender units in the new Western State Hospital? Really?"

Read why Hymes argues that single gender units for both sexes are needed in the new Western State Hospital here.

Hymes blogs at the blogspot Charlottesville Prejudice and Civil Rights Watch.

A special needs van driver has been charged with raping a 12-year-old, autistic girl

From this story out of Boston:

BOSTON -- A school van driver was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting an elementary school student, Brookline police said Tuesday.

A woman told Brookline police that a school van driver had sexually assaulted her 12-year-old daughter in Larz Anderson Park on Friday afternoon. The girl has autism.

"On the way home from school, he supposedly pulled over in a parking area, a parking lot, and the assault took place," Brookline Police Capt. John O'Leary said.

The van driver, Israel Santiago, 41, of Roslindale, pleaded not guilty in Brookline Municipal Court to two counts of aggravated rape, kidnapping and indecent assault on a child under 14 years of age.

According to the police report, the victim told her mother that she "sits close to Israel on the bus and that he touches her." The victim also told her mother that Santiago has taken her to "the farm" on two other occasions. Police said the girl refers to the parking area as "the farm."

The van company, YCN, has been cooperative in the investigation, police said. The Norwood-based company transports children and adults with special needs to schools and day programs. Santiago has worked for the company for six years.

"We are horrified that something like this would have been alleged to have happened to one of our students on one of our contracted buses," Brookline Superintendent Dr. William Lupini said.

Lupini said 13 to 15 other students were transported by Santiago daily, and said there is no evidence to suggest that there are any other victims.

Santiago was ordered held on $20,000 cash bail. He will return to court on June 10.

Read more here ...

(Thanks to Autism Vox for the link)

Two school district workers are on leave while police investigate the drowning of a young girl with autism

From The Associated Press (via The Mercury News)

PALM SPRINGS, Calif.—The Palm Springs school district says two of its workers are on paid leave pending results of a criminal investigation into the drowning of a 5-year-old autistic girl.

Elva Lerma and Sixto Mitre were among the three coaches supervising Anyah Raven Glossinger on Jan. 23 when she was pulled from a mineral pool while undergoing hydrotherapy.

Glossinger, who was legally blind and had low-functioning autism, was taking part in the United Cerebral Palsy's Little Bridges after-school program.

Desert Hot Springs police Sgt. Radames Gil said his department is investigating the girl's death and will forward findings to the Riverside County District Attorney.

The California Department of Social Services shut down the Little Bridges Program in April.

'Mad Pride' fights a stigma

That's the title of this story in The New York Times that explores the growing "mad pride" movement, which aims to fight the stigma of, and deepen the understanding of, serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Here is an excerpt:

"Until now, the acceptance of mental illness has pretty much stopped at depression," said Charles Barber, a lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. "But a newer generation, fueled by the Internet and other sophisticated delivery systems, is saying, 'We deserve to be heard, too.' "

About 5.7 million Americans over 18 have bipolar disorder, which is classified as a mood disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Another 2.4 million have schizophrenia, which is considered a thought disorder. The small slice of this disparate population who have chosen to share their experiences with the public liken their efforts to those of the gay-rights and similar movements of a generation ago.

Just as gay-rights activists reclaimed the word queer as a badge of honor rather than a slur, these advocates proudly call themselves mad; they say their conditions do not preclude them from productive lives.

Mad pride events, organized by loosely connected groups in at least seven countries including Australia, South Africa and the United States, draw thousands of participants, said David W. Oaks, the director of MindFreedom International, a nonprofit group in Eugene, Ore., that tracks the events and says it has 10,000 members.

There's lots more to read. And The Huffington Post followed the Times story with this article called Glad to be Mad: Mentally Ill start 'Mad Pride' Movement. It includes links to some of the YouTube videos produced by the movement's unofficial spokesperson, Liz Spikol, who also blogs about mental health and illness at Trouble with Spikol.

(PS. I found the links to both stories at Trouble with Spikol)

A man pleads guilty to sexually abusing a young girl with intellectual disabilities

Gerard Schlaiss, 51, of Wheaton, Illinois, has been sentenced to thirty six years in prison for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl with intellectual disabilities.

According to this report in the Naperville Sun, Schlaiss sexually abused the girl, who lived in his apartment complex, over a three-year period. Schlaiss was 33 years old at the time of the abuse.

UNICEF welcomes the ratification of the UN Disabilities Convention

The children's agency launches "It's About Ability," a publication for children on the Convention.
Read more here.

For a BBC news story about the United Nation's celebration of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), click here.

Sexual abuse by caregivers

I wish I could say this isn't true.

From this AP story in the Herald Bulletin

A Muncie couple has been accused of sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled woman in their care for more than 13 years, according to the Star Press of Muncie.

Patricia Ann Tackett, 47, was arrested this week on a preliminary charge of sexual misconduct with a minor. Her husband, Duane Ray Tackett, 48, was taken into custody Wednesday on preliminary charges of sexual misconduct with a minor, criminal deviate conduct and child solicitation.

Both were being held without bond in the Delaware County jail Wednesday.

A break in the case came when the alleged victim, now 27, told an aunt of repeated sexual encounters with Duane Tackett during a 13-year period. Patricia Tackett also admitted participating in the sex crimes.

Although she is 27, police believe the alleged victim has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old. Sgt. Linda Cook of the Muncie Police Department’s sex crimes unit called it the “most bizarre case” of sexual misconduct she has ever seen.

FRIDA links

for the week 5/2/2008 to 5/9/2008

Lots of newspapers reported on Haleigh Poutre, a 14-year-old Massachesetts girl who is now communicating to investigators, using simple words and hand gestures, that her adoptive mother and stepfather, Holli and Jason Strickland, regularly physically abused her. But she has been unable to say anything about what put her into a coma. Poutre, who was initially diagnosed as being in an "irreversible vegetative state" after sustaining severe injuries to her brain from alleged parental abuse, has been in a children's rehab hospital in Boston for the last two years. Jason Strickland is awaiting trial on child abuse charges. Holli Strickland was killed by her grandmother, who then took her own life, shortly after she was charged. More here ....

An East Fishkill man (White Plains, Westchester County, New York) who worked as an overnight aide at a group home will serve six months in jail for sexually abusing a woman with intellectual disabilities who lived in the home, according to this report in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

An Irish woman who became disabled in an accident has been awarded compensation after her employers refused to let her return to work, according to this story from the BBC.

According to the Houston Chronicle, states record show that about a quarter of the 800 employees fired or suspended for mistreating residents at Texas's state schools for people with intellectual disabilities worked at two state schools targeted by federal investigators: these are the Lubbock and Denton state schools. State records also show that nearly 58 per cent of the firings or suspensions came from four of the 13 state schools: Lubbock, Denton, San Angelo and Mexia.

Several men accused of raping and assaulting a women with learning difficulties will not be prosecuted because she is considered to be an "unreliable witness," according to this report in the UK's guardian.

A Marblehead man has been charged with raping a woman with Down syndrome, The Salem News reports.

"Attitudes towards children with disabilities need improvement, parents say," is the title of this story from CBC news, Canada.

"Scandal of elderly people tortured in homes" is the title of this report in the UK's Mirror.

"5,000 complaints a month over care home abuse fears" is the title of this story in the UK's Daily Mail.

A Glen Ellyn man has been sentenced to 36 years in prison for sexually abusing a intellectually impaired girl on six occasions before his arrest in September, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Pity-Based Economy

That's the title and the subject of this post by the blogger at NTs Are Weird: An Autistic's View of the World.

It's a compelling read, and the comments are great too.

Advocates for people with developmental disabilities say law enforcement could have done more to prevent the repeated gang rape of a intellectually impaired man

From this story in the South Coast Today

NEW BEDFORD - Advocates for the developmentally disabled say law enforcement authorities could have done more to prevent the repeated gang rapes of a mentally handicapped man.

Suspect Buddy E. Smith, 22, of Fall River, as well as an uncle of Mr. Smith and several friends who are still at large, stalked, kidnapped and raped the mentally retarded man more than a dozen times from 2004 to 2007, prosecutors say. Mr. Smith and his friends also engaged in a campaign of threats and intimidation to keep the Tiverton, R.I., man from reporting the crimes, prosecutors said.

"This is the worst alleged case of sustained abuse of a person with mental retardation in New England since the Raynham 'House of Horrors' was exposed more than 10 years ago," said Colleen Lutkevich, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition of Families and Advocates for the Retarded.

COFAR officials have been working with the victim's relatives since they reached out to the organization last summer. The group has been monitoring the ongoing court proceedings against Mr. Smith, and has been critical of how law enforcement initially handled the case.

COFAR officials claim the Fall River Police Department refused to take a report when the victim's family approached them in January 2006 because the victim was developmentally disabled.