Strollerderby

Behind you all the way!

...And good for those parishioners who are publicly standing with her.

I can understand not wanting a physically dangerous, large male there if he is hurting or threatening others. The rest of the parishioners have rights, too. What I don't understand is the church--are any of the priests holding private masses for the boy and his mother? Or standing with him if he *can* attend regular mass so that he doesn't get out of control?  There is no excuse for anyone not being able to worship. Sometimes a little creativity and common sense is needed.

Based on other articles I have read regarding this case the author here has really failed to tell the whole story.

The church has offered to do a private mass for the family and they turned that down. The boy has been physical and violent and loud and his mother sometimes needs to sit on him to keep him from roaming. He has also been inappropriate with some of the younger girls (I'm sure innocently) but all these things adding up does tend to support the church more then the family.  

If he has been inappropriate it may not be innocently.  He is not mentally retarded, just autistic.  He still has a sex drive.  I agree with the church although I loathe churches.  He is a distraction and danger.  Mayb he acts out because he does not want to be there but his mom makes him go.  

From what I understand the church really tried to work with them on this. Its one of those times that I feel you pick and choose your battles and this isn't the right one.

Its one thing if they just turned them away outright but they did try to find a compromise and the ultimate goal of this should be to have faith in their life, rather than when or where they are getting that faith, IMO.

Cassie,

Not all autistic people are savants.  Many do have lower IQs.  

Autism also affects a person's ability to understand what is appropriate and what is not.  Does he have a sex drive?? Sure, but he is like 12, and I doubt he has an understanding of the whole shebang so to speak.

Not all people with autism or mental handicaps are murders or serial rapists.

I have to agree with Lin on this one.  If my son were endangering himself in church, I'd pick my battles.  Although, I would have to say, this is a he-said/she-said battle so no one but the people involved really know the truth.  

And as a parent of an autistic child, I have had a girl accuse my son of "bothering" her.  While I later found out that wasn't the case, I don't ever want anyone accusing him of being inappropriate in that realm.  I had him moved away from her in class.  That kind of stuff can be dangerous.

What are autistic children's rights pertaining to ADA? And conversely, what is the church's? You're right that the writer didn't do enough to explain that.

However, another writer (thank you abcnews.com) says: "Race said that church officials offered to have Adam watch mass from a video feed in the basement. She rejected that offer. "From a spiritual standpoint, there's nothing that says watching mass on TV is the same as being present," she said."

That's a lot different than his own sermon - I don't do church, either, but watching it on TV is nothing compared to being there.

You're right, this article did not tell the whole story, or even half of it.  It's completely one-sided, and the biggest problem I see is that the facts are wrong.  It was not a Minneapolis church - it was in Bertha.  The article also stated that there are several parishioners who are supportive of Ms. Race and her fight for Adam, but it didn't say how many are NOT supportive of Ms. Race.  If a person is a danger to others then he/she should not be in an environment that allows them to be.  I'm a teacher and we do our best to mainstream children, but we also know that we have to draw the line somewhere.  If we had a child in the classroom who was behaving this way there would be accomodations made (which Ms. Race denied) and if those accomodations did not work then the child would be removed.  It's simple.  Read the following well-written article - Ms. Race could learn from it.  www.wadenapj.com/.../index.cfm