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conuly
Same guy as wrote the last two editorials about that poor little girl... "Before you judge her mother, go watch the Autism Every Day video!!!"
Before anyone else writes me about Karen McCarron, I'd like you to see something.
The Morton physician was arrested last week after allegedly suffocating her 3-year-old autistic daughter, Katherine. Afterward, I wrote a pair of columns trying to explain the mindset of a woman who would so such a thing.
I've been deluged with mail from across the nation. Half express empathy; the others want McCarron's head on a pike.
Much of the angry mail comes from readers who think that I'm trying to drum up sympathy for McCarron. Not at all. She stands accused of murdering a little kid, and she'll have to pay.
Rather, I've tried to get a look at what was going through her head. And we certainly can become more attuned to the lives of autistics and their parents.
So, before you fire off that nasty letter, watch this video: www.autismspeaks.org/sponsoredevents/autism_every_day.php (or tinyurl.com/zp3ow).
Otherwise, say your piece:
No way: Mr. Luciano, screw you! You wrote, "It makes no sense in any scenario, but particularly not here. Not in a nice neighborhood in Morton. Not in a family of privilege." I own a small, old home in need of many updates in the North Valley, and do not come from a "privileged" family, but there is no way I would ever, ever kill my child, whatever the circumstance. - Kristen Cowan
Been there: No one should judge this woman for doing what she felt she had to do. My oldest daughter Jenna (age 8, severe autism) almost drowned 4 years ago. She had run off, and I spotted her and pulled her out just as her head was going below the surface of a stream's muddy water line. I cannot tell you how many times I have thought about that being a mistake.
Autism takes a toll on the whole family. If you haven't lived with it you can't possibly understand. - Valeri Dugan, Walnut Creek, Calif.
Disgusting human: I hope that this woman is quickly incarcerated so as to protect the other child. She is a disgusting human being. Families all over the country would have loved to have taken this child into their families, but now she is dead. - Signed, Tired of poor journalism in central Illinois
No help: I'm a parent of three, including one with autism. There are twice as many kids with autism in Illinois as there were just five years ago, three new cases a day, and the state still hasn't done anything for the vast majority of our families.
Karen's feelings of isolation and despair are the norm, not the exception. What's remarkable about this tragedy is that it didn't happen here sooner. - Christopher M. Kennedy, legislative director. Autism Society of Illinois, Chicago
Little sympathy: This woman had every resource available to her. There are people with autistic children who have no resources, and they manage to cope without murdering their child. Perhaps she thought she was "above" having a child who was autistic. She deserves little if any sympathy. - Stephanie
Prayerful hearts: I can certainly see how this poor woman did break. So, please tell the family that many of us out here are praying and have love in our hearts for them. I just wish I could put my arms around this poor woman and take away some of her pain. - Dawn Powell
Inability to cope: I cannot believe that a beautiful little girl's life was so carelessly discarded and the focus in the media is on what a good mother Karen McCarron was. How truly sad that this little girl whom God chose to be different was not given the chance to become anything more than the victim both of her mother's inability to cope and the media's need to portray her mother's hardship of having a child with autism. - Angela D. Schumacher
Hopeless frustration: I don't know what happened to that woman that she would take a step so far from role of nurturer. But I can guess, because I have felt the same sort of hopeless frustration that comes from trying to do your best for a child that can't respond to you the way a typical child might. - Wendy Whipple, Matteson,
Sad day: I'll never understand it. I'm sickened.
I have a 3-year-old myself (not physically/mentally challenged). I keep seeing my own daughter with a plastic bag on her head, put there by someone that she trusts to love and protect her. It is a sad day. - Patti Massaglia, special education teacher, Marquette Heights
Changed view: Six years ago I would have called for her hanging in the public square.
Today, I feel sorry that she was so disturbed that she felt she had no way out. I know how she feels. My daughter is autistic.
What she did was unforgivable, which I'm sure she knows and was why she tried to take her own life. But sometimes we have to realize there are greater punishments than prison. Karen McCarron will have to live with the fact that she killed her daughter.
Please pray for her and all parents of special needs children. Lord knows we all need it. - Rob Harrington
Some links regarding that video...
One about unresponsiveness
Okay, I can't find my other links, but I'm sure people will rush to the cause to help me.
You know what the first article I read about Katherine McCallon said? It said that the day she was murdered by her mother, she had been "very stimmy" and wouldn't take a nap.
Basically, all in a day's work for a three year old, diagnosed or not.
Think about that.
Before anyone else writes me about Karen McCarron, I'd like you to see something.
The Morton physician was arrested last week after allegedly suffocating her 3-year-old autistic daughter, Katherine. Afterward, I wrote a pair of columns trying to explain the mindset of a woman who would so such a thing.
I've been deluged with mail from across the nation. Half express empathy; the others want McCarron's head on a pike.
Much of the angry mail comes from readers who think that I'm trying to drum up sympathy for McCarron. Not at all. She stands accused of murdering a little kid, and she'll have to pay.
Rather, I've tried to get a look at what was going through her head. And we certainly can become more attuned to the lives of autistics and their parents.
So, before you fire off that nasty letter, watch this video: www.autismspeaks.org/sponsoredevents/autism_every_day.php (or tinyurl.com/zp3ow).
Otherwise, say your piece:
No way: Mr. Luciano, screw you! You wrote, "It makes no sense in any scenario, but particularly not here. Not in a nice neighborhood in Morton. Not in a family of privilege." I own a small, old home in need of many updates in the North Valley, and do not come from a "privileged" family, but there is no way I would ever, ever kill my child, whatever the circumstance. - Kristen Cowan
Been there: No one should judge this woman for doing what she felt she had to do. My oldest daughter Jenna (age 8, severe autism) almost drowned 4 years ago. She had run off, and I spotted her and pulled her out just as her head was going below the surface of a stream's muddy water line. I cannot tell you how many times I have thought about that being a mistake.
Autism takes a toll on the whole family. If you haven't lived with it you can't possibly understand. - Valeri Dugan, Walnut Creek, Calif.
Disgusting human: I hope that this woman is quickly incarcerated so as to protect the other child. She is a disgusting human being. Families all over the country would have loved to have taken this child into their families, but now she is dead. - Signed, Tired of poor journalism in central Illinois
No help: I'm a parent of three, including one with autism. There are twice as many kids with autism in Illinois as there were just five years ago, three new cases a day, and the state still hasn't done anything for the vast majority of our families.
Karen's feelings of isolation and despair are the norm, not the exception. What's remarkable about this tragedy is that it didn't happen here sooner. - Christopher M. Kennedy, legislative director. Autism Society of Illinois, Chicago
Little sympathy: This woman had every resource available to her. There are people with autistic children who have no resources, and they manage to cope without murdering their child. Perhaps she thought she was "above" having a child who was autistic. She deserves little if any sympathy. - Stephanie
Prayerful hearts: I can certainly see how this poor woman did break. So, please tell the family that many of us out here are praying and have love in our hearts for them. I just wish I could put my arms around this poor woman and take away some of her pain. - Dawn Powell
Inability to cope: I cannot believe that a beautiful little girl's life was so carelessly discarded and the focus in the media is on what a good mother Karen McCarron was. How truly sad that this little girl whom God chose to be different was not given the chance to become anything more than the victim both of her mother's inability to cope and the media's need to portray her mother's hardship of having a child with autism. - Angela D. Schumacher
Hopeless frustration: I don't know what happened to that woman that she would take a step so far from role of nurturer. But I can guess, because I have felt the same sort of hopeless frustration that comes from trying to do your best for a child that can't respond to you the way a typical child might. - Wendy Whipple, Matteson,
Sad day: I'll never understand it. I'm sickened.
I have a 3-year-old myself (not physically/mentally challenged). I keep seeing my own daughter with a plastic bag on her head, put there by someone that she trusts to love and protect her. It is a sad day. - Patti Massaglia, special education teacher, Marquette Heights
Changed view: Six years ago I would have called for her hanging in the public square.
Today, I feel sorry that she was so disturbed that she felt she had no way out. I know how she feels. My daughter is autistic.
What she did was unforgivable, which I'm sure she knows and was why she tried to take her own life. But sometimes we have to realize there are greater punishments than prison. Karen McCarron will have to live with the fact that she killed her daughter.
Please pray for her and all parents of special needs children. Lord knows we all need it. - Rob Harrington
Some links regarding that video...
One about unresponsiveness
Okay, I can't find my other links, but I'm sure people will rush to the cause to help me.
You know what the first article I read about Katherine McCallon said? It said that the day she was murdered by her mother, she had been "very stimmy" and wouldn't take a nap.
Basically, all in a day's work for a three year old, diagnosed or not.
Think about that.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-24 05:24 am (UTC)Background, to the Foreground (http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=112)
Alison Tepper Singer and the Rett Girls (http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2006/05/alison-tepper-singer-and-rett-girls.html)
Uh... there's tons more. Try recent posts from sites on the Autism Hub (http://www.autism-hub.co.uk/), although right now everyone's blogging memorial posts about Katie McCarron (some of which may reference that video as well).
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2006-05-24 05:24 am (UTC)Background, to the Foreground (http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=112)
Alison Tepper Singer and the Rett Girls (http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2006/05/alison-tepper-singer-and-rett-girls.html)
Uh... there's tons more. Try recent posts from sites on the Autism Hub (http://www.autism-hub.co.uk/), although right now everyone's blogging memorial posts about Katie McCarron (some of which may reference that video as well).
(no subject)
From: