Althouse: "She was only 13 years old, but she was 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, far larger than any of the teachers or school administrators...."

June 2, 2022

"She was only 13 years old, but she was 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, far larger than any of the teachers or school administrators...."

"For a moment, the only sound was Sabrina’s loud moans. She threw a shoe at a teacher. She took off her shirt. She cursed at the school staff arranged around her in a protective circle. Summoned to the scene, her parents tried to soothe her. She kicked and swung until they backed off. On the Sabrina tantrum scale, so far this registered only a 4 out of 10, declared her father.... This was the third time this week he had rushed to school for one of Sabrina’s meltdowns.... In interviews, parents across New York State described... being attacked by an adolescent child, now bigger and more aggressive than before.... In the years since [large state] institutions were closed, there has been a clear presumption [that] children with intellectual or developmental disabilities... should live at home through childhood.... But the presumption can fail a small number of families...."

From "Sabrina’s Parents Love Her. But the Meltdowns Are Too Much. Unpredictable violence, chaotic outbursts and countless trips to the emergency room. What happens when an autistic teenager becomes unmanageable at home?" (NYT).

28 comments:

Sebastian said...: "What happens when an autistic teenager becomes unmanageable at home?"

She suffers, and other people suffer more.; 6/2/22, 1:16 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: And what happens when the kid is main streamed into a regular class?

What rights do the other students have?

And what of the poor teacher, that is being set up for failure.

Lawsuits by parents are a huge concern for teachers.; 6/2/22, 1:37 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: I grew up in the Lutheran Church's system of parochial schools. The Lutheran Church operated a special system of schools for mentally retarded children. Once in a while, my class would visit a Bethesda school, and once in a while a Bethesda class would visit my Lutheran school. The retarded kids would perform a song concert for us.

This Bethesda system is dwindling, because the Lutheran Church no longer can afford to maintain it.

======

A few years ago, I had to go on a business trip for my company to a New Jersey school for children with "developmental disorders". In general, those children seemed to be in far worse conditions than the mentally retarded children I used to see. My visit to that school shook me emotionally.

The government must take those children into special institutions. Taking care of them is too much for the families or the churches to do.; 6/2/22, 1:45 PM
Michael K said...: Too bad she is not in California. There the schools are no longer allowed to report this.; 6/2/22, 2:14 PM
Leland said...: I had breakfast with a local constable deputy Tuesday morning. He tells me about the arrest he just had to make before catching up with me. The arrest was in my neighborhood a few streets away. 13 year old male about 5'10" 140lbs, parents wanted him charged for assault after he was swinging a bat wildly in the house.

Initially the responding constables didn't make an arrest. They responded to the call and found the kid sitting on a front porch crying. His biological mom and step-dad had forced him outside and locked him out of the house. Officers knew which house based on the condition of the lawn, which is to say the care of the child wasn't the only thing lacking in the household. However, the constables did their duty by reporting/referring the incident to the DA's office for charges. The DA initially said not interested, but later changed their mind, which is why my friend had to go make the arrest.

I can't imagine being 13 years old and having my mom lock me out. The officers don't really think there is a case for assault for roughly the same reasons Johnny Depp won his defamation case. However, what else to do with the 13 year old at that moment? He has no means or ability to care for himself. Despite physical appearance, and setting aside the issues that brought the police, who would hire a 13 year old boy in today's regulated labor force? How could he provide for himself? I hope CPS gets involved, but first they need to deal with the initial allegation before making any new allegations about the parents.

Anyway, the story hits pretty close to my home, and it is also quite related to Uvalde.; 6/2/22, 2:18 PM
gilbar said...: 250 lbs?? THINK of the amount of protein that'd be!! She sure looks like plant food to ME!; 6/2/22, 2:23 PM
Kevin said...: "Sabrina’s Parents Love Her. But the Meltdowns Are Too Much. Unpredictable violence, chaotic outbursts and countless trips to the emergency room. What happens when an autistic teenager becomes unmanageable at home?"

If she would just come out as Trans, this would all go away.; 6/2/22, 2:36 PM
Robert Marshall said...: Without institutions that can take long-term custody of people like Sabrina, she is no more than two parental deaths away from being on the street, living a savage life that will be nasty, brutish and short.

So, no, closing those mental institutions was not the right thing. Bad as they were (and many were no doubt pretty bad), the alternative is even worse. We see that alternative in the urban outdoorsmen camping in our cities, many of whom would be better off if they were institutionalized. As would our society.; 6/2/22, 2:44 PM
Michael said...: I haven't read the article, but could this be an outbreak of common sense in the NYT? Well, not an outbreak; see the following post on the joys of poverty.; 6/2/22, 3:03 PM
BG said...: Mike Sylvester,

Bethesda changed the name of their thrift stores. Changed the name to something I can't remember. It will always be the "Bethesda Store" to me.; 6/2/22, 4:23 PM
TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...: "And what happens when the kid is main streamed into a regular class?"

Complete chaos and reduction in learning for the other kids. My daughter missed almost an entire year of math during elementary school because a profoundly handicapped kid was "mainstreamed" in the class. He was physically, mentally, and emotionally unable to learn math at that level, and constantly disrupted the class and assaulted the other students (he was able to throw things to great effect) who were expected to just take it in stride.

Complaints, of course, were disregarded with the wave of an imperious hand by our local government school bureaucrat-in-chief, along with some chuffy huffing about "equity" and "opportunity".; 6/2/22, 4:24 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I am blocked by the paywall, but is she really a female?; 6/2/22, 5:15 PM
Rabel said...: I disapprove of publishing the photo of the troubled youngster down on her knees in a state of anguish.

She's a real person, not just "good copy," and the possibility clearly exists that that image will be used by other kids to humiliate her.; 6/2/22, 5:42 PM
PM said...: Heartbreaking all around.; 6/2/22, 5:45 PM
farmgirl said...: Why is she overweight?
I don’t mean to sound dumb- lots of times I see parents not caring what their kids eat- even the really “good parents”: the ones who care about cleanliness, appearance and manners.

Sometimes I think kids just need to go out in a very quiet part of nature and explore a little.
Are there outdoor places like that?

Autism is no joke- but why are there so many cases now?; 6/2/22, 6:38 PM
Jupiter said...: "Autism is no joke- but why are there so many cases now?"

"In the early 1980s, children received three vaccines for seven illnesses—two combination vaccines (diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis and measles-mumps-rubella) and a polio vaccine—totaling two dozen doses by age 18. ... At present, the childhood vaccine schedule requires almost six dozen doses through age 18 for sixteen diseases."

Many of those vaccines contain aluminum compounds as "adjuvants". That aluminum is retained in various organs, including the brain.; 6/2/22, 7:22 PM
Jupiter said...: But don't worry, the FDA is keeping close watch on the vaccine manufacturers. You know, Fauci. Fauci is in charge, so there's nothing to worry about.; 6/2/22, 7:24 PM
Carol said...: Makes me think of Rosemary Kennedy, who also became violent as she got older and sensed she couldn't keep up with her precocious siblings.

A special school was a good idea, the lobotomy not so much.; 6/2/22, 8:19 PM
Pauligon59 said...: "Autism is no joke, but why are there so many cases now?"
I thought autism was a spectrum of behaviors. I keep reading about people "Being on the spectrum" even though they appear to be functional although possibly "strange". (by that definition, I suspect everybody appears autistic to others.) So when you hear about the larger numbers of autistic children, the numbers may be increasing because the definition of autism has changed. Or it may be thatthe numbers haven't been normalized to account for population changes.; 6/2/22, 8:28 PM
Gahrie said...: Complaints, of course, were disregarded with the wave of an imperious hand by our local government school bureaucrat-in-chief, along with some chuffy huffing about "equity" and "opportunity".

To be the Devil's advocate...in many places, the administration is legally required to mainstream these kids to the greatest extent possible.; 6/2/22, 8:35 PM
Readering said...: DJT was impossible at home so he was sent to military school; 6/2/22, 8:42 PM
Denever said...: "I am blocked by the paywall, but is she really a female?"

Yes, she is. There is a photo of her with her mother when she was a very cute little girl. The parents adopted her, knowing there were "issues," but of course they couldn't have imagined how this would go when she got older. Terribly sad story.; 6/2/22, 8:57 PM
Gahrie said...: I keep reading about people "Being on the spectrum" even though they appear to be functional although possibly "strange".

I think it's pretty well established that Musk is on the spectrum.; 6/2/22, 9:17 PM
Aught Severn said...: My youngest brother is severely autistic. His teen years were very terrible like this, and he could be dangerous in early adulthood. Finding care for him was a struggle. The best place he had was basically a boarding school in Kansas that specialized in those cases (my family is from Los Angeles). When he aged out there were really no good options. Tried at-home assistance and a couple of different group apartments. Things have settled down now with him in one of the apartments and he is somewhat independent.

Through it all there were lots of different drugs prescribed to try and get the outbursts and various tics under control, some of which did cause significant weight gain (the diet he would eat did not help, there is very limited control over that, however). He was born in the early 90's so was very much part of the forefront of the wave so most of the treatment was experimentation by doctors who were also trying to figure things out themselves.

I will absolutely agree that growing up in a house with that going on is very difficult for everyone on the best days (we are a family of 5 kids including him) and an absolute horror on the worst. As we all left one by one and he and our parents got older, I did anticipate hearing news that he grabbed a knife in a fit of rage...but fortunately that never came to pass.

So that portion of the article presented in this post is very reminiscent of my first-hand experience from 20-30 years ago. The fact that there are still families going through exactly what we had to back then is very frustrating to hear. It also makes me appreciate our 3 healthy little kids even more.; 6/2/22, 9:30 PM
Avian said...: I saw many of those sad stories as a public interest attorney. I have come to believe that one of the cruelest things we did in the late 20th century was to close down our free state mental institutions. Litigation to close these places were the sexiest cases a young attorney could have in the 70's. I knew some of the attorneys involved in this. It was a trendy thing to do, much like current transgender ideology and it is making our society unliveable.; 6/3/22, 12:34 AM
farmgirl said...: Avian- my Mom and I were just talking of the state mental hospitals only yesterday. The one in VT was flooded out by Tropical Storm Irene and never opened again, putting such a strain on facilities for drug and alcohol rehab and all local hospitals.

Aught Severn: I forgot about prescribed drugs and weight gain! Thanks for adding that piece of the equation up for me. I know it’s not just that, but it does explain a lot. I grew up w/an older schizophrenic brother. Unpredictable and bursts of violence there, too. Not every day- just enough to keep one on alert. Luckily, the state hospital ( known iconically as Waterbury) was still open. He’s still living w/my Mom and meds have been a blessing. I consider his stability a true miracle.; 6/3/22, 6:15 AM
meep said...: My son is autistic, an 16 years old, and yeah, it is difficult. He's 6 feet tall and likely to get taller (his dad is 6'3" and had grown til he was 20 y.o.) The local school, though, does try to help in terms of they don't let him disrupt class -- not only the ones he's mainstreamed into (he's removed immediately upon being disruptive) but also within the special education self-contained classroom. My son got sent some yesterday before the end of school.

But I don't know where I will be able to send him once he ages out of the school system (they allow special education students - the ones with IEPs - to stay up to age 21). They have been talking about college, which is absurd to me. He scores the 3rd percentile on state tests (someone has to). Yes, he can read, write, and do arithmetic at 5th grade levels, which is fabulous for him, but why send him to college? He's not going to be able to hold a job except via charity. It would provide someone else a job to tell him what to do. At home, the way I have him do chores is I stand next to him and point at stuff I want him to pick up and put in the trash (I can't bend over so well). So he's not useless, but he's not going to be able to work independently. He needs 1-on-1 supervision.

I need to find a group home for him at the very least -- my aunt and uncle (now retired) used to work at group homes, and they are actually pretty good substitutes for the big institutions that used to exist. You do see adults from these home out on trips to McD's and other places during the day sometimes. The behavior can get better, and it doesn't necessarily require prison-like institutions. But you can't just take away the institutions and then replace it with nothing.

Here in New York a lot of money is spent on these programs, but it's a patchwork, and you get on a waiting list... there are a lot of people who can't live independently, and it would be nice if there were more guidance about this.; 6/3/22, 8:21 AM
farmgirl said...: Meep- there used to be groups for parents to support e/other. My folks made friends and my childhood/teen memories were of my Mom on the phone, listening to people and directing them to help. This was mid to late 70s/80s. Are there no groups like that? Maybe the hospital near you has info, but you probably do have all the info already. We farmed and my Mom stayed at home- housekeeping, raising us, keeping the books-

Your son is not useless.
No, he is not.

Our bus driver(he drove all 4of our kids in HS!)has a deaf, autistic son. He’s in a group home, but I’m not sure where. He’s big- tall and a bit bulky. He’s fascinated w/all kind of bolts, screws, nuts- things like that. He’s always drawing them and writing measurements down. Very nice work, he does. Yet, w/no respite- having care of someone who needs more supervision than not: exhausting.

You’re my new supermom mentor:0); 6/3/22, 9:30 PM