I'm sitting here crying. This is my son's fate. He has been running off, and in / out of traffic, the police are so sick of looking for him that they stall in even coming when called!To make matters worse, my son fights the police, they have warned me that they may half to taze him, it breaks my heart, but he will constantly run, and if it meant tasing him to keep him alive, well, I don't know, I mean my son is almost 14 and he really hurts when he hits, his strength is tripled when his adrenaline is pumping, so I have mixed feelings about this, sorry, I know my son can be a threat to himself and others.

yearsoftears,

I have a 13 1/3 year old son and I know exactly what you are up against. They get so darn strong as they grow up and there is NO way I can begin to control Kristopher in ways I used to be able to do.

Do NOT feel bad about your take on your own personal situation. You know, as our children age, get stronger, larger and more capable of fighting off those trying to help them, this becomes more and more of an issue. : (

My heart goes out to you and your son!!! Hang in there and do try counseling if you haven't.

I did try counseling for my son for years to stop some behaviors that were endangering him and the rest of us.

We don't use much counseling right now but will start back the minute it becomes necessary.

Hugs,

gaylek11

I think when you get older, it is sometimes worse for your if police know you're autistic. They perceive you as automatically dangerous. I have aspergers, last year I had a headache and my room mate couldn't wake me up after a nap. She told the EMTs and the BU police, which have to be there to let emts into the dorm, that she wasn't sure if maybe i had hit my head during the night or something. Not sure how this happened, but they interpreted this as my room mate calling the police because I was banging my head against the wall. I was never checked to see why i had a migraine or anything, but stuck in a mental hospital for a few days and kicked out of the dorm because they said i was dangerous to other students. All because i had a headache and took a nap. I know that on paper autistic people do bang their heads against the walls sometimes, but i think that the school has no right to decide that this is what i was doing, with no evidence that i had and a witness who confirmed i hadn't. so to put it bluntly, autistic people will be discriminated against. and it doesn't feel good, to be told you are a danger to others when you are the most nonviolent person you know and have never hurt or threatened to hurt anyone. it hurts me every day to be thought of that way just because i'm autistic

IN Massachusetts there is a program where they are training police to help them recognize autism. The problem is sometimes our older children look like some drug addled nut because they may be stimming, or not responding or maybe making noises. Police officers and even medical and fire personnel aren't trained and so don't know what to make of these kids.
It is scary but this is why parents need to contact their local police department and let them know about their child, what they look like and how they might act if approached by a police officer.

Sally,

I feel your pain. I wish I could change the way the general public relate to autistic folks.

I see so many problems in my son's future. But, that's another post.

Be well!

Hugs & God Bless,

gaylek11