I applaud these two parents for making a difficult decision that potentially saved many lives. Their decision didn’t come without hardship I’m sure. This mom and dad had to choose to have their son arrested and possibly placed in prison for the rest of their lives or rest him becoming another shooter. I pray that I and all of you will never be in this situation. Life is a struggle as it is but behind all of our differences most of us wish we lived in a safe environment that we never have to worry about such horrid things reaching our family and friends. The truth is this sort of thing isn’t limited to certain area’s it’s next door, or i gasp in our own homes. As many of you believe too, this couple stated "The system is broken," the Father said. "The mental health system. There's no place to turn to. You take them to a hospital, and 96 hours later, they're home. Maybe on Prozac, but they're not fixed.” They believe better mental health care — not more restrictions on guns — is the solution. Enjoy! http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...-9ced-57d581ab4ac6.html#.UN4LZffqljc.facebook
This story is sad and gutwrenching for the parents but they did the right thing. Most parents would just look the other way and would have done nothing. Kudos to mom and dad from saving no telling how many lives.
I agree I heard about it on the news when it happened and I thought "Man there are some family issues going on, but now it seems my perception was completely off key. I feel for those parents or any parent who struggles with a kid with issues outside of simply growing up.
Back when I was a special education teacher, I had a student that wrote a very detailed description of how he was going to wait in the darkness for a passerby female before abducting her. He wrote that he was going to make her his sex slave and was very descriptive. Someone seized his journal, they suspended him and provided him with mental health treatment, and then he came back to school a week later and was "great". Years later he actually attempted his plan. He cornered a female he stalked inside a church and tried to rape and abduct her.......he had been diagnosed with Aspberger's and was absolutely nuts.
Thats one of the saddest stories I have ever read, everyone wants their children to be perfect in every way. The mental anguish these parents have suffered must be unbearable. I hope their friends and neighbors open their hearts and accept these folks for the good they bring to the community and not the shame that mental illness so often brings.
Truly sad story but lets please be careful about labeling all people with Asperger's Syndrome as "completety nuts." There was obviously a lot more going on in that situation. I know many people with A.S. who live almost completely normal lives. The severity of Asperger's has a very wide range, running from from Dustin Hoffman's "Rain Man" to the guy you may work with who has a family and children but who struggles with normal socializing. It seems to be the current "easy diagnosis" for otherwise intelligent people who just can't seem to play well with others. I had a guy who would go on mission trips with me to New Orleans who memorized the entire New Orleans road map. From memory he could tell me what road was coming up next as we drove. He did very well as long as I kept him busy. But, he had an insatiable desire to read everything. Once, he got so excited about a flier in front of a house that was for sale that he stepped out of the van while it was still moving. He made a terrible practice of wondering off wherever his mind led him. As long as he was given a specific task, however, he did fine. We just had to understand how his mind worked and be able to predict how he would respond in certain situations and be ready for it.
I don't think I labelled all persons with Aspbergers as "completely nuts". The one I mentioned above had Aspbergers AND was completely nuts on top of it.
Got ya; no offense intended. A.S.people as you know are often easily fixated and once an idea is in their head they can be difficult to reel back in depending on the level of their disorder. A perfect example was in Forest Gump when he walked off the shrimp boat when he saw Lt. Dan on the shore. (Although Forest would not likely have been A.S.) Anyway, thanks for your work with the Special Ed. kids.
