I can understand people’s concern if he had been throwing things or yelling etc. but just because he looked a little unkempt? My youngest son doesn’t have autism but he would always pick clothes that were too small and wouldn’t brush his hair at times. It’s what kids’ do. At least they got to have a great time with their son before the police arrived. I think the policeman involved need to be congratulated for the way they reacted when they found out the truth.

If the people were so concerned, surely watching the family interacting with their child should have put their mind at ease.

Amazing story. Is it only in America? Here in Aust where I live, police can’t come out to a burglary let alone a child with a bad hair day!!!

People can be so ridiculous! In all honesty maybe if they had been paying more attention to the family and not the child’s hair and clothing they might have noticed how much they loved him and that he was being well looked after. My husband who has Aspergers and can sometimes have difficulty with how he displays emotion when he gets stressed out, had the police called on him by our neighbour because he yelled at our daughter a bit when he was trying to ascertain whether or not she had swallowed some aroldyte glue, yes he yelled but he was panicking that she was poisoned (yes, it was a bit of an overreaction). Anyone who knows my husband would know that he would never hurt either of our kids and he loves them to death. He also had them called a second time for yelling, and again it was simply a parent raising their voice to a disobedient child or some such normal thing. Absolutely ridiculous!

It is sad the family had to go through this.

I read this elsewhere and was so concerned about the entire situation. This poor child, this poor family. What an absolutely distressing situation. Their life is hard. Tough and challenging raising a child on the spectrum. And to be treated this way is apalling.

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  • • mom93821 replied
    • 20 Feb 2018 , 6:47 am

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  It is appalling and saddening for the family.

I wonder if the people that called the police could have taken the time to go over and chat with the parents/family? That would be community minded! Possibly then facts would be known rather than assumptions and judgments.

Some people have nothing better to do or are scare to face the actual problem. I had people come up to me and ask what I was doing to some of my children. Why did my ten year old have rope tied around his waist? Answer was he liked to wear it and felt safe doing so, other times we have had police or child services called. We now have a letter from his specialist to show why he dresses different.

I understand her son was autistic, but what if he wasn’t? What if it was a child that was being neglected? What if the family was genuinely struggling and needed help?
There are lots of kids who need help but should we turn a blind eye in case we offend? Sure we can possible try to talk to people who look like they need assistance before calling authorities, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it.

That’s the problem. These so-called ‘good and caring citizens’ who stick their noses into other people’s businesses, ought to go and get a hobby or volunteer their services to help those in need. Maybe the person who dobbed you in could have availed their services to assist you if they were so concerned about your son. I wish people would stop playing ‘Kilroy’ and mind their own business and cease calling on our essential services for such trivial matters, and let them do their job and catch the real baddies’. Anyone who has worked with, or is raising an autistic child will understand the complexities taking place in their lives and how difficult it is for their parents and carers. If they did, they wouldn’t waste our authorities time unnecessarily. You know who you are, causing problems for this family. SHAME ON YOU!

It is a tricky situation, you want to know people will look out for your children but you also want people to understand about Autism or what ever else might be affecting your children

I can imagine this is infuriating and kind of sad at the same time !
Yesterday evening my 2 temporary foster children started fighting with my son. An enormous amount of violence and shouting came from our house. Glad nobody called on us !!

That poor family must have felt so embarrassed. However if the public are worried about a child they should always call for help. You just never know when a child or family is in real need.

Quite absurd. Because of his hair? Some people clearly don’t have anything better to do. I can imagine how upset the family was. And how this episode destroyed the all day of fun they had.

I guess I’d rather that then the ppl who turn a blind eye to neglected children – but that does seem like overkill.