filed under "things I don't get"

I have Gangland on the television while I'm attempting to write working on my spn_j2_xmas story, and every so often I'll glance up and catch something that makes me think, WHUT?.

This particular episode is about the Nashville gang, Brown Pride. One of the guys they're interviewing goes by the street name "Spook". He's 18. He's been in the gang since the 4th grade. He talks about how he was "carrying heat" by the time he was ten (TEN! O_O), and his and his homeboys' version of fun is to just go out and jump people for the hell of it. That's their version of a videogame.

He's just so incredibly blase about the idea of hurting someone else, of doing violence. It's such a casual attitude, and where the HELL does that come from? What makes these kids think this is something that's okay, good, ideal?

Stuff like this makes me crazy. Also makes me wish there was an island somewhere, where all the gangbangers could be rounded up and dropped off onto. Let 'em fight each other and leave the rest of the world safer for the rest of us. *sigh*

tears in heaven

This is absolutely heartbreaking. (Linked from here, originally.)

It made me sad, and angry in turns, reading that article. I cried -- I'm still teary, actually.

One thing that stood out for me, in this article, was this:

"Because autism is a spectrum, there's going to need to be a wide range of options for adult living," says Susan Ratner, assistant director for special projects at Bellefaire JCB in Shaker Heights, which is in the early stages of developing a small adult-residential facility.

When the Bellefaire staff looked for models around the country, however, they could not find many. "What has clearly come out is that there are big gaps in adult services," Ratner says.

The search process is even more complex and sensitive when violence is involved.

In 2001, the Autism Society of America sounded the alarm on what it called a national crisis: a critical shortage of services and facilities for adults with autism. In 2007, when not much had changed, it updated its call for action. Parts of the ASA's report read like an account of Trudy and Sky's lives.

"In a behavioral, out-of-control crisis, individuals with autism can be scary," it says. "Parents are desperate. Aging caretakers (often single mothers, often living alone with their middle-aged child), knowing how difficult it is to adequately care for an adult with autism, are often prisoners in their own homes."

De Caris came to the same conclusion. "This is more common than I ever imagined," he says. "The facilities are just not out there - not at the level that's going to be needed. What's going to happen to all these children as they get older, and their parents who are their primary caregivers disappear? Even at facilities that do exist, the cost is outrageous. If you're making a typical salary, how do you afford that?"

The young man in question in that story is profoundly autistic as well as possibly mentally retarded, and non-verbal, which my son isn't. Matthew also isn't nearly as aggressive as he was when he was younger (and hopefully never will be again) -- but Matthew also has issues with impulse control, and when he does get angry or frustrated those issues (and his control) get considerably more frayed. I don't fear my son, as such, but I'm not unaware of the fact that he's now pushing six feet tall, and weighs roughly 185-190lbs. Do I think he's likely to attack me? No. Do I discount entirely that it could happen? Absolutely not.

The sheriff who basically cared for the young man while he was jailed...is awesome. I hope he's recognized for HOW awesome, because so many people wouldn't have gone out of their way to help a young man not even aware of what was going on. That, at least, gives me some hope. But the rest of it just makes me so very, very sad.