Aspies For Freedom

Carrie Heaton does her best to keep watch over her curious and cognitively disabled 13-year-old son without being too confining.
   Still, the Nephi teen slips out unnoticed on occasion and wanders the neighborhood, sometimes entering and rifling through people's homes, according to police. Neighbors to the south have complained.
   But Heaton was surprised Wednesday when long-simmering tensions boiled over and her neighbors erected a sign in their front yard warning, "CAUTION, ***'S IN AREA."
   Diagnosed with autism and other disabilities, Heaton's son functions at the level of a 4- or 5-year-old and doesn't "understand what's going on," Heaton said Friday. "He can't read the sign. But everyone else can. This not only affects him, but all the special needs people who live in Nephi, Juab County and Utah."
   According to the U.S. census, there are 8,500 people with disabilities in Juab County.
   Heaton phoned police, who visited the sign's authors, Kallie and Darren Galbraith, on Wednesday. But the sign was still standing as of Friday afternoon.
   The city's police chief, Chad Bowles, said he planned a second visit Friday evening and hopes to convince the Galbraiths to remove the sign. But he said he is unsure whether he has any legal grounds to make demands.
   "We're not looking at this like a hate crime and we're waiting to hear back from the county attorney to see what our sign ordinances are," said Bowles.
   The Galbraiths did not immediately respond to attempts to reach them Friday.
   Fraser Nelson, director of the Disability Law Center in Salt Lake City, has agreed to help Heaton "with some kind of community response," but currently has no plan to file a lawsuit.
   "Whether or not it raises to the level of a hate crime is probably up to someone else to say," said Nelson, referring to county prosecutors. "It's a crime of ignorance. And I would say it's really hateful language meant to send a message to the family and the whole community that is one of fear and hostility."
   The Disability Law Center helped pass a legislative resolution last year requiring state agencies to replace all printed references to "mental retardation" with "developmentally or cognitively disabled."
   "People with disabilities have traditionally been the least among us. We have a tolerance for that kind of language that we don't have for other derogatory terms," said Nelson. "If the sign said, 'Caution, blacks living here,' or 'Caution, Jews living here,' people would respond to it in a very direct way."
   In defense of the Galbraiths, Bowles said, "We've had a lot of incidents with this kid, just walking into people's homes and taking things." The police chief has contacted state child welfare and juvenile delinquency officials who have declined to take action, he said.
   "This kid probably doesn't know what he's doing. But the Galbraiths are frustrated over the lack of supervision and reached a breaking point," said Bowles. "That doesn't excuse the sign. I don't care if the guy puts up a 'No Trespassing' sign, but if you start being demeaning and using slang terms, that's different."
   Human Services spokeswoman Carol Sisco said she was unaware of any alleged criminal behavior by Heaton's son. She said the state pays for in-home respite care to give Heaton and her fiance, Brad Morgan, short breaks. Morgan works full time and Heaton was recently hired to work at Wal-Mart.
   Sisco called the neighborhood feud "heartbreaking" and the sign, "discriminatory, sad and horrifying."
   "I would hope people could talk together and work it out," said Sisco.
   Heaton is unapologetic about her son's tendency to roam.
   "I'm not aware of him going into people's houses. He does go out to the end of the street to look at the trains," said Heaton, adding he is a "sweet, loving guy" who has never been violent.
   She said she has tried to make amends with the Galbraiths and has no intention to move.
   "If they don't like so-called *** people, then they need to go," she said. "My son has just as many rights as they do."

By Kirsten Stewart
The Salt Lake Tribune

For those of you that wish to complain to the police in the area about this hate crime -

Nephi Police Department

Chief of Police
Chad Bowles

21 E 100 N
Nephi, Utah 84648
(435)623-1626

Ah, the poor Galbraiths!  Obviously too poor to buy locks for their doors so that people can't wander in and out!
Alison

The problem is that the term *** is not offensive universally, and this child is mentally *** (at least according to the article - a 13-year old who functions at the level of a 4 or 5 year old). Of course to most people it is offensive, though the people who put the sign up could claim it as a statement of fact.

That's the same as claiming a gay person is a Sodemite according to the Bible. It might be a diagnoses that someone can be diagnosed with being mentally ***, but that doesn't mean the word *** used negatively doesn't hurt.

It is indeed offensive, but the people putting the sign up can still claim it as a statement of fact. I was not condoning their display of this sign.

There is nothing that can be done about this. Hate crimes are covered under free speech. If this sign were taken down by law enforcement, the ACLU would be on them and I would agree. However, if these morons woke up to find their house burned down around them and their family members kidnapped, I would have absolutely no problem with this. God Bless America!

This would be a hate crime in my country.

How much respite care is the family given?  A few hours a week?  I am guessing that the child is mostly left alone, unsupervised more of the time while the parents are at work or sleeping.  No responsible parent would leave a five year old alone unsupervised yet leaving an 18 yr old that functions like a five year old seems to be okay?

It's a person's own property, not the property of their neighbors. I've seen people with signs that I disagree with in their yards, but there is nothing I could do. The ACLU wouldn't defend burning a cross in the yard of a black person, but if someone were burning a cross on their own property and you told them not to, I would call you a fascist and take the side of the KKK without a second thought to it.

A Nephi family that alleges their neighbor's autistic teenage son wanders the streets and rifles through nearby homes has taken down a sign in their front yard that said "Caution ***'s [sic] in Area."

   Kallie and Darren Galbraith did not return calls seeking comment about their sign or why they took it down. But Nephi Police Chief Chad Bowles said they took it down after he visited their home Friday evening.
   "We talked to them. I think they understood by using that type of wording they made a mistake," he said. "It's so degrading and it ridicules the [boy's] family."
   But Bowles said he understands the Galbraiths' frustration.
   He said neighbors have complained for some time about the 13-year-old, whose mother, Carrie Heaton, said has been diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities and functions at a 4- to 5-year-old level.
   "Mostly, they complain that he goes into their homes, rifles through their things and eats their food," Bowles said. "There are a lot of people in the area who are frustrated with this boy."
   But Bowles said the Police Department has mulled over charges of criminal mischief and even aggravated assault. The Galbraiths alleged in November that the youngster threw rocks and hit their 10-year-old daughter in the knee and elbow.
   "But how can you prosecute someone like that?" the chief asked. "He can't understand what he's doing. He's not capable of going into juvenile court."
   The boy's mother, Carrie Heaton, denies her son is a problem.
   Reached late Saturday, she acknowledged her son last year did enter a neighbor's home once without permission. And Heaton said her son has never thrown rocks at anyone or anything.
   "They have nothing criminal on my son," Heaton said. "My son's done nothing wrong."
   Mavis Hansen, who lives on the same street as Heaton and her son, said she was surprised to learn her neighbors where having trouble with the boy. Hansen said Heaton watches her son closely.
   "The boy last summer would come over and talk to me, but I've never known him to do anything that was out of line," Hansen said.
   Bowles said the police were called to a trailer park where Carrie Heaton had lived before moving to the neighborhood she shares with the Galbraiths. Neighbors in the trailer park had called with the same types of complaints, the chief said.
   "There's not an officer in our department who hasn't had to respond to some type of incident involving this boy," Bowles said, of his nine-person department.
   "It's a tough deal because the kid probably doesn't even know he's doing anything wrong."

" The boy's mother, Carrie Heaton, denies her son is a problem."

There is the problem.  The mother denies there is a problem so therefore she will not be asking for help.

In my country he could be charged with mischief, unlawfull entry, thief, and assault.

What kind of a Sick runka would do such a thing!? I see no reasion to do such a horrible thing, Whoever did that, If you're reading this you better watch out :evil:

I know, they banned a Marilyn Manson concert in Salt Lake City there.

I've noticed that about Utah, if you're not Mormon or have any difference such as a disability, they're intolerant. Even outside of Utah, there are a few Mormons who are very intolerant to those who are different, my worst bullies happened to be Mormon. On the other hand, there are many Mormons who aren't bigotted and accept those who are different.

Here in Hawaii there are many Mormons.  My friend became one but he was not considered "temple worthy" because he didn't contribute the required amount of his total income.  The LDS have the biggest churches here.