Aspies For Freedom

In an incident that reflects on the utter insensitivity of security agencies manning India's airports, security staff in Bangalore Airport recently tried to stop an autistic child from boarding a plane, branding him a threat to other passengers.

This is a story sent to CNN-IBN by Tamil film actor Prithvi Raj, whose son was at the receiving end of this misdemeanour of airport security.

Says Prithvi Raj, who turned Citizen Journalist for CNN-IBN, "Our struggle is to integrate my son into the main stream society. We don't want special privilleges, but please do not treat him miserably."

The reason Prithvi Raj is angry is because he and his wife were told by the airport security in Bangalore that their autistic son Ahed, 'cannot board the flight to Chennai'.

When they asked why, this is how the security staff reacted:

Prithvi Raj: "Why can my son not board the flight?"

Security Officer: "You cannot shoot here with your camera."

Prithvi Raj: "Why can my son not go? Tell me why?"

Security Officer: "Because he's mentally Ill. That's why."

Prithvi Raj caught it all on camera.

"When my wife asked them they said, 'Aapka beta flight mein jayega aur baki passenger ko danger karega' (your son will be a danger to other passengers on the flight). Please, I understand we don't permit a toothpaste on a flight, but for God's sake, don't treat an 11-year-old like a terrorist," says Prithvi Raj.

The name of the officer who told this to Prithvi Raj is Bhavesh Kumar and Prithvi Raj had to argue with him for over half an hour before he could finally get Ahed on board their flight to Chennai.

The couple have had to endure such behaviour at other airports in the past, but it was as never this severe. They finally decided that enough was enough.

'It's happened to me in Delhi a couple of times and in other places. They ask me, 'Aapka beta pagal hai? (Is your son mad?), and I ask them 'Aap pagal hai? (Are you mad?). Is this the way you ask someone. ANd then they keep gesturing to each other, saying that my son is mad," says Prithvi Raj.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/at-airports-...197-3.html

Video on the link.

what an idiot, autism doesnt mean mentally ill, that guy should be shot down for such a lack of knowlege. It makes me sick.

i hope this doesn't mean in the future autistics are treated as a terroist class (the curebie groups already treat us as such) and not allowed to do anything, and be restricted to insututions.

digusting behavior at the airport.  it's a child, not a terroist.  i guess they buy the myth that autistic=monster.

How about next time the father responds with, "Are you a hijacker?" when they ask if his son is mad. Like saying, who's more of a threat here.

I think the curbie groups, are the terrorist class.

[quote="violet_yoshi"]i think the cubie groupsare the terroist class[quote/]

I think you are right, im sure non of the terrorists are autistic.

Well, India is so utterly backwards in so many ways, this isn't surprising in the least. In India it's perfectly acceptable for a father to kill his daughter if she dates someone other than the man he chose for her to marry.

And the custom of bride-burning still goes on in some places..

Indeed, it's one of the problems a country with a booming amount of inhabitants faces........nominally speaking there are some positives (with the enormous amount of cheap labour available) but it's also a threat for the real growth, i.e. developing culture (within the Indian borders) in general, which slows the process of investing in knowledge on things that are relatively unknown.

Although this is of course not an example of what the general approach to autistic kids is like in a developing country like India, (it may be the cause in other developing or rigidly conservative countries) I also don't think that it's an incident.

Which made me wonder about what all those kids have to go through. Even those that aren't poor must live in hell due to great societal pressure; and in one region or village it is stricter than another, in some cases certain behaviour will leave you burning at the stake, yes.

Oh well. According to their standards it's all worth it, right?

Girl upset by animal cruelty hanged herself

A STUDENT upset by animal cruelty hanged herself from a tree, an inquest was told.

Jennifer Scott, 17, had a history of self-harm and mood swings for which her GP had unsuccessfully tried to persuade her to seek help.

Animal lover Jennifer, in her first year of a National Diploma in Animal Care at college, was found hanging from a tree at the end of Zan Drive, Sandbach, her home town in Cheshire.

An extensive police search had been launched the previous night after she went missing on the way to a friend's house.

Her mother, Wendy Scott, 50, called the police after reading her daughter's last diary entry, which suggested she was going to harm herself.

The family previously revealed Jennifer left a note saying she had taken her life because she was could not bear to live in a world full of animal cruelty.

Her family and friends were too upset to speak after the inquest and Crewe coroner Nicolas Rheinberg chose not to disclose the contents of the diary or note at their request.

During the hearing, Mrs Scott said her daughter was an "extremely sensitive girl" who was "passionate about animals" and was upset by cruelty to them.

'Pale and tired'

She said the family had been worried about Jennifer for a while as she had seemed "very pale and tired" at times, but she had never talked to them about her self-harm.

Jennifer's close friend, Alice Shambrook, told the inquest her friend had only shown a few people, including herself, the scars she had on her arms from cutting herself with a kitchen knife and broken glass. She said: "She told me she heard voices in her head - not telling her to do something but they were very negative, the sort of unpleasant thoughts people have about themselves that in her case got out of control."

She added: "She could hide her feelings well.

"Most of the time, she was flamboyant and boisterous and everyone would notice when she came into a room."

The coroner ruled Jennifer "took her own life while the balance of her life was disturbed."

Mr Rheinberg said: "It is likely that Jennifer suffered from ill health, although this was never diagnosed.

"There is evidence of the tortured nature of her mind in the cuts caused by her self-harm."

Source: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

But what is also sad is when people with a history of self harm try to get help, they are often dismissed as being histrionic and manipulative.

It seems very obvious that this poor girl was neither of these and so tragic that she wasn't able to be helped.

Also people are more willing to assume that self-harmers are serial killers, vs people crying out for help. It's like, if I wanted to be a murderer I'd blend in not stand out. That's why I think it's so laughable, that they'll think an outcast in school is more likely towards violent abusive action, when jocks and preps participate in those things every day.