Aspies For Freedom

I'd be happy to use the cattle prod on the parents, that'll teach them what it's like for their son

I don't know much about it but it seems to me that there are some types of eye problems that are very seriously worsened by hitting one's head.

Maybe these parents are just lazy, and there really are better ways that would be effective, but I can't judge that because I don't know them and I don't know their son. Besides, I don't know what being shocked with a cattle prod is like. It certainly SOUNDS bad, but maybe it's pretty mild, like the mother says.

It would be easy for me to get all righteously offended but I don't think that would be fair.

Sounds like another one for the Atrocity Exhibition. Yikes!!!

I think I've read about a dozen books that have the same scenario; the evil doer zaps the confused victim, then the ironic twist is the victim zaps the evil doer. All I can say, is keep the damn cattle prod the hell away from me.

it called child abuse.

Just one thing:  The guy is 48 years old.  

A helmet seems like a better idea, but I guess they're worried about their precious drywall.  They need to find some better caretakers.

A helmet would keep him from cracking his skull, but it's not going to stop him from thumping his head. I know someone with a detaching retina (I don't know what the clinical term is) but it would be very bad for her eye if she were even to shake her head really hard. I know the article said the guy has cataracts, but reporters in general are not exactly known for getting things right all the time!

I really think it's unfair of us to get all angry about what is happening in that family. All we know is what we read in a small news article, which was guaranteed to carry the reporter's own bias. There is probably much more to the story. Stop behaving like a mindless mob.

Another thing: the woman I know whose retina is detaching from the back of her eyeball acquired the condition when she fell on a patch of ice and hit her head on the ground. If this guy has been hitting his head all his life, then it seems more than possible that he has a similar condition and the reporter got it wrong. In that case, a helmet wouldn't solve the problem. Besides, maybe he would refuse to wear one anyway. Would you guys rather he went completely blind?

For one thing, if the man is almost 50 years old, then his parents are probably 70-80 years old. They're aging and there's only so much they can do; they are probably not physically capable of actually preventing him from banging his head.

For two, while the phrase "cattle prod" saunds inhumane, my suspicion is that it's sensationalist. It SOUNDS terrible so it makes for a great news item. But I have never felt a cattle prod. Have you? It might not be that bad. It might in fact be an extremely humane way to modify his behaviour. I don't KNOW- I'm just saying that one should not jump to conclusions.

Cattle prods aren't even humane for cattle. Why do they think it's going to think a person? Just another point to prove my theroy that people are stupid.

Warning, some of these vids have cursing in them.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cattle+prod

By the quick looks at some of the videos on youtube under cattle prod, the shock is not to pleasent.

that goes against human rights.
IF I CHOOSE TO BANG MY HEAD AGAINST A WALL IT IS MY RIGHT.
NOT YOURS NOR ANYONE ELSES.
if you think i will harmmyself, then give me a better method of getting that feeling that makes me bang my head against the wall go away, or atleast help me find a way to channel it into something else.
if someone would use a cattle prod on me i would use it against that person.

I've heard that electric fences feel like getting hit with a baseball bat.  The person I heard it from is someone who has accidentally touched one with a metal pole.

Grizel's right - this is what happens when a problem is not properly dealt with earlier. Having said that though, 25 years ago what was there? And even then 25 years ago this poor man would have been 23 and already an adult.

Cattle prods as a behaviour modifier is outright abuse - pure and simple.