Allright, Let's Test This Traffic
Last time I posted on a similar subject, it got me in all kinds of hot water. Let's see how it goes today.
Ms. Cornelius is asking the question: "Should a church get a restraining order to ban the attendance of a family if they have an autistic child who appears uncontrollable?" To complicate things a tad, let's say the child is six feet tall and weighs over 200 pounds.
Opinions, anyone? Mine happens to be that accomodations should go both ways. The church should (and tried to) accomodate the family; likewise the family should have taken steps to accomodate the parisioners, who are clearly afraid for their lives (the kid has started someone's car on one occassion? Scary!), and the priest, who does not want legal action taken against himself or his church. I also agree with Ms. Cornelius that the child seems afraid of crowded church and communion (entirely possible - autism - being uncomfortable around large groups of people - tactile sensitivity) and additional therapy may be needed to address that.
The easiest solution that comes to mind would be for the family to take turns attending Sunday liturgy, with one of the parents staying home with the child, and then possibly taking him to a smaller service on a less regular basis. Weekly Sunday mass might be overkill for him at this point. That's what I would have done.
Ms. Cornelius is asking the question: "Should a church get a restraining order to ban the attendance of a family if they have an autistic child who appears uncontrollable?" To complicate things a tad, let's say the child is six feet tall and weighs over 200 pounds.
Opinions, anyone? Mine happens to be that accomodations should go both ways. The church should (and tried to) accomodate the family; likewise the family should have taken steps to accomodate the parisioners, who are clearly afraid for their lives (the kid has started someone's car on one occassion? Scary!), and the priest, who does not want legal action taken against himself or his church. I also agree with Ms. Cornelius that the child seems afraid of crowded church and communion (entirely possible - autism - being uncomfortable around large groups of people - tactile sensitivity) and additional therapy may be needed to address that.
The easiest solution that comes to mind would be for the family to take turns attending Sunday liturgy, with one of the parents staying home with the child, and then possibly taking him to a smaller service on a less regular basis. Weekly Sunday mass might be overkill for him at this point. That's what I would have done.
