On abuse and neglect towards people with disabilities...

It is far too often that I come across a story where someone with a disability is abused and neglected. It’s unbelievable! I have found stories of parents or caretakers abusing and neglecting children and adults with disabilities. Warning: The stories I am sharing may be hard for some people to read.

Here is a story about how 36 year old Sakinah was tied to a bed, naked, in her caretaker’s home. She was found with sores all over her body and was very thin. Sakinah has Schizophrenia and a mental capacity of a 10 year old.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=9209804

Here is a story about a young woman who had been left in a hot car by her mother. Her name is Rebecca and she has Cerebral Palsy and cannot communicate. She weighed only 55 pounds.

http://wreg.com/2013/08/21/disabled-woman-left-in-hot-car-weighs-55-pounds/

These stories are still developing, but I hope that both stories end with a happy ending. Unfortunately, there are some cases that end in tragedy. For instance, a little girl named Aliyah was born with several disabilities and her mother neglected to provide for her needs. Not only that, child services had failed to protect this young girl before she was killed by her mother. Here is a link to the story, but again, a warning that this may be hard for some of you to read.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2397606/Florida-mother-Chelsea-Huggett-killed-disabled-daughter-Aliyah-Marie-Branum-2.html

Abuse, in general, is very disturbing. I have never understood why people would abuse another person. There is another story I have recently heard about. The ignorance of this one person is so thick; you could cut it with a knife. There was a family who received a letter that targeted a teenager with Autism. His name is Max. A woman who claimed to be a mother living in the neighborhood sent Max’s grandmother a hate-filled letter telling her to either move or euthanize the teen. Police are saying that this is not a hate crime. If this is not a hate crime, then I don’t know what is. This is a hate crime! I am providing a link to the story so you can see for yourself. The link also includes a copy of the letter. Warning: There are some very strong words said in the letter, including the R-Word.

http://www.680news.com/2013/08/20/letter-targeting-autistic-teen-not-a-hate-crime-police/

I think we all need to try to understand these people that have disabilities instead of being so judgmental. They did not ask for these disabilities. They deal with them the best they can. They need our love, our patience, our support. They don’t need people telling them that they’re worthless. Here’s a newsflash for you, they are not worthless! I also think we need to protect those with disabilities, so they won’t be abused, neglected, or murdered by those that are supposed to care for them. 

I hope that we can get some justice for these people.

Until next time, God Bless

- Chloe