Posts
A Wild Ride is a website with personal stories from parents about raising challenging kids. There are also resources and lots of good tips.
I've written for them a couple of times, and I check their site often for new stories. I thought I'd share the link for anyone interested.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thoughts
I am curious what others think about cases where parents murder their children. Obviously I began thinking about this because of the story posted below. However I've wondered about this before whenever there was a news story of a parent murdering his/her children.
There have been numerous cases of parents murdering their kids because they thought the child's disability made life unenjoyable or tragic (either the child's and/or the parent's).
I remember reading a story where a Canadian mom took her teenage daugther, who had autism, to a bridge and tried to get her to jump off. Her daughter wouldn't so the mother took her home and strangled her to death with the drawstrings on a hoodie-style shirt. She described what she was thinking during the event: she was crying and thinking something along the lines of "please, just die" over and over.
I remember reading the article vividly, because I sobbed almost uncontrollably while reading it. I was imagining someone killing the child that trusts them. Being the one (or one of a select few) who the child trusted and depended on. The girl fought her mother and tried to free herself.
It may be because I have asthma, but the thought of suffocating to death scares me intensely. I visualized one of my daughters trustingly walking off with someone who wanted to kill them. It made me so sick and depressed. I hate seeing stories like this, but I always read them anyway.
It is so tragic that some people think children and adults with disabilities don't enjoy life. Or that they are such a hindrance to their families that their death is beneficial.
Often when I tell people that my twin daugthers have autism they respond that they are "so sorry". Or that I must really have my hands full (true). Then again most people with kids have their hands full. I also hear that I'm such a great mom, I'm so strong, I'm so patient, I'm such a great person, etc. All because I have two kids with autism. And I hear a lot about how much I sacrifice for my kids, and that lots of other people wouldn't be able to do it.
Really? Being busy, having different (if not more) problems than many parents, and raising my kids isn't really anything I feel that I have a choice in. As long as I can take care of my daughters I will. I don't have anything else so pressing in my life that they are hindering me from. Really, they are the most important thing in my life. I think most parents would agree that their kids are the most important part of their lives.
Anyway, if you care to share your opinion, I made a little poll:
There have been numerous cases of parents murdering their kids because they thought the child's disability made life unenjoyable or tragic (either the child's and/or the parent's).
I remember reading a story where a Canadian mom took her teenage daugther, who had autism, to a bridge and tried to get her to jump off. Her daughter wouldn't so the mother took her home and strangled her to death with the drawstrings on a hoodie-style shirt. She described what she was thinking during the event: she was crying and thinking something along the lines of "please, just die" over and over.
I remember reading the article vividly, because I sobbed almost uncontrollably while reading it. I was imagining someone killing the child that trusts them. Being the one (or one of a select few) who the child trusted and depended on. The girl fought her mother and tried to free herself.
It may be because I have asthma, but the thought of suffocating to death scares me intensely. I visualized one of my daughters trustingly walking off with someone who wanted to kill them. It made me so sick and depressed. I hate seeing stories like this, but I always read them anyway.
It is so tragic that some people think children and adults with disabilities don't enjoy life. Or that they are such a hindrance to their families that their death is beneficial.
Often when I tell people that my twin daugthers have autism they respond that they are "so sorry". Or that I must really have my hands full (true). Then again most people with kids have their hands full. I also hear that I'm such a great mom, I'm so strong, I'm so patient, I'm such a great person, etc. All because I have two kids with autism. And I hear a lot about how much I sacrifice for my kids, and that lots of other people wouldn't be able to do it.
Really? Being busy, having different (if not more) problems than many parents, and raising my kids isn't really anything I feel that I have a choice in. As long as I can take care of my daughters I will. I don't have anything else so pressing in my life that they are hindering me from. Really, they are the most important thing in my life. I think most parents would agree that their kids are the most important part of their lives.
Anyway, if you care to share your opinion, I made a little poll:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Mother murders her two children who had autism
This is so sad. This lady obviously wasn't getting the support or help she needed. Those poor little kids.
July 21, 2010
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS -- A suburban Dallas mother accused of strangling her two young children told a 911 operator she killed them because they were autistic and she wanted "normal kids," according to a tape released Wednesday.
Irving police released the recording after Saiqa Akhter was charged with one count of capital murder in the strangling of her 5-year-old son, Zain Akhter, at the family's apartment Monday night. Police spokesman David Tull said another capital murder charge is pending in the slaying of her 2-year-old daughter, Faryaal Akhter, who died Tuesday night.
Police say the mother called 911 after attacking the children. In the recording, the woman identifies herself as Saiqa Akhter and repeatedly tells the operator she killed her two children, describing how she first tried to poison them, then later strangled them with some type of wire. At one point during the recording, the woman hangs up and the dispatcher calls her back.
"I killed them. I killed both of them," she told the operator. Later, she explained that both children were lying motionless on the bed in the master bedroom.
"They are not doing anything. They are just blue and they are not taking any breaths and ... their heart is not beating," she said.
She told the operator she initially tried to poison the children with bathroom cleaner but they refused to drink it. When that didn't work, "I used a wire on their necks," she said.
When the operator asked the woman why she attacked her children, she said, "They're both not normal, not normal. They're autistic. Both are autistic." Pressed further, she said, "I don't want my children to be like that. ... I want normal kids."
Later, the dispatcher asked the woman what she was feeling. "Nothing," she responded.
At one point, water can be heard running in the background and the dispatcher asks what the woman is doing. She told the operator she was trying to wash the smell of cleaner off of her hands. The dispatcher then told the woman to go sit on a couch in the living room and wait for police.
At the end of the recording, police can be heard arriving at the home.
Akhter has requested a court-appointed attorney but one hasn't been assigned to her case yet, an Irving jail official said Wednesday. If convicted of capital murder, Akhter could face the death penalty, though prosecutors have not said if they will seek that punishment. Otherwise, she could face life in prison without parole.
Saiqa Akhter's uncle, Wasimul Haque, told The Dallas Morning News that his niece had been depressed since moving into a new apartment in Irving. Haque said Zain had autism and a severe speech impediment but had been improving and was in speech therapy.
The children's father, Rashid Akhter, emigrated from Pakistan in the late 1990s, the newspaper reported. He married Saiqa, who also is from Pakistan, several years later, it said.
Zain was buried Wednesday in Richardson, another Dallas suburb. Faryaal's funeral is scheduled for Thursday.
Sorry for the poorly adjusted ad; to repost the article for free I had to post that ad. Unfortunately it doesn't fit very well on my blog.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS -- A suburban Dallas mother accused of strangling her two young children told a 911 operator she killed them because they were autistic and she wanted "normal kids," according to a tape released Wednesday.
Irving police released the recording after Saiqa Akhter was charged with one count of capital murder in the strangling of her 5-year-old son, Zain Akhter, at the family's apartment Monday night. Police spokesman David Tull said another capital murder charge is pending in the slaying of her 2-year-old daughter, Faryaal Akhter, who died Tuesday night.
Police say the mother called 911 after attacking the children. In the recording, the woman identifies herself as Saiqa Akhter and repeatedly tells the operator she killed her two children, describing how she first tried to poison them, then later strangled them with some type of wire. At one point during the recording, the woman hangs up and the dispatcher calls her back.
"I killed them. I killed both of them," she told the operator. Later, she explained that both children were lying motionless on the bed in the master bedroom.
"They are not doing anything. They are just blue and they are not taking any breaths and ... their heart is not beating," she said.
She told the operator she initially tried to poison the children with bathroom cleaner but they refused to drink it. When that didn't work, "I used a wire on their necks," she said.
When the operator asked the woman why she attacked her children, she said, "They're both not normal, not normal. They're autistic. Both are autistic." Pressed further, she said, "I don't want my children to be like that. ... I want normal kids."
Later, the dispatcher asked the woman what she was feeling. "Nothing," she responded.
At one point, water can be heard running in the background and the dispatcher asks what the woman is doing. She told the operator she was trying to wash the smell of cleaner off of her hands. The dispatcher then told the woman to go sit on a couch in the living room and wait for police.
At the end of the recording, police can be heard arriving at the home.
Akhter has requested a court-appointed attorney but one hasn't been assigned to her case yet, an Irving jail official said Wednesday. If convicted of capital murder, Akhter could face the death penalty, though prosecutors have not said if they will seek that punishment. Otherwise, she could face life in prison without parole.
Saiqa Akhter's uncle, Wasimul Haque, told The Dallas Morning News that his niece had been depressed since moving into a new apartment in Irving. Haque said Zain had autism and a severe speech impediment but had been improving and was in speech therapy.
The children's father, Rashid Akhter, emigrated from Pakistan in the late 1990s, the newspaper reported. He married Saiqa, who also is from Pakistan, several years later, it said.
Zain was buried Wednesday in Richardson, another Dallas suburb. Faryaal's funeral is scheduled for Thursday.
Sorry for the poorly adjusted ad; to repost the article for free I had to post that ad. Unfortunately it doesn't fit very well on my blog.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The People's Court "Retard" Smackdown!
I saw this episode the other day, and I love how the judge yells at the defendent for his ignorant comments. He says the plaintiff isn't "special, he's special olympics". He also said the plaintiff "played like a retard". I'm glad she had no tolerance for that kind of prejudice. It seems like most people I know don't think misusing retard and other phrases that make fun people with mental disabilities is equivalent to racial or sexual orientation slurs.
Friday, July 9, 2010
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