Some people really scare me!!! - Autism Spectrum Message Board

2cutekids · 01-06-2006, 11:59 AM

The baby was insisting on a fried fish sandwich for the last weeks so after dropping ds off at school, I caved in and dd and I went to get one to take home and eat.

I get my food and when I'm leaving and get to my car I see a big black Doberman there looking at me and dd and kinda growling. I'm thinking dont even think about coming near us, I will kick you in the head as hard as I can. (I'm a dog lover, but I have been bitten by a Doberman before, and he gave no warning.) my first thought is for my dd. So I get her in the car and keep my eye out for this dog.. he is kinda not around, then I see the van beside me and there is a little girl, about 4 inside.

The door is wide open, no coat, no shoes and no Mom. I can tell this dog is hers and I can also tell this child has Autism. She was clearly non-verbal and calling out noises. So I get in my car and wait. I don't have much experence with non verbal, but even if you didn't know anything about Autism, you would know there was something not right with this child.

She sat there and flapped a magazine the whole time, unless the dog came back then she would reach for him. So I sat and waited for her Mom and was just about ready to take my chances with the dog and look for her or get the licences plate number and call the cops and she comes out. She sees the dog and is like "OH NO"

A guy with her, who was helping her out, grabbed the dog (I think she was getting food at the same place and perhaps knew them cause she came out the back door)

I rolled my window down and told her that I didn't want to leave until she came out and I figured that the dog was hers. She then telles me that infact her dd does have Autism and she can't balance the dog, and the girl and her shoes and everything else at once.

The dog was NOT a service dog, had no harness on him, but did have his collar and leach still on. (why bring the dog then???) She tells me that the girl can unlock, anything and does it all the time. I'm like OK, as I was pulling out, she lockes the dog and girl back in the van and runs back inside... WTH?????

If I was some fruit case I could have taken that girl and been gone with her ya know... That scares me!!

I still should have gotten the license plate number. There was no sticker on the van indicating that the child was Autistic, what if something happened to mom??? Car accident or something?

bercol1 · 01-06-2006, 01:03 PM

This is a horrific story. My son is non verbal and my biggest worry is always , What would happen if some nut tried to steal him. being nonverbal I shiver at the thought, he could not shout for help, scream at the abuser or if he was free'd, he could never tell me what happened. It's the stuff of nightmares. How could this parent be so uncaring and down right irrisponsible. We all have a hard time with Autism but at the end of the day, keeping all our children safe should be our main priority.
Then on top of it all she allows her daughter to share the back of the van with a huge dangerous unpredictable dog.
Oh some people, why do they have kids?
Bernadette

sherry092 · 01-06-2006, 01:27 PM

I had a similar experience a while back. My husband & I were going out to dinner ...alone.. for the first time in a long time.

We were driving through a residential neighborhood, around 7pm and it was raining. I look up and see a little boy (4 or so) running in the middle of the road with a tshirt and a diaper on. Then I see another car coming the other way- I told my husband to stop, hopped out of our car and grabbed the boy. Within minutes I knew he was autistic- non verbal, no eye contact. I'd ask him, is this your house?? And he would say "My house" to every house I pointed to.

We finally decided to knock on a neighbors door, and stumbled upon the nicest family. They had never seen the boy before, and they called the police. The boy was all over the place repeating "Dora Dora", couldn't give his name, then started writing the alphabet backwards, starting w/ Z, all the letters backwards.

The police came, and about 1 an hour later the father drove up. He came in & said "So there you are"- no thank yous, per se, no emotion nothing. The little boy had rotted teeth & smelled of smoke- so did the father.

Apparently the father went out to get dinner & the mother fell asleep. The boy had walked at least a half mile- out of his house, took a left, took a right
up a hill, took another right and headed straight.

I cried knowing that this little boy had to go back to that environment. It just broke my heart.

anthonysmom · 01-06-2006, 04:39 PM

That is inconceivable to me. What in the world was she doing leaving a child in the car!!!!! I like dogs too, but if you can't handle all of that, duh, you handle your child first, whether they have special needs or not.

MOM23ANGELS · 01-06-2006, 04:46 PM

i use to have a neighbor like that. her kids were allowed to roam the neighborhood alone at the age of 3. i couldn't stand it but never said anything to her for fear of a nasty fight. she has moved a few blocks away and continues to allow this to go on. her 4 year old daughter once walked to her aunts house 2 blocks away and rang the wrong doorbell. luckily, the neighbor recognized the little girl and called the mom. these kids have a guardian angels.