Good idea, or angry backlash?

[BB]

To avoid a 'knee-jerk' response. Too many of those flying about in here...

.............



hell, i help out when i can ....

-and what's wrong with knees huh????



( .. eee's havin' a go at knees now!!!! )



.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Yahoo link

ELKINS, W.Va. - More than 50 emergency responders and volunteers were searching Monday for an autistic hiker who strayed from his parents in the Dolly Sods Wilderness area.

Jacob Allen, 18, of Morgantown, was hiking with his parents, Jim and Karen Allen, on Sunday afternoon when he got ahead of them and didn't answer when they called out his name, said Chris Stadelman, public information officer at the command post.

The family declined to speak with the media, but thanked searchers for their efforts and asked for the public's prayers, Stadelman said.

While Allen is described by his mother as severely autistic, he is in good physical shape and likes to hike, Stadelman said. The family visits Dolly Sods, located within the Monongahela National Forest, a couple times a year, he said.

Temperatures dropped to as low as 38 degrees overnight, said Stadelman, but were rising steadily Monday morning, which was clear and sunny.

Residents of several counties were searching along with two search dogs and a crew in a National Guard helicopter.

The primary search area was about 4 square miles of terrain that included thick brush and steep inclines.

Thoughts? Comments? Input? Good salsa recipes?

 

[Luis G]

The parents should pay for the rescue.

 

[unclehobart]

Being severly autistic, I would think he would actively try to avoid the rescue teams.

I wonder if there was enough mind there to have the survival skills to weather a near freezing night.

 

[Gonz]

tomatoes
peppers
garlic
onion
cilantro
tomatilloes
salt
chili powder (not necessary)
grind up & enjoy

 

[Gato_Solo]

Yahoo link



Thoughts? Comments? Input? Good salsa recipes?

What were mom and dad thinking? Why did they let him wander ahead? Why were they taking him out into the 'woods' in the first place? A little common sense here, folks. He'd've been just as happy wandering around a petting zoo...and a lot less likely to get lost.

 

[tonksy]

The kid is 18 not 8. You don't take an 18 year old to a petting zoo. He is autistic not retarded.

 

[unclehobart]

18? Take him to the Mustang Ranch.

 

[chcr]

What were mom and dad thinking? Why did they let him wander ahead? Why were they taking him out into the 'woods' in the first place? A little common sense here, folks. He'd've been just as happy wandering around a petting zoo...and a lot less likely to get lost.

Another article I read (newspaper, no link, sorry) sort of had the sense that this was something they did pretty frequently with no prior mishaps. As tonksy says, he's autistic, not retarded.

 

[unclehobart]

Allen is described by his mother as severely autistic

I wonder if he was having some kind of deep episode and some form of harsh paranoia kicked in to make him scatter... or some kind of euphoria.

 

[Gonz]

Someone on the TV news just mentioned he "has the mental capacity of a 3 year old". He may be retarded.

 

[chcr]

Oh, on the TV.

 

[unclehobart]

Hell... half the viewing public has the mental capacity of a 3 year old.

 

[Gato_Solo]

The kid is 18 not 8. You don't take an 18 year old to a petting zoo. He is autistic not retarded.

I never made that connection...and the term is not retarded. It's mentally challenged, and my cousin Dwayne would be quite upset that you made that correlation.

Anywho...

1. Autism has to do with social interaction...meaning that they have trouble interacting with people, places, or things that people without autism have no difficulty in doing. This means that I keep an eye on my kid, or take him/her someplace where he/she can't get into trouble. The fact that they "took him out to places like this before" and had no difficulty only proves one thing...complacency.
2. His own mother says that he is severely autistic.

While Allen is described by his mother as severely autistic, he is in good physical shape and likes to hike, Stadelman said.

Adding to that, they're in West Virginia. I've been there quite a few times, andthat is definitely not a good place to be lost in the wilderness...and the two-legged predators are not taken into account in this. While some here like to look at the Appalachians with derision, those mountains ain't no joke to someone with no food, water, or ability to function with that kind of disability.

My full and unadulterated opinion, which most of you will not like, is this. This is nothing more than lunacy brought on by the view that everybody can do anything. This kid had limitations that were not taken into account when the hike started, and the reason he is lost is because his parents bought into that line of drivel. It stinks, I know it, but thats the truth. Whether you like it or not is not the over-riding concern here, either. Your feelings on the matter are not going to help this kid, his family, or anybody else. I'm not angry. Just disappointed.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

I too place the lion's share of responsibility on the parents. Autistic, developmentally disabled, whatever...this young man has real life conditions that must be taken into consideration whether he's on the AT, at a mall, or walking to the corner store. No one on this planet should be more keenly and/or intimately aware not only of these general limitations but of his specific needs than his parents. To allow him to range ahead of them to a point where they lose him (which peel away the pretty language and that's precisely what they did) is negligent.

Put another way...if these people could allow this to happen, what else aren't they paying adequate attention to?

How many times has this happened before..."with no problems"?

I dare say this is not the only time he has been outside their range of supervision. Their comments lead me to a logical progression of thought indicating it isn't the first time. They are trying to CYA in short, and it'll probably work given the ineptitude of the average social worker likely to be called in on the government's dime.

WV is as remote an area for hiking as any other. I've done a portion of the AT there myself. It's breathtaking. It's also not anywhere I'd care to be lost. Fortunately, the AT headquarters is in Harper's Ferry, so that indicates that a larger than usual number of seasoned, experienced hikers familiar with the local terrain may be available to help. I hope so at least.

 

[unclehobart]

I wonder if anyone has speculated that perhaps the parents left him out there with intent so they would not have the burden of caring for a special needs adult.

 

[unclehobart]

Found! He's alive. Condition unreported. News conference to follow... sometime.

 

[BeardofPants]

Hopefully the parents will learn to be less complacent in the future.