Adult twins with autism locked in a barren basement room every night. No lights. No bed. Their parents charged with abuse.
The criminal allegations against Janice and John Land that erupted last week in Montgomery County have captured the attention of many but no group more so than other parents who are caring for the growing number of autistic children entering adulthood.
We cant condone their choices, says Mark Bucknam, a professor at the National War College who lives two miles from the Lands. Court papers say that the young men were kept in a room with no working lights and a comforter on a bare tile floor.
But its possible that, in their minds, this was the least bad way to deal with this, Bucknam says.
As he speaks, his 18-year-old son John starts to pace and moan in the kitchen. John typically wont sit down for dinner until he and his parents are around the table, holding hands, his father saying the blessing. Mark walks toward the kitchen, past the locked front door, the locked door to the garage, the locked door to the basement. Those barriers, along with a tracking device John wears, the burglar alarm and the fence around the house, are designed to keep him from wandering off.
But sometimes, even that isnt enough. Three years ago, wearing green pajamas, John made his way to a Metro train platform four miles away just before a train came barreling into the station.
For parents like the Bucknams, their childrens transition to adulthood is filled with gut-wrenching choices and challenges. The assistance connected with high school programs goes away. The best adult services often are at the end of long waiting lists. The pressures mount for parents to prepare for life after theyre gone. In the world of autism, this transition is known as going over the cliff.
Youre in a whole different world, Barbara Bucknam says.
And their ranks are poised to grow.
This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released figures showing 1 in 68 children in the United States have Autism Spectrum Disorder, a term that captures the wide range of ways autism affects children. That was a 30 percent jump from two years earlier and more than double the rates from six years before that.
Originally posted here:
Parents may face least bad decisions in autism cases