TangleBones

For those that thought I was being a little harsh to the ladies of the “Autism Every Day” video, please check out this Channel 19 report, Mother confesses to suffocating daughter:

Morton Police said 37-year old Karen McCarron confessed to suffocating her three-year-old daughter, Katherine…

Katherine McCarron had been diagnosed with autism.

Morton police said Karen said she wanted to end her pain and her daughter’s pain, as well.

But that’s an isolated incident. We also have a murder-suicide in England:

Police have identified a body found in the River Humber as that of a mother who apparently jumped to her death with her 12-year-old autistic son.

Two thoughts:

1. When these folks talk about killing their kids, they’re not kidding. Somebody needs to step in when people start talking about killing their children and take these things seriously. I don’t want to fall into the 24-news-channel “any 3 related events is an epidemic” fallacy, but the fact that in each of these stories the mothers are being portrayed not as killers, but as poor sad women pushed to the edge makes me sick.
2. There’s a relationship between depression and autism. Autism Diva writes: “The majority—but not all—parents of autistic kids are autistic, BAP, bipolar, OCD or unipolar depressive. Autism Diva thinks that especially tendencies toward OCD and bipolar are seen in some of the more vocal parents.” I can’t speak to what the percentages are, but when physicians diagnose children with Autism, they need to take a closer look at the parents.

UPDATE, May 24, 2006: A third makes the epidemic official.

An Albany couple has been charged with first-degree arson and first-degree manslaughter in the death of their 19-year-old son, who died after being burned in an apartment fire.

According to Albany police, Nicolaas Dirk DeGroot, 45, and Agnes Elizabeth DeGroot, 48, started a fire in their apartment and left their son, who had severe autism, locked inside.

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