“I can’t believe anyone would post a sign like that about anyone”

by Kristina Chew, PhD on July 26th, 2006

Here are excerpts from two letters in response to the sign reading “CAUTION, RETARD’S IN AREA” that two residents of Nephi, Utah, posted in their front yard (see my earlier post, Hateful Language: A Crime of Ignorance). A neighbor’s 13 year old son, who has autism and other disabilities, often leaves his own home, wanders the neighborhood, enters people’s houses, and eats their food. The sign has since been taken down.

“The autistic teen is said to operate at the mental level of a 5-year-old, but it’s starting to sound as though the adults around him might not be much further ahead. Perhaps warning signs (worded, perhaps, more sensitively) are in order for the whole neighborhood.” (Different warning needed, Erin Krug, Salt Lake City)
“I can’t believe anyone would post a sign like that about anyone, let alone a disabled child.
I think this family should get on their knees and thank God that their children aren’t autistic. It is people like this who make it difficult for my autistic child to get out and enjoy life like the other children can. Autistic children are persecuted for something they have no control over. I think it is absolutely pathetic.” (Protect this child, (autism mother) Marlene Clark, Clearfield, KY)

Go here to read Different warning needed.

Go here to read Protect this child.