Quote:A fifth grade Texas student with autism was handcuffed and hauled away by police this week after playing with an “imaginary rifle” at school. Twelve-year-old David Sims brandished his “weapon” at his art teacher, who felt threatened.

“She [CISD Police Officer] just put handcuffs on me and told me I need to go with her,” the boy said after the ordeal.

“They just said, 'We don't tolerate that. We take it as a threat,'” his mother Amy said. “A threat? He didn't threaten anyone. He didn't do anything but play.”

According to the concerned mother, the school didn't notify her of the incident until after her son was in police custody. She insisted that her autistic son didn't understand that “make believe” gunplay was considered inappropriate behavior.

“Being put in handcuffs, not knowing what he did wrong, I could have had a talk with him and told him look, 'I know you like to play guns, but you can't do it in school,'” she said.

David spent over two hours at the Juvenile Detention Center, but Montgomery County Attorney J.D. Lambright indicated that charges would likely not come given the boy's age and disability, saying, “We want to get them turned around and on the right path.”

According to him, David's brandished the imaginary weapon before a verbal threat. In at least one previous occasion, David brandished an imaginary gun in class. Lambright also said David wasn't the only one to draw police attention, as other students in the area reportedly had troubling outbursts after the shooting in Parkland, Florida.

“Right after the Florida incident, we were getting two a day, three a day and it wasn't isolated to any particular school,” Lambert said. “We have six school districts in Montgomery County and they were coming in across the County.”

David has since been ordered to attend an alternative disciplinary school for the rest of his Spring semester. His mother believes he's being discriminated against.

“Because he's disabled, they automatically think he's got something mental, so he might go shoot up a school,” she said.

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My ex has taught the kid. She doesn't think he's autistic.

(05-14-2018 06:52 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  My ex has taught the kid. She doesn't think he's autistic.

Just a question Owl, but are you saying that he knew what he was doing? In other words he knew that he was threatening the teacher?

If only he'd been posting hate-filled messages on the internet and had several people call the FBI and report him as a threat for amassing weapons and talking about killing fellow students, then he'd have been left alone.

You would be surprised at the number of parents who claim their child is on the spectrum as an excuse for them just being little azz-holes. It's disgusting and a disservice to those who are really afflicted with autism.

(05-14-2018 07:20 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 06:52 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  My ex has taught the kid. She doesn't think he's autistic.

Just a question Owl, but are you saying that he knew what he was doing? In other words he knew that he was threatening the teacher?

We don't talk a lot, so I don't have a lot of depth of understanding. She just asked me if I'd heard about it and said she had taught him and he wasn't like other autistic kids she has taught. Don't really know more. But I think what you suggest is what she was getting at.

(05-14-2018 08:05 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 07:20 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 06:52 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  My ex has taught the kid. She doesn't think he's autistic.

Just a question Owl, but are you saying that he knew what he was doing? In other words he knew that he was threatening the teacher?

We don't talk a lot, so I don't have a lot of depth of understanding. She just asked me if I'd heard about it and said she had taught him and he wasn't like other autistic kids she has taught. Don't really know more. But I think what you suggest is what she was getting at.

So can she also look at a person walking across the parking lot and see they aren't disabled? Other words there are different levels of disability and just because a person doesn't fit what you are use to seeing. Doesn't mean they aren't disabled or autistic.

I have no clue as to what this kid is or isn't but the County Attorney agreed with his disability.

Doesn't matter if he is autistic or not. The principal that suspended him should get kicked in the shin.

If he did it in conjunction with making a verbal threat, then I have no problem with them suspending him.

Public schools need to be purged of liberalism.

My son's schools was on an entire day lockdown from a kid with autism making threats. So let's not pretend this is something we can just dismiss because he has "autism" or the rifle is "imaginary."

(05-15-2018 09:56 AM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  My son's schools was on an entire day lockdown from a kid with autism making threats. So let's not pretend this is something we can just dismiss because he has "autism" or the rifle is "imaginary."

Yep. This is different from a kid making something that looks like a gun out of a pop tart. If the child is making verbal threats, he needs to go. If he really has autism, he's in the wrong environment.

(05-14-2018 07:33 PM)banker Wrote:  You would be surprised at the number of parents who claim their child is on the spectrum as an excuse for them just being little azz-holes. It's disgusting and a disservice to those who are really afflicted with autism.

I have no doubt that's absolutely true. Similar to parents claiming their kids have ADHD when in fact they're just undisciplined little brats.

All that being said, if the kid was making threats as part of the action, the school should take things like that seriously. Can't afford another little psycho to fall thru the cracks.

All that being said again, schools need to inject some reality into their decision making process. There are plenty of examples of making the proverbial mountain out of a molehill.

(05-14-2018 07:33 PM)banker Wrote:  You would be surprised at the number of parents who claim their child is on the spectrum as an excuse for them just being little azz-holes. It's disgusting and a disservice to those who are really afflicted with autism.

I know of a few people that use an "official" diagnosis from a doctor to fleece the system too.

H.C. parking permits are all the rage. Makes me sick too when I see able bodied people with those damn things.

Do any of you really think just because a child is using the finger pointed gun they are more likely to shoot up the school. Than just by thinking it?

I want the government out of my life and we all can see where it leads when they get involved in the "name of keeping us safe". Rules and laws aren't just for stopping or limiting the so call bad people. So be very careful in how far you want to go. There version of a rule/law might not fit what you see....

just as we are seeing today with laws put in place after 9/11

A threat is one thing, even if there are mental issues. Not every action has to be dealt with by handcuffs and a trip to the police station.

(05-15-2018 10:53 AM)thespiritof1976 Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 07:33 PM)banker Wrote:  You would be surprised at the number of parents who claim their child is on the spectrum as an excuse for them just being little azz-holes. It's disgusting and a disservice to those who are really afflicted with autism.

I know of a few people that use an "official" diagnosis from a doctor to fleece the system too.

H.C. parking permits are all the rage. Makes me sick too when I see able bodied people with those damn things.

Again, not all " able bodied people" you see, are able body. While some people take advantage of everything. There are a lot of people you might look at as " able bodied people" when you see them walk from their car to a door and out of sight. But they struggle to walk distant.

My wife (my mother was also) is one of those and she is limited in what she can walk in Wal Mart and buy. If it's at the front part of the store...bread, veg/fruit, meats. She can get. Eggs, milk, frozen foods, at the back of the store, she cant. Again not every " able bodied people" you think you see...is able bodied people

(05-15-2018 11:06 AM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(05-15-2018 10:53 AM)thespiritof1976 Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 07:33 PM)banker Wrote:  You would be surprised at the number of parents who claim their child is on the spectrum as an excuse for them just being little azz-holes. It's disgusting and a disservice to those who are really afflicted with autism.

I know of a few people that use an "official" diagnosis from a doctor to fleece the system too.

H.C. parking permits are all the rage. Makes me sick too when I see able bodied people with those damn things.

Again, not all " able bodied people" you see, are able body. While some people take advantage of everything. There are a lot of people you might look at as " able bodied people" when you see them walk from their car to a door and out of sight. But they struggle to walk distant.

My wife (my mother was also) is one of those and she is limited in what she can walk in Wal Mart and buy. If it's at the front part of the store...bread, veg/fruit, meats. She can get. Eggs, milk, frozen foods, at the back of the store, she cant. Again not every " able bodied people" you think you see...is able bodied people

Part of that is because we've watered down what it means to be "handicapped" and "disabled" to the point of being laughable.

When they first started designating handicapped spots for parking, it meant you had to have an ACTUAL handicap. Wheelchair bound, missing a limb, being elderly and using a walker, etc.

Now it they if you have a limp, or you're too fat, or your pregnant, you can get a handicapped sticker. Nothing against pregnant women, but it isn't a handicap. Too bad there wasn't a crackdown on quacks giving out handicap stickers like there is on doctors prescribing painkillers.

Look no further than what's being pawned off as being "disabled" for SSI & SSDI.

While it might not be "all", there's more and more every day.

Imagine what the world would be like if people spent as much effort into trying to improve the system as they did scamming it......

(05-15-2018 11:06 AM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(05-15-2018 10:53 AM)thespiritof1976 Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 07:33 PM)banker Wrote:  You would be surprised at the number of parents who claim their child is on the spectrum as an excuse for them just being little azz-holes. It's disgusting and a disservice to those who are really afflicted with autism.

I know of a few people that use an "official" diagnosis from a doctor to fleece the system too.

H.C. parking permits are all the rage. Makes me sick too when I see able bodied people with those damn things.

Again, not all " able bodied people" you see, are able body. While some people take advantage of everything. There are a lot of people you might look at as " able bodied people" when you see them walk from their car to a door and out of sight. But they struggle to walk distant.

My wife (my mother was also) is one of those and she is limited in what she can walk in Wal Mart and buy. If it's at the front part of the store...bread, veg/fruit, meats. She can get. Eggs, milk, frozen foods, at the back of the store, she cant. Again not every " able bodied people" you think you see...is able bodied people

Understood completely, sir. I am not disagreeing with you at all, FWIW.

When I was a kid, we would play with toy cap guns during recess. We would shoot each other with BB guns out in the orange groves. When I was 5 or 6 I pointed a toy gun at a cop and pretended to shoot him. He feigned being shot, clutched his chest, and then tussled my hair and smiled at me before walking off. (And FWIW, this was in the early to mid 80's, not that long ago)

Today ? Insanity. Madness. Where a kid can't be a kid. Where has the innocence gone ?

(05-15-2018 11:33 AM)BadgerMJ Wrote:  

(05-15-2018 11:06 AM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(05-15-2018 10:53 AM)thespiritof1976 Wrote:  

(05-14-2018 07:33 PM)banker Wrote:  You would be surprised at the number of parents who claim their child is on the spectrum as an excuse for them just being little azz-holes. It's disgusting and a disservice to those who are really afflicted with autism.

I know of a few people that use an "official" diagnosis from a doctor to fleece the system too.

H.C. parking permits are all the rage. Makes me sick too when I see able bodied people with those damn things.

Again, not all " able bodied people" you see, are able body. While some people take advantage of everything. There are a lot of people you might look at as " able bodied people" when you see them walk from their car to a door and out of sight. But they struggle to walk distant.

My wife (my mother was also) is one of those and she is limited in what she can walk in Wal Mart and buy. If it's at the front part of the store...bread, veg/fruit, meats. She can get. Eggs, milk, frozen foods, at the back of the store, she cant. Again not every " able bodied people" you think you see...is able bodied people

Part of that is because we've watered down what it means to be "handicapped" and "disabled" to the point of being laughable.

When they first started designating handicapped spots for parking, it meant you had to have an ACTUAL handicap. Wheelchair bound, missing a limb, being elderly and using a walker, etc.

Now it they if you have a limp, or you're too fat, or your pregnant, you can get a handicapped sticker. Nothing against pregnant women, but it isn't a handicap. Too bad there wasn't a crackdown on quacks giving out handicap stickers like there is on doctors prescribing painkillers.

Look no further than what's being pawned off as being "disabled" for SSI & SSDI.

While it might not be "all", there's more and more every day.

Imagine what the world would be like if people spent as much effort into trying to improve the system as they did scamming it......

As soon as a pregnant woman starts to "show", she should be allowed to use a HC spot, all within reason of course.

That said, being reasonable gets abused at the starting line these days...