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Article Source: NY Daily NewsThe night before a Bronx mom killed her 12-year-old autistic son and took her own life, she posted a heart-wrenching prayer on her blog saying her life was in God's hands.
"I sincerely repent of my sins, and receive Jesus as my personal savior," Michaela Jackson wrote on It's Mick's World. "Now as your child, I turn my entire life over to you. Amen."
"There's a note that says that, in essence, she was overwhelmed by the child," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
"I'm sorry it had to end this way," Jackson wrote in the note found taped to the inside of the Loring Place apartment's bedroom door, said a police source. It ended with the words, "I love you all."
She also left additional notes with contact information of people who should be informed of her and her son's death, including the boy's father, school and her workplace.
"Regardless of whatever happened, she loved him," said the boy's devastated father, Kenneth Holmes Sr., 35, a maintenance manager.
#1 - Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:50 PM EDTThe mother can go to hell. If she was so "overwhelmed" by the child as she claimed, why didn't she take the child to someone who would care for the child. Why kill the child? I feel no sympathy for this woman.
It's not a matter of blaming the child when a parent is overwhelmed with the care of a disabled child. She wasn't right to take his life. We, as a society, are not right to expect parents to deal with the intensity of these problems alone.
If a family has a disabled child, the chances of divorce soar. The other children in the family are deprived of attention because the needs of the disabled child are so intense. The burden of extraordinary care usually falls on the mother who is not trained in the care of the disabled and is flying blind in most instances.
Even if a family has health insurance, autism is typically not covered, so the therapy that is needed sinks a family into deep debt. There are very few places that are qualified to care for an autistic child even for a few hours, which means the parent never gets respite or a chance to recover from the emotional intensity.
You said she should have given the child to someone else. Who? Family members get just as exhausted, if they want to help at all. Very few will adopt an autistic child. We don't have government programs to provide help. If he was sent to foster care, he would end up in an insitution most likely. Depending on how bad the autism is, he may need care for his entire life, so she didn't even have hope of it ending at eighteen like most parents do.
Some children with autism need intense help all day, every day. The parent never gets a chance to read a book or take a bath in private.
If you haven't walked a mile in their footsteps, it is hard to imagine how exhausting, heartbreaking and depressing it is to be the parent of a disabled child.
Shame on us for not having programs in place that might have helped her live rather than see dying as her only out.
While I realize the challenges that a disabled child can pose (Loretta hit on all the key points), I still feel nothing but contempt for this woman. If she wanted to kill herself, fine, but she had no right to take her child with her. This is going to sound cold, but raising a disabled child (and possibly caring for them for the entire duration of their lives) is a risk that everyone who wants a child must be prepared to accept.
I do agree though that we as a society need to do a much better job at caring for our disabled citizens. Nobody asks to develop or be born with an illness. I've always been disgusted with how little America seems to care about the disabled.
You said she should have given the child to someone else. Who?
There's always someone you can call if you know who to ask. Also, what was the father doing during all this?
Who do you ask? It's easy to say "someone," but most people don't want to or aren't able to deal with an autistic child who is acting out. Some autistic children can't be left alone in a room for even a few minutes. It is a heavy burden that few want to have any part of handling.
The father was quoted in the article. Per the article, he has visitation rights and saw the child on weekends. Didn't say for how long. An hour? The whole weekend? Every weekend or just now and then? Didn't say.
He did say she loved her son.
It's a sad, sad story.
I'm sorry she couldn't find help. But, Auteur, I agree with Dale -- Judge Not! -- and I appreciate the thoughtful comments Loretta has made.
He did say she loved her son.
If she really loved her son she wouldn't have blamed the child for her personal crap and have killed him.
Judge Not!
And as said before. Don't blame a child, especially an autistic child, for your personal crap and failures.
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