Group homes?

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Thieves leave autistic kids little for holiday

This was taken from another list but it is in Texas. This greatly disturbs me

because it confirms what I believe is going on. The state takes children with

autism from their families and puts them in group homes or lock down facilities.

We need to be outraged. Please don't assume that if the state took them away it

was warranted. They take kids away for what they consider dirty homes, or if

say, a child wanders.

C.

Sun Dec 31, 2006 9:54 am (PST)

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/1231

06dnmetautistictheft.2ca42a1.html)

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Thieves leave autistic kids little for holiday

Dallas: Just before Christmas, group home sacked; TVs, toys taken

10:28 PM CST on Saturday, December 30, 2006

By KARIN SHAW ANDERSON / The Dallas Morning News

Thieves leave autistic kids little for holiday

Dallas: Just before Christmas, group home sacked; TVs, toys taken

10:28 PM CST on Saturday, December 30, 2006

By KARIN SHAW ANDERSON / The Dallas Morning News

It's hard to imagine the motivation for the crime, but the victims

are

too innocent for outrage.

The six youngsters with autism live in one of 13 group homes run by

the Autism Treatment Center in Dallas.

Unlike those from some of the other area homes, these children are

all

wards of the state, removed from their families after abuse or

neglect,

and have little to claim as their own.

But much of what they did cherish was stolen five days before

Christmas.

TVs, toys, movies, pots and pans, coats, clothes, underwear, sheets,

towels, even the food for their Christmas dinner.

" They don't have the concept of what happened, " said Autism

Treatment

Center residential coordinator Eulah " Tuffy " . " It just hurt

me

to my heart. "

The children, 7 to 16 years old, were attending classes at the

nearby

main ATC campus in Far Northeast Dallas when burglars targeted the

home

they share with full-time caregivers.

A woman who was preparing to pick up the children from school at the

start of her shift discovered the aftermath of the crime.

Shielded from view by a tall fence on the side of the duplex, the

trespassers had walked past two small bicycles and a well-used

plastic

Fisher-Price Trike before kicking open the front door and smashing

the

frame.

Inside, the clues to the home's purpose were all around. Bedrooms

are

set up like dormitories. A commercial pull-style fire alarm hangs low

on the wall, and resuscitation masks hang near the bulletin board

with

care instructions. Cabinets are locked, and sharp edges are

cushioned.

" The police said they must have known our routine, because they were

in here for so long. ... They know we're gone during the day, and we

come in in the evenings, " Ms. said.

" You just want to know what type of people would do this. "

The aftermath

Center director Carolyn Garver and Ms. were in a meeting

when

they got the call about the break-in.

" We just dropped everything and left, " Ms. said.

Inside the house, they found Princess, the children's sheltie,

shivering inside her cage with a chair shoved against the door. More

than a

week later, the dog still hides in her enclosure.

" She's devastated, because she never goes in the cage like that, "

Ms.

said. " I think they kicked her or something. "

Furniture had been pulled away from the walls so TVs and DVD players

could be removed. Every cabinet door was smashed open, and the

contents

were missing. The coat closet was picked through, and only

smaller-sized jackets were taken. Clothing, including socks and

underwear, was

emptied from drawers, and the turkey and ham for Christmas were

gone.

Police have not made any arrests and on Friday were seeking more

information from center officials.

The loss also included three TVs and DVD/VHS players, all of the

children's movies, kitchen appliances and food from the freezer. Two

pieces

of furniture were broken in the search for valuables. Things as

insignificant as plastic hangers were taken.

" It just doesn't make sense, " Dr. Garver said.

The burglars ignored a computer, a fourth TV and the bikes in the

yard. But before prying the built-in microwave from the kitchen wall,

they

walked past the Christmas tree in the hallway.

" We had a lot of gifts for ... [the children,] but we didn't bring

them over here until Christmas Eve, thank God, " Dr. Garver said.

Some of the center's homes have been broken into before, she said,

but

the damage and loss have never been so big.

" My first thought was, 'How could they do this to the kids right

before Christmas?' " Dr. Garver said. " I mean, how could they do this

to the

kids, period? But right before Christmas? "

The children were kept from the house while police were called and

staff members put what remained of their belongings back in order.

Because

the food for their dinner was gone, the children were taken to a

restaurant.

When they returned home, " they did notice that the TV wasn't there, "

Ms. said. " We told them it was in for repairs. "

Buying replacements

The next morning, staff members bought replacements for the large

living room TV, microwave and ceramic heater taken from the boys'

room.

They borrowed pots and pans to cook with and a few movies for the

children

to watch from other area group homes.

Familiar items like a movie or even a clothes hanger can mean the

world to a child with autism, said B.K. Sloan, the aunt of

, a

girl who lives in another of the center's group homes.

" A child like needs routine, " she said. " Anything that

disrupts

that can be devastating to them. "

But through their simple sincerity, Dr. Garver said, it's the

youngsters who have helped the adults cope.

" When I get frustrated and have to leave my office, I usually go

back

with the kids, " she said.

She pointed to a portrait hanging by the front door of the duplex

that

shows the blended family being hugged by staff members.

" Thank God the kids are unaware of some things, " she said.

E-mail ksanderson@...