About 20 people recently gathered at the Woodlands Memorial Garden to recognize an issue that’s unfathomable for many to comprehend.
The Vancouver chapter of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network recently held a vigil to commemorate the lives of disabled persons who were murdered by their families and caretakers.
“In the past five years 75 people – actually more than 75 people, I think it’s 76 – have been murdered by their caregivers or parents in North America alone,” said Amythest Schaber, who joined the Vancouver chapter when it formed last summer. “When I first start talking about it with people, they think it must be occasional or rare. It’s really hard for people to imagine a parent or family member killing somebody who is disabled.”
As an example, Schaber pointed to the case of Michigan mom Kelli Stapleton, who attempted to kill her 14-year-old autistic daughter by carbon monoxide poisoning. She survived, and Stapleton pled guilty to a charge of first-degree child abuse and was sentenced to 10 to 22 years in prison.
“She later had an interview with Dr. Phil. She told the same kind of story that many parents tell, where they feel overwhelmed and are at the end of their rope so they snap. But it’s not snapping, it’s premeditated. It takes a lot of planning,” Schaber said. “Many of these children and adults died due to starvation and neglect, which can take days or weeks.”
On March 1, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network held vigils in the United States, the United Kingdom and Hungary. The local chapter held the only memorial in Canada.
“It was a way to raise awareness and say, ‘We are watching, we want justice, we want equal sentences for parents who have committed murders of their disabled children,’” Schaber said. “It was also very personal because it could be anyone of us. It was a way for us to personally mourn as a community.”
Schaber, a former New Westminster resident, was officially diagnosed with autism last year. She said her mother was diagnosed with autism at the age of 42 and her brother is autistic.
“I know when I was just a little fetus developing, if things had gone a little differently, I might be unable to talk like some other autistics,” she said. “I might be one of those people who is even more at risk for people hurting me.”
Now 23, Schaber feels compelled to speak out on behalf of people with autism.
“I feel like my duty is to speak for myself, and also to amplify the voices of non-speaking autistics,” she told the Record.
According to Autism Canada Foundation, Autism Spectrum Disorder is a complex neurobiological condition that impacts normal brain development, leaving most individuals with communication problems, difficulty with typical social interactions, and a tendency to repeat specific patterns of behaviour. The foundation’s website states that individuals on the autism spectrum have varying degrees and combinations of symptoms.
Members of the Vancouver chapter of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network meet monthly to discuss ways of drawing social and political attention to issues affecting autistic people and to empower people with autism.
Organizers of the local vigil felt the Woodlands Memorial Garden was a fitting site for commemorating those in the disabled community who have been killed.
“We had about 20 people. It was our first year. The sad thing is we invited many, many other disabled organizations to join with us, but the message we got back quite a bit was that they work so closely with parents they didn’t want to risk offending anyone. They get so much of their financial support from parents,” Schaber said. “This shouldn’t be a controversial issue. Murder is murder.”
