It's Time To Change The World

I am going to tell you right now, this post will be longer than my usual posts. It needs to be.

I need to tell you a story, a complete story, because Changing The World is not something any of us should take lightly.

This story is ultimately about a Murder that took place on the 12th of January 2013 in a town in Maryland USA, a Murder for which nobody has been held accountable because the victim was disabled, and because of his disability deemed "Already Compromised".

Here is the New York Times article.

In short, a young man, who happened to have Down syndrome, went back into a movie theatre to watch for a second time a movie he had just seen, but he did not have a ticket for a second screening.



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Due to the fashion in which security dealt with this issue, within half an hour,

Robert Ethan Saylor was dead.

The mention of Changing The World is initially in reference to my blog post written for World Down Syndrome Day 2013 where I talk about educating the people outside of the Down syndrome community, about Down syndrome (DS).

When I wrote that, I was not aware of this crime, so the extent of that post was not far reaching enough to have ever thought that I might have to consider the type of education that might prevent a death. And that, in itself, is far too big a solution to include here.

And changing the world now seems much more important!

I was however, not simply meaning education about basic facts like the medical terminology for DS is Trisomy 21, nor just that there is an extra Chromosome on the 21st pair, not just that people with DS are as different to us as they are alike, I was eluding to more relevant information. The type of information the greater community will need if they are to truly include people with DS.

What I did not say, and again, I made the error that people would know this, is that most people with DS take longer to process information, their brains work beautifully in many ways, and from my experience, they are usually great problem solvers and make wonderful Personal Assistants, as once they grasp a concept or an idea or a memory, they rarely forget; but they need a bit more time to learn, to consider and process a conversation or instruction, or to think about their own response.

What does that mean to us? How can we be more inclusive in this type of situation?

When I speak to my son, who has DS, I have to be more patient, I need to wait, to give him time to think about what I have said, to process that information before he will respond or react to what I have said.
Time that Robert Ethan Saylor was not given.

Most people with DS have difficulty with what is called "Transition", which is simply moving from one task to another or even one place to another.  Not only is the processing time for the change a consideration but they want to know what next? Which comes down to a difficulty with scheduling or planning, so I often use visual communications such as signs or photos, as people with DS learn very well via visual methods, as do many other people.

Again, what does that mean to us? How can we be more inclusive in these situations?

Taking time is of the essence, ensure the person with DS understands that the time has come to move on from the task at hand and be sure they understand what is next.
An understanding Robert Ethan Saylor was not afforded.

Now tell me, how are these courtesies any different (other than it may take a little longer) to what you would expect for yourself? We demand the rights we feel we deserve as Human Beings, and so those should carry over for all Human Beings.

We use the word INCLUSION because people with DS and other disabilities want to be included. Do we think it is enough to just "allow them to exist"? Do we not realise still, how much every person has to contribute to this world? The fact that we are all different to each other is what makes this world such a rich place.

Robert Ethan Saylor was no different to any of us,

he wanted to live.

He would have wanted to do things that he enjoyed, to be able to have a life where he could have choice, friends, spend time with family or go see the odd movie. So he did, he went with his Carer to see a movie, but as a result, he is dead.

WHY?

There seems to be many reasons procedurally that Robert died, but the State's Attorney For Frederick County at the County Court House in Frederick Maryland says this in their press release:

The opinion of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was that a 25 year old Caucasian male, ROBERT ETHAN SAYLOR, died of ASPHYXIA, Down's Syndrome, Obesity, Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease and Accessory Conduction Pathways of Heart are also significant conditions ... This individual was already compromised by his Down's Syndrome, obesity, body habitus, and heart disease, making him more susceptible to sudden death in stressful conditions which would compromise his breathing. Using the medical definition of homicide (but for the actions of other individuals Mr. Saylor would not have died), the manner of death is best certified as HOMICIDE.

And AGAIN, I ask, What does this mean to us?

Firstly, it means Robert died as a result of other people's actions!

Secondly, YOU CANNOT DIE SIMPLY BY HAVING DOWN SYNDROME!

Thirdly, Robert had Down syndrome NOT Down's Syndrome (but you would think a Medical Examiner would know that).

Finally, AND THIS IS THE PART YOU WILL BE INTERESTED IN, all the medical conditions mentioned above, as with any of the characteristics of DS, can be found in the general population. They are not unique to a person with DS.

In short, this could have been your Son, Daughter, Mother, Father, Uncle or Aunt who just happens to have similar health problems, who may have simply been confused or maybe didn't understand the request made of them, maybe their English language skills were not so good, maybe they had difficulty hearing ... this could have been anyone.  The fact that Robert had DS is completely irrelevant given the methods used to remove him from the Cinema, and yet, his death is being blamed on him having Down syndrome.

Had anyone else with similar medical conditions been hog tied with three sets of hand cuffs and left to lie on the floor face down in a panicked state, they could have also died, but their death would NOT have been blamed on Down syndrome! In fact there are many incidents previously of people who have died in similar situations at the hands of others, who did not have DS.

My heart breaks for Robert, for his family and friends and for the community that had embraced him, as I hope one day will be the experience my son can fondly look forward to, but to ensure complete inclusion, we must continue to fight for the rights of those who need our support.  We must also fight for justice for Robert and ultimately ANY person who might find themselves in that same situation.

Down Syndrome Uprising has also written about this story and have started this petition.  Please sign it, take a stand for Robert and Human Rights!



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As I am in Australia, I am not sure what else I can do, but to show my support from afar which hopefully makes this an Internationally supported incident and in the hope that may help keep the fight for justice for Robert and Human Rights going world wide.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

This link will take you to information outlining what you can do!

DO IT NOW ...

There have been many people write about this tragedy, people who are parents of children with DS just like me. People who are articulate and who write heart felt words like these Make World Down Syndrome Day a Day of ACTION, Death by Down syndrome, We Stand in Solidarity, Abuse (and Murder) of People with Special Needs Has To Stop! and this The Sound of Terror.

You will excuse me if I cannot find a Happy Ending in this post, however, if Robert's killers are brought to justice, that would do it for me.

The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists
who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Justice for Women

Today is the first day of the rest of my life!

A statement that I am sure will be familiar to most ... A statement that I thought would mean, I knew what I would do next. As it turns out, for me, it is quite the opposite.

In the past I have spent so much of my time planning my behaviour, shielding people from the me that I have been bursting at the seams to be, so I sometimes forget to, well, "Just Do It", another catch phrase that will be well known lol.

I forget to simply be me. So today I got on with the last of the unpacking, the fall out of our recent house move, I got on with preparing meals for the week, I got on with tidying the house and I finally sat down with some left over shortbread and a home made cappuccino to check out the 'goings on' on Twitter ...

I had been so caught up in the stuff I had needed to do in the last couple of weeks (including celebrate with my kids the coming and going of a wonderful Christmas and the wonder of the coming in of a New Year) that I had not really paid much attention to those things external to my world.

And there it was ... the mention of a 23 year old girl in India, who had died as a result of the injuries she received during what can only be described as the most brutal gang rape I have ever heard of outside of Australia.

In Australia recently, we all grieved the loss of Jill Meagher, her death incited a nation because of the lack of safety in our streets and the continued crimes against women. Jill was raped and murdered by one man, does that make it not so bad? HELL NO!!!

Crimes against women can be found happening every day. Crimes that have been happening since the beginning of time. We can go back to our own horrific history and find names such as Anita Cobby, Janine Balding, Virginia Morse, Ebony Simpson and the list goes on.  Brutal, rapes and/or murders. Crimes against "the fairer sex".

We can analyse these crimes until we are exhausted, but there is NO good reason for them. Does that mean however, we must live in a world of hate for these perpetrators? (not all men by the way), does it mean we should become immune to the occurrence of these crimes and accept this is our history and therefore our future?

As a group, a species, a race (the human race that is), we have become far too numb to the crime that continues to take place on a daily basis in our world, our country, our state, our suburb and yes, sadly, sometimes in our homes.

We can argue we have become desensitised because of video games, it is because the news is so graphic now, the police shows we see every night on TV depict crime in such detail with their special effects that we have all come to accept these events as being a part of life, and nobody is shocked (when we should be).

We can try to guess what brings people to the place where they are capable of such crimes ... bad luck, bad breeding, no love, no discipline, mental health, drugs, alcohol, culture, etc., but we may never know, each one being so different.

When it comes down to it, I personally can't feel anything for these perpetrators. I don't hate them, I don't pity them, I don't understand them nor do I try to, nor do I want to.

I do feel compassion, love, heartbreak, sorrow and a feeling of complete helplessness to make the families of the victims feel any better, to speed their healing, to bring back their loved one, to assure them, it won't happen again, to turn back the hands of time and make it so the crime that came to their home, place of work, neighbourhood had never happened.

In the absence of magical powers, we have what is called a Justice System (well at least we do in this country) and it was this system precisely that called for public silence when Jill Meagher was killed so as to not hinder due process in the fair trial of her alleged rapist and murderer, for fear he would not be jailed.

It was with great restraint that a nation that was steaming mad, refrained from any further public comment and laid quiet, so the Justice system can do it's work. Let's pray it does.

In India, the law is not as advanced as ours is, particularly in the protection of women.

So what do we do?  We are obviously in a state of turmoil about this crime, it is in our news, it is being discussed in our social media and at times with great passion.

We do not hate the men (unless you feel you need to), we cannot judge them (unless you think you know them), but we can call for Justice, we can call for them to be held accountable, to take responsibility for their actions, for a crime that is simply WRONG and there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for; no reason in the world that can make what they did acceptable by ANY human being upon another!

I also found on Twitter tonight a Petition ... think of Petitions what you may, but beyond this blog post, I felt it was the only other thing I could do, so I have signed it; I hope you will too!
(Click on the following link and fill in your details)

http://www.change.org/en-IN/petitions/president-cji-stop-rape-now?utm_campaign=action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition

The only Happy Ending we can hope for with this, is that we can somehow make a change.

Change that will bring us all closer together as people, change that may one day mean crimes like this do actually shock us and cause us to come together as one to demand it never happens again.

What would you like to see done to bring about change and justice?