Autism and the Law

Joshua Robb, an eight year old child with autism has been successfully rescued after running away from his elementary school and being lost in the San Bernardino National Forest for over 24-hours. "Thank you … you saved me," were the…

A tragic situation we previously reported on involving a police encounter with a teen on the autism spectrum deserves immediate attention. On the morning of May 24, 2010, 19 year-old Reginald “Neli” Latson sat in the grass outside the…

An Autism Key reader named Laurie wrote in to update us on a heartbreaking story involving Ayn Van Dyk, a nine-year-old Canadian girl seized by authorities after being safely recovered from an autism wandering episode. Derek…

Recent reports from Disability Scoop confirm the old adage, "If something seems too good to be true, it probably is." In early July, California officials announced deals with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California under…

I'm sorry to have to provide an upsetting update from my previous article, The State vs. Autism Families. Nine-year-old Ayn Van Dyk, who was taken from her home after being safely recovered after a wandering incident, is still in the…

The story of a ten-year-old boy with severe autism being abandoned at a hospital emergency room in Florida is unfortunately not an unusual one. More and more horror stories are surfacing as families with inadequate support systems crack…

Tampa, Florida brings us an appalling case of a single mother jailed because her child with autism missed too much school. Non-verbal and prone to disrupting class, the son attended half-days at his elementary school. His mother would…

Following up on a story we reported on in May, Yvonne Freaney, a UK mother who killed her 11-year-old son with severe autism, has been allowed to walk free by Justice Wyn Williams this past week. This comes after initially being cleared of…

A truly disheartening story has emerged from Queens, New York where Bellerose residents are saying “not in my backyard” to an Astoria nonprofit’s plan to set up a group home for young adults with autism in their neighborhood. Apparently,…

A series of disturbing news stories paints a grim picture of the State's intervention in the families of individuals with autism. Perhaps the most harrowing case emerged from The Detroit Free Press, who recently published a six-part…