I wonder what everyone else thinks about this....

[NancyM]

I'm in agreement with Virgina's answer. She said everything I was thinking. I know I would consider my son's feelings before my own, and if he wasn't comfortable with it I would let him take his time to aquant himself with the boy before I even considered moving him in.

I also believe once he got to know the autistic boy he would eventually get use to him and not notice any thing different about him at all. I think it would have been a better idea to just bring them both together in normal situations, and let it happen in it's own time.

Sometimes when we try to prepare our young kids for something and they misunderstand or we over scare them, sometimes it's better to just let them work things out on their own, and only jump in if they show signs of discomfort.

I wouldn't move him in to the other household unless I knew for sure he was comfortable with it, and I would expect my partner to understand that just as she expects me to understand her point of view.

Both children should be put first IMO, I'm sure moving in with another child would be just as stressful for the autistic child as well.

 

[Mom2all]

I think that the question he asked did not have enough information to form an opinion like the article did.

He said unpredictable.. not dangerous. And he said he couldn't be left alone... but not why. I spent many hours in a group home with adults with disabilities. None of them can be left alone. Only one ever made me nervous during the years I went to play with them at the group home. They were all unpredictable.

I would not let my child dictate to me where I live. (If the boy was dangerous, I wouldn't even consider it.) But if he is just scared of the way an autistic person acts, he'd have to get over it. I intentionally made my children be around and communicate with people with disabilities so that they could learn compassion. If they didn't want to play with a kid with a problem, that was the kid I invited over. Amazingly, they always found something they liked about them with a little time. They are different. But they are human and deserve the same respect as any other human. And that can only happen if they spend time together and learn about each other.

I do not agree with you Jeremy about the father. He does seem concerned about how his son feels. But he has a right to happiness also. If the boy is not dangerous allowing the child to avoid him because he is different from him doesn't seem like good parenting to me.