I have to say I found the presser very compelling, allowing me to take a step back. The description of what occured seems very credible to me. I also found it compelling that this is the first time I have seen the beginning of the video, wherein the child is extremely agiated, and as I have personally experienced, when agitated can be be quite freightening.
So they drive up, see him yelling at the caretaker, it would fit that they perceived it the way they did. There was , also, true, that you cant really hear what he is yelling to cops, so all they see is two people that appear to be yelling, they think it is a gun, and a guy is laying on the street with his hands up, which could also , from afar be percieved as his hands were up as a result of the child having a gun and told him to lie down and put his hands up.
There is IMO something confusing about the "I dont know" comment by the officer, and the commander being disciplined.
Just mo but it does make sense. It remain sad, casue in reality the victim here is the child. From working with the population , I had fears that the truck being removed from him would was not a good idea.
He was already extemely agititated, and all that activity, yelling, cars speeding up, loud noises of three shots, blood, ambulances, seeing his friend being removed when at the point it was the only familliar thing he had left when extremly agitated.
I am grateful he did not blow out - at the scene- that could have made it more a disaster.
It is somewhat bothersome however, that even after it was over, when the cops came to the location to handcuff that with both the caretakers explaination face to face , in conjunction with the childs behavior, even at the startion, not to have "caught" on to the reality of the entire sitution is IMO not ok.
This child, (he was placed, really hard to find a bed - acuity has to be intense, to get a bed.
I have a friend who has a higly functioning autistic son, the three of us would go to theatre together, and people in restuarants and in the theatre freuquently stared. My point here is Taylor is much higher functioning, and people knew instantly that he was different, so the inability of the cops not be calling he a nut job or whatever horrible word they used in the article is super repullsive to me.
I get cops are not trained in the field - but protocol for cops, I think , when dealing with nut jobs (there words whatever certainly NOT mine) is to transport to psyc unit, not have the poor kid sitting in a room , that he has never been in (totally traumatzing to an individual suffering with autism, with a bunch of strangers, everything is now worse, his truck is gone, and he is alone IMO that part of the story is the real tradegy here.
In addition, in the climate today, down the road this could be dangerous for him. It blood, guns,shooting,hate cops, get stuck in his head, for a peroid of time, making outbursts with that set of words loudly uttered could be more tradegy.
The notion that staff has resigned indicated to me moo, that the facility had been understaffed for some time, staff had been complaining, the acutity of the setting, is really hard stuff.
In psyc hospital as well, a loud take down can excasberate a whole unit. In that setting most of the time, (pure mental illiness) you could tell that someone was going to escalate. Increased pacing, louder voice, more gesturing etc, so you could most of the time, move the other pts to a safer place before a pt would go totally off.
But even in that cirsumstance, taking someone down, is very serious (rights) and the pt had better be extradinaily agitated, loud, threatening, atttmpting to be hurting staff or another pt before a take down could be implemented. And you had better document the heck out of it .
Anyone in seculsion, has to have one staff member within 10 feet from them at all times, and every 15 minutes that had to be documented. But, unless they had a standing order for meds, and had to wait to get the order , in seclusion really really loud, so the unit itself continues to get more agitated. There were some scary times guys!
We had another unit, so back and forth we could call a code, and other staff from the other unit would run over , or vice a versa to supplement staff. It was def worse on weekends, when there were just less people around. Even admit folks, admin, could just be a help in just coming on the unit and being there.
I feel for the child, and possibly the only postive outcome might be he would get a much placement in better group home. But that too, for this population, has a whole host of problems. They do not transiton from one setting or activity to another easily. So all new pts, and all new staff, a new bed and room, different food, can be another whole horror for this poor kid.
But jmo, if he could get into better staffed and secure setting that would , hopefully, in time, be a bright spot in this whole mess. But notice, he got transferred out of inpt quickly, and back to the less secure group home quck. 35 Years ago moo he would have been able to stay in-pt much longer so he could stablize somewhat.
Sadly, I think the child is going to have some more trips back and forth to in-pt in the next several weeks- if they could just folks that need that setting for an approriate peroid of time, it is just so much easier for the pt. Back in my day , hold on, average length of stay (private hospital) was 4 WEEKS - and folks could get thier meds stablized, be given them at the right time and dose etc etc.
Nodays inpt is 23 hours for commerical insurance - if it goes into 24 hours the inusrnace has to pay for another day, so insurance does everything they can to have them thrown out 23 hours after admit - its repulsive, cruel, and flat out dumb. It ends up , in the long run , costing inusrnace more - becasue the poor pt was thrown out in reality, no better shape. So, in three days they were back for another 23 hours, another ambulance ride, more trauma for the pt, hospitals bill for the actual admit, and the actual discharge.
If they would let them stay they would only pay for one admit, one ambulance ride, one discharge, and the lilihood that they would not need to be readmitted so quickly would save them money in the long run. Its a pitiful system - became horrid when HMOs came online.
But then there is always money, and bed availbilty that comes knocking right around the corner.....
moo Sorry for the babble- this stuff obviouly really bugs me
TY for listening!!
