Does anyone care that the person mentioned in the article, a person with an intellectual/social disability was just killed by police violence for no reason? I know that a mentally troubled person in Toronto was recently the victim of police brutality because they were acting unusual and the responders didn't know how to deal with it. People attack what they don't understand.
I'm so disturbed that it's 2020 and people with disabilities and/or mental illnesses are still horribly marginalized or left to roam wild without proper help. Ignoring those who are incapable of self-care or who struggle with social/intellectual impairments pretty much gives police permission to do what they feel might be best in crisis situations even if it's dehumanizing. The resources to help said individuals are stretched pretty thin and the privately wealthy can't be bothered to lend a helping hand, nor can a lot of middle-classers. God forbid a 'normal' actually learn something valuable from a person who is socially/intellectually unique.
Where are the marches and events to help 'normals' understand that people like me also matter? There has been a LOT of violence by police and 'normals' against people with intellectual/social disabilities over the years and what exactly is being done about it? People with disabilities are people too and we deserve to be treated with respect and regarded with the same levels of dignity and kindness as 'normal' individuals. When are people like me going to actually matter to society instead of being seen as incapable?
I get that there are a few out there who absolutely need legal boundaries because they cannot safely function on their own, but myself and so many other high-functioning adults are unfairly marginalized in multiple ways. We see the world in a unique way, but we are capable of seeing. We handle emotions and people differently too, but we are capable of expressing emotions and interacting with others. Why do people with autism or those on the spectrum get forgotten or willfully ignored? Am I wrong in starting such a discussion?
