By Jennie
An anonymous letter slipped under the door of the grandmother of a 13-year-old autistic boy in Ontario, Canada has ignited an internet firestorm. The letter, breathtaking in its cruelty and inhumanity, reads:
“To the lady living at this address:
I also live in this neighborhood and have a problem!!! You have a kid that is mentally handicapped and you consciously decided that it would be a good idea to live in a close proximity neighborhood like this???? You selfishly put your kid outside everyday and let him be a nothing but a nuisance and a problem to everyone else with that noise polluting whaling he constantly makes!!! That noise he makes when he is outside is DREADFUL!!!!!!!!!! It scares the hell out of my normal children!!!!!!! When you feel your idiot kid needs fresh air, take him to our park you dope!!! We have a nature trail!! Let him run around those places and make noise!!!!!! Crying babies, music and even barking dogs are normal sounds in a residential neighborhood!!!!! He is NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is a hindrance to everyone and will always be that way!!!!! Who the hell is going to care for him?????? No employer will hire him, no normal girl is going to marry/love him and you are not going to live forever!! Personally, they should take whatever non retarded body parts he possesses and donate it to science. What the hell else good is he to anyone!!! You had a retarded kid, deal with it…properly!!!!! What right do you have to do this to hard working people!!!!!!! I HATE people like you who believe, just because you have a special needs kid, you are entitled to special treatment!!! GOD!!!!!!
Do everyone in our community huge a favor and MOVE!!!! VAMOSE!!! SCRAM!!!! Move away and get out of this type of neighborhood setting!!! Go live in a trailer in the woods or something with your wild animal kid!!! Nobody wants you living here and they don’t have the guts to tell you!!!!!
Do the right thing and move or euthanize him!!! Either way, we are ALL better off!!!
Sincerely,
One pissed off mother!!!!!”
Apparently the boy plays outside of his grandmother’s house most weekends. It’s not hard to imagine that the child, whose name is Max, may sometimes be irritatingly loud or obnoxious (children do tend to be that way, at times), but it’s hard to understand the anger and hostility that the letter-writer harbors, as well as the fact that she feels comfortable spewing that anger and hatred out at the world, even if she does choose to remain anonymous.
Max’s mother says she feels threatened by the letter and has contacted the local police, who are investigating. Meanwhile, as the letter went viral (a photocopy was tweeted by friends of the family who are apparently Youtube-famous musicians), the local community has rallied around Max; about 100 people showed up at the house on Sunday to express support for the boy and disgust with the “pissed off mother.” Many are hoping that the letter-writer will be exposed, something that would undoubtedly have a very negative effect on the “mother” and his/her life (I take with a grain of salt the claims that the letter writer makes to being female and a mother; they may or may not be true). Just a reminder that even when you go the old fashioned route, and slip a note under someone’s door, you can still become internet-infamous if your behavior is egregious enough. The letter-writer could also use a refresher on The Golden Rule and perhaps some anger-management classes. Oh, and investing in some cheap earplugs wouldn’t hurt her, either.
Jennie has contributed to Imperfect Women since its inception in 2009. She writes about politics, celebrity news, and anything else that catches her interest.
Why are people so freaking cruel! He’s a kid! Disgusting. Whoever wrote that letter should be ashamed of themselves.
She is ashamed. She didn’t sign it.
She should be the one that moves.
She should be exposed for the hateful pretendy human being that she is!
I wonder about our society these days. I hope someone rats out the anonymous letter writer.
This kind of ignorance just disgusts me and angers me. I will never understand what gives some the right to discriminate against others. My heart goes out to this family for having to deal with such toxic neighbors. Hopefully, these neighbors can be educated and change their bigotry to tolerance.
This story made me so mad, that letter writer has no idea what a family goes through with a child who is autistic, they can play and scream and get excited just like other children. Shame on the writer, hopefully they have seen what was exposed about their ways in the neighborhood.
I will never understand such small minded people. There is nothing wrong with that child and he can do what ever he pleases. She needs to move are rear our of that neighborhood.
This really upset me because I’m a mom of an autistic son. He knows he’s different because he’s been teased at school by classmates etc but for a grown woman to do something like this is totally obnoxious and uncalled for. I hope they find her!!! Yes our children are different from the norm but they’re still just children. She needs an education on what it is to be autistic.
Some people are total idiots. They feel bad about themselves so they have to go around trying to make everyone else feel bad too. One bad apple can spoil the whole bag.
I watched the news story a few days ago. So sad, now there are rumors also going around that people are saying this is all a hoax put on to spread autism awareness. This world is not going to get any better, just worse.
Oh my gosh, this makes me cry! How can someone be so mean and heartless! I am speechless and I wish nothing good for the person that wrote the letter! The way he/she talks is disgusting.
I have heard rumors on our Facebook page that this is a hoax also. If anyone has a direct link to a story confirming that, please post it.
I heard about this on the news. Horrible horrible crime if you ask me. The ‘anonymous” letter writer is a coward for not talking to the grandmother. The writer has serious anger issues and needs help. I agree with the mom, it is a threatening letter. I hope the police or social services do something.
I almost wish it is a hoax because I cannot imagine something so sad.
I’ve seen this around and I cannot believe someone would be so callous as to write that! Honestly I really hope they are ashamed of themselves and bet of luck to this lady and her I’m sure lovely boy.
I do hope this is a hoax. To cause so much pain to the boy and his family is so sad. People have no respect for others anymore.
This has me very very angry! How could someone do such a thing! I mean really! I have many friends that have autistic children and other special needs and I must say that while they are “different’ they are perfect and wonderful! They have the ability to show more love and acceptance than anyone else I know!
Whatever the ultimate outcome is (if there is indeed a letter writer, if that person is found, if it’s a hoax, etc.), hopefully, something good will come out of this. For Max and for other special needs kids and their families. Yes, let’s all start with the Golden Rule.
WOW as a mother of a child that grew up with issues I am completely dumbfounded by this woman/person’s hate. How can you be that vicious? Euthanize him? I could say the same for her!!!
I saw this the other day too. It is sickening to me that people are so cruel. It really leaves a deep pit in my stomach. I hope they do find the person that wrote that and throw the book at her.
This is just sick. As a mother of a potentially autistic son this saddens me greatly. I mean if my son does get the diagnoses there is so much hate out in the world that we would both have to deal with and its absolutely horrifying. I hope they find the person behind this letter because she deserves to be exposed and prosecuted.
What a shame for the family who received this letter. I am so sad for them.
My son is Autistic, and that letter made me SO angry. The coward who wrote it is a spineless jellyfish, not even fit to be called human, let alone “mother.” This sickens me – and I refuse to believe that I’d be as gracious as the family has been. I’d be checking people’s handwriting like a senior detective – because the letter was typed but the envelope it came in was not. I’d go nuts trying to find this hateful person!
I have worked with children with autism for several years, although the children look just like everyone else’s kids they are not. Small things like going out for dinner, a trip to the amusement park, or many other common things that most of us take for granted they often face embarrassment and criticism from people who just don’t get it. This is really a shame I hope the writer gets and education on sensitivity…fast!
The thing that angers me the most about this letter is that the person who wrote it wasn’t interested in opening a dialogue and finding a reasonable solution, but instead was a coward trying to bully someone. People who have the strength of their convictions are proud to proclaim them and stand behind them. The anonymous letter indicates the writer knew she was wrong but hoped to get her way through intimidation anyway.
I had not heard of this. Thanks for writing this Jennie.
How awful. This person would have been a very good Nazi supporting Hitler’s final solution. No compassion, no empathy, what an empty soul she is. Whoever wrote the letter is the one who has the wasted life. I just can’t believe the words in that letter.
If it is a hoax, it’s an awful one.
I really cannot believe that a women wrote this letter. Most women, especially mothers, are very sympathetic to the plight of the autistic child and their parents/caregivers. If this is a women, she is probably single and does not know motherly love. So whoever it is in that neighborhood is single. If it is a man, he is single and unfeeling as well because they don’t have maternal/paternal instincts. Whoever wrote this should be terribly ashamed. Not only does it show ignorance, it shows a lack of common decency and brotherly love. Instead of criticizing, that person could have offered assistance, but that also goes back to maternal instincts.