Our son Ignatius is a beautiful five year old boy with autism. Our son is nonverbal. Recently he has been harassed and abused by a neighbor of ours. This person has insisted on shouting and banging on the floor of our home. As we have repeatedly stated to this person, these actions cause sensory overload and hurt our son. We have tried mediation and alternate ways of communication. We tried to get help from Disability Services (they don't help with civil cases) and Child Protection (we were told that they will not intervene unless the abuser is a relative). The only option left to us is to request a stop harassment order from the court.
We can only get this order if we can prove that her actions are hurting our son. As we have told our neighbor, banging and shouting hurts our son. It is an attack. It triggers sensory overload which causes him to writhe in pain and resort to self harm (he bites himself).
As stated before, our son is nonverbal. He has no way to explain the pain he is in. We are asking you to be his voice.
If you live with autism and are hypersensitive, or are the caregiver /loved one of somebody who is, please attest to the very real pain it can cause. Our little boy is suffering and we aren't sure that the testimony of two concerned parents will be enough to protect him. If we can get just ten people to sign this petition as a way of identifying themselves as witnesses of the suffering that repeated overstimulation can cause, it may show the court that our concerns are very real. That our son's pain is very real.
