Autism and the Law: Boy’s Incarceration Reveals Failures of the System
December 4, 2017
By: Courtney Astolfi
Source: Disability Scoop
NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio — Ehren Jackson didn’t understand why he was locked up in the Lorain County Detention Home for five days. He just knew that he wanted to go home.
The 14-year-old North Ridgeville boy stands nearly 6-feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. But with an autism diagnosis and an IQ of 47, he functions at the level of a young child. He now faces felony criminal charges that he doesn’t comprehend.
“He knows he did something that is considered wrong…to put him in this place,” his attorney, David Berta said. “Beyond that, all he kept asking for is ‘I just want to come home today, Mom. I love you, can I come home?’”
Ehren was placed in the detention home following a Thanksgiving Day outburst at his family’s house. He tried to hurt himself, ran away, and kicked officers when they tried to bring him back home.
His case illustrates…