Disability rights advocates said kids like Ty should not be getting arrested under Tennessee’s school threats law. And they tried to push for a broader exception for kids with other kinds of disabilities. It didn’t work.
When Ty’s mom got the phone call that her son was going to be arrested, she said it was her worst fear come true: Her son’s autism was mistaken for a threat. “Once you looked at his backpack, if there was nothing in there to hurt anyone, then why did you handcuff my 13-year-old autistic son who didn’t understand what was going on and take him down to juvenile?” she said.
Why indeed.