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Autistic Boy Hate letter: Woman receives hate-filled letter From Neighbor

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13-year-old Max was diagnosed with severe autism when he was two and he spends his summer mornings at his grandmother's house, usually playing in the backyard

[caption id="attachment_69084" align="aligncenter" width="528"]Autistic Boy Hate letter: Ontario Family Told To Euthanize Child Autistic Boy Hate letter: Ontario Family Told To Euthanize Child[/caption]

Hate-Filled Letter Slipped Under The Door of 13-year-old Autistic Boy's Grandmother's Home

Recently, a quaint Canadian neighborhood in Oshawa Ontario was subject to an ignorant and hate-filled letter directed at the parents of a 13-year-old autistic boy Max Begley. The letter was actually received by the grandmother of Max, which is where he spends most of his summer mornings.

The letter was disgusting, to say the least. It called for Max's parents to either move away from the neighborhood or euthanize the kid so his "non retarded body parts" could be donated to science.

The most shocking part is that the hate stems from something that seems completely harmless. The author of letter reported that the noises the boy was making were disturbing her "normal" kids and were a nuisance for the entire neighborhood.

“You selfishly put your kid outside everyday and let him be a [sic] nothing but a nuisance and a problem to everyone else with that noise polluting whaling [sic] he constantly makes!!!” the anonymous letter reads. “That noise he makes when he is outside is DREADFUL!!!!!!!!!!”

The author also stated that she hated people who believed that they deserved special treatment, because they have a child with special needs. The only right thing to do, in her eyes, was to move out into the woods with their "wild animal kid" or just euthanize him immediately.

The letter is currently being investigated by the Durham Regional Police, but not much has been uncovered on the anonymous "p*#!ed off mother."

Police say, despite the hateful language used, the Crown says the letter falls below the threshold for a hate crime.

However, there are other Criminal Code issues that are being considered and an investigation is currently underway.

“Despite the hateful language used, the Crown Attorney’s office has advised that the content of the letter falls below the threshold for a hate crime. However, there are other Criminal Code issues that are being considered,” Durham Regional Police said in a statement Tuesday morning.

Max's mother, Kara Begley, suffers from the degenerative disease multiple sclerosis, so Max's grandmother has assisted in taking care of him throughout the summer. She would have never expected the short time he spent with his grandmother would have led to such hate and prejudice towards their autistic son.

The family is extremely concerned for their son's safety at this point. They hope that the culprit can be identified in the near future, even though the sanctions will probably be nothing more than a fine.

Sam DeCaria, a spokesperson for the Autism Canada Foundation finds the letter “disturbing.”

“This is not the way that the Greater Toronto Area should be going,” he said in an interview. “It should be going the other way to being more sympathetic, empathetic, more understanding, more tolerant to avoid an incident like this.”

Max's father is worried that the letter might lead to violence against his son.

'A person that's that crazy or demented who would fabricate something like that...it leads me to believe that they're very dangerous,' Jim Begley said, 'and right now I'm scared for my son's safety.

It is disconcerting that in this day and age there are still people filled with such blinding hate that they would direct their unwarranted verbal abuse at a 13-year-old boy and his family.

Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or at www.durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca.

If the writer is identified, Max's family plans to press charges.

[caption id="attachment_69085" align="aligncenter" width="634"]Sadness and anger: Max's mother Karla Begley was in tears as she read the hateful letter directed at her son Sadness and anger: Max's mother Karla Begley was in tears as she read the hateful letter directed at her son[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_69086" align="aligncenter" width="306"]13-year-old Max was diagnosed with severe autism when he was two and he spends his summer mornings at his grandmother's house, usually playing in the backyard 13-year-old Max was diagnosed with severe autism when he was two and he spends his summer mornings at his grandmother's house, usually playing in the backyard[/caption]

On The Web:
Autistic Boy Hate letter
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/disgusting-father-hate-filled-letter-euthanize-autistic-son-nuisance-article-1.1431505

'Hateful' Letter, Not Hate Crime
http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10579488

Oshawa family receives hate-filled letter directed at autistic son
http://globalnews.ca/news/789411/oshawa-family-receives-hate-filled-letter-directed-at-autistic-son/

Karen is a Toronto based writer, and has been writing full-time for eCanadaNow since May of 2011, covering many topics including politics and world issues. Prior to her work writing and editing for eCanadaNow, she worked as a freelance journalist. You can email Karen at [Karene at ecanadanow.com]

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