To the staff of Jefferson County Human Services,

Sharisa Joy Kochmeister is a gifted individual. She is remarkably talented. She is unique and inspirational. She is college educated, is quite capable of communicating with appropriate accommodations and is an advocate for the rights of autistic people. Sharisa can not communicate in the way that you are accustomed to and because of that you have deemed her to be mentally incompetent and delcared her IQ to be 47; somehow you think that gives you the authority to strip her of her basic human rights and dignity.

How can you ethically and reasonably take away a person's only method of communication and then declare them unable to communicate? What you have done is so unfair that everyone who has been involved in allowing this to happen should be ashamed of themselves and dismissed from your organisation. What you have done is akin to having a social worker with no understanding of sign language assess someone who signs to communicate and then declaring the deaf person incompetent because of the social worker's own incompetence and profound lack of compassion.

I am an autistic adult and last year I experienced something very similar to what Sharisa experienced and which led her to be admitted to hospital. I became very sick, could not hold down food and was losing weight rapidly. I was anxious, confused and hostile to most people around me, even those who care for me. I didn't know what was going on, I didn't understand what was happening to me. At one point I was questioned by a doctor while in hospital, she was asking me personal questions and had a raised voice. Her demeanour and body language, coupled with nature of her questions caused me to distrust her, I experienced sensory overload and my brain froze up. I couldn't understand her, I could not communicate and I blacked out. When I awoke a nurse was attending to me and she was kind, respectful and compassionate. Thankfully I was able to communicate with her, I stabilised and was later discharged. I was able to communicate with that nurse because I trusted her. If faced with a similar situation as Sharisa I doubt I would be able or willing to communicate with your staff, verbose as I may be. I shudder to think what might have happened to me last year if I lived in Colorado.

By removing Sharisa from the protection and care of her father you have taken away her voice. You have plunged Sharisa into an Orwellian nightmare in which she must be terrified and confused.

I would like to end with a word for Sharisa herself. 

Sharisa's Joyous Resolution

"When the tears and anger choose to subside
And make way for the joy that hides inside
I can face the world in a brand new way
Knowing each new day is a better day
And my New Year's Wish and Resolution
Is a mind and body free from pollution
Of anger, sadness, and isolation
That lead to feelings of desolation
And desperation and depression
That prevents any chance of a smooth progression
Into a future where I'll feel free
To become all that I am meant to be."

How can you possibly declare that an individual who is capable of such eloquent communication is not intelligent enough to exercise their own right to self-determination? Sharisa needs her father's assistance as interpreter to communicate and by removing that right

I hope you do the right thing. Let Sharisa's father take her home. Give her back the right to communicate. The world is watching.

Regards,

Sean Sperling and petitioners