Thank You and Now to Prep for Trial, I guess. The bad news is, there were no pleasant surprises in today's court hearing for Paul. There is a glimmer of hope that the judge will allow Paul to go to the Lakemary residential program while awaiting trial. We will know after a final arraignment next week. http://www.lakemaryctr.org/ Good news is that Paul's story is getting wider publicity. On the petition, I will estimate that no more than 10% of comments suggest that Paul's case and cases like his have any merit or good purpose. To the small army of supporters who have signed the petition, THANK YOU! Here is the link to the petition should you choose to share. https://www.change.org/p/our-autistic-son-s-symptoms-are-not-a-crime?recruiter=59092554&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink Our deep gratitude to Monterey Herald's Education Writer, Claudia Melendez Salinas, who was present in court today, has placed this story on more breakfast tables than before, and enabled the story to spiral viral from there. A quick search on Google and Paul's story was in the San Jose Mercury News and some other news sources. http://www.montereyherald.com/social-affairs/20160122/marina-autistic-teen-to-face-criminal-trial#disqus_thread http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_29419131/case-monterey-autistic-teen-criminal-behavior-or-failure?source=infinite-up http://sanjose.suntimes.com/sj-news/7/144/154338/case-of-monterey-autistic-teen-criminal-behavior-or-failure-of-system Thanks also to Mary Duan of the Monterey County Weekly. She broke the story in December, continues a staunch vigilance, and has our gratitude for her kind and positive support. The image of the nude Yoga teacher on this week's cover of the weekly, will probably triple circulation of the Weekly and help spread Paul's future stories that much more. Oh, would you like the link? Here it is: http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/eedition/page-cover/page_7ea54dd7-b476-5da7-b694-1a83f4d0cd63.html I anticipate a deeper relationship between my family and Jill Escher of the San Francisco Chapter of the Autism Society of America. Jill has suggested a March on Monterey, which, I had hoped would be unnecessary, but, now, sounds like a good idea. Jill has been staunchly supportive of a cause she easily could have shirked since, we do not actually live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Below is a link to Jill's blog, which itself contains a link to her excellent letter to the DA. http://www.sfautismsociety.org/blog/update-on-gordo-criminal-case-in-monterey-county#comments Thank you, Jill. Also, please read the comment (taken from the comment section of the above blog) by my good friend and former colleague, John Ryan, who has worked in special education in several states. When John says California is among the worst for people with disabilities, believe it. John is, without doubt, one the best and most highly qualified educators with whom I ever had the privilege to work. "I have worked with people with autism since 1989 in Massachusetts, North Carolina, and California. I have trained at Westfield State University, Syracuse University, Harvard, MIT, Boston University, and Brown University. After ten years in California, I believe the state to be among the worst at dealing with people with severe disabilities. Isolation is the primary response of the education system. Once these people turn 22, they are put on a path to nowhere or to jail. And no one seems to care about what happens to these individuals as long as the cost is low. I have never encountered more destructive discrimination anywhere. The legal system here reflects the systems of the deep south during Jim Crow- all is fair as long as "those people" do not become free to experience life as do other, "non-disabled people". Any discussion of inclusion of students devolves into diatribes about how that will negatively impact the education and life experiences of others despite years of research detailing the opposite. Truth is ignored in favor of emotional responses. Any changes attempted within the educational or legal systems are summarily discounted or attacked in witch-hunting fashion. And our jails and prisons become more overrun with mentally challenged individuals who receive little or no appropriate care. This must change. I hope the District Attorney for Monterey County drops the charges against Paul Gordo rather than waste the court's time pursuing a case that will not prevail in the end. The IDEA and ADA are clearly at odds with the charges. It is time for reason and law to prevail over emotion and revenge." -John Ryan Thanks go to: Tom McMahon, our first criminal defense attorney, who took Paul's case with passion and a personal interest. Daniel Shaw, our special education attorney, who has contributed countless, uncompensated hours of help and advice. And, Tom Worthington, our current criminal defense attorney, could not have had shorter notice (the day before the preliminary hearing) and took Paul's case as more than a job, but a cause. All three of these barristers prove that there are ethical, passionate people practicing the law with a mission of helping people. I must apologize to my friends and family who work the other side of the criminal justice system, but I just will never again see the whole process as cut and clean. What is happening to Paul is clearly not what is meant by the virtue of "blind justice." All three of these lawyers and their firms have my highest regard and recommendation. http://www.rudermanknox.com/ http://worthingtonlawcentre.com/ http://margolinlawrence.com/ Our gratitude goes out to Aspiranet, San Andreas Regional Center (SARC), and Crisis Response Program, as all three of these agencies, while certainly not the only ones helping Paul have been especially helpful in helping Paul make progress with his behavior, not to mention helping Paul cope with what amounts to torture for someone with autism. In other words, being required to be in court and asked to account for behavior that occurred in a moment of panic is torture for Paul. These people are in some ways the difference between Paul dealing with this nightmare and completely regressing. http://www.aspiranet.org/ http://www.sanandreasregional.org/ Finally, to all the family and friends that have been there for Paul. Paul loves you and he really does feel your spirit. Sometimes he carries those thoughts to give him courage. My sister-in-law, Peggy Keirn, deserves note for driving some 45 minutes each way to be at each and every appearance of Paul in court. My sister-in-law, Connie Bauer; my brother Bruce Gordo, his wife and my sister-in-law, Debbie; my sister Pam Kellstrom and her husband Scott Kellstrom all have taken time to be there for Paul and it makes a huge difference. Well, clearly, we are not done. Here are comments from the Monterey County DA's office are quoted in a Monterey Herald update by Claudia Melendez Salinas and my posted comment on the same section. "Assistant District Attorney Jenine Pacioni said Steve Gordo’s statements do not concur with the evidence presented during the preliminary hearing. “We’re not prosecuting autism, we’re not blaming autism for his behavior,” she said. “This is a crime of violence committed against an innocent woman. We need to protect the public by making sure criminal behavior is prosecuted.”" My posted comment from the comment section on the same page: PaulsDad • 2 hours ago "I am Steve Gordo. Our insurance company is reaching out to the family, but it is the school's insurance that should have from the beginning. We believe a civil remedy should be all that's needed to make the injured woman whole. He was at the library for a school event. His behavior is exactly why he was awaiting a residential therapy program. It is our understanding that the woman sustained no permanent injury. No one was happy about this, but for our son to be put through this has been sickening. I must disagree with the DA's office. Paul's behavior is documented by education and behavior experts to be an unmet need that is directly caused by his disability, autism. It is for this unmet need, he was awaiting a placement in a costly residential therapy program. It is because of his autism that, though he is 18, he cannot enter into a contract, vote, choose where he lives, choose with whom he is intimate, but he can be held accountable for behavior that was triggered in an environment beyond his choosing or control? No, I am sorry, but the DA's office can say they are not prosecuting Paul for his autism, only if they willfully ignore reams of evidence that have been delivered to them. If they have lost the documentation, they may contact our attorney for duplicates. Monterey County DA's office has not been without some compassion and has assured us that jail time is "off the table." We thank them for this, however, yes, you are calling behavior that directly results from my son's autism, criminal. You are criminalizing autism and, unwittingly, making a glaring example of institutional "ableism." Honestly, a civil suit was expected, but this? I would have fought against a misdemeanor, but at present it is a strike felony, plus a misdemeanor we believe was added on, later, for good measure. To give you perspective, the strike felony "with great bodily harm," is the same degree of assault as done by the character in the film American History X, where a man's jaw was deliberately broken against a curb. My son, by contrast, knocked over an admittedly innocent woman, while in a state of panic and as though fleeing a burning building. How are these the same quality of "crime," if we must pretend my son's actions were criminal? We will thank all for their support on our petition for Paul at: https://www.change.org/p/our-a..." http://www.montereyherald.com/social-affairs/20160122/marina-autistic-teen-to-face-criminal-trial#disqus_thread So, Monterey County and the court both hold that autism behaviors can not only be criminal, but felonies. Okay. This and too many other cases cry out for legal reform. This will never stop. It is just a matter of time before nearly every person with autism could find themselves in this situation. The DA nor the judge have mentioned Sandy Hook, but one must wonder if that event emboldens their willingness to profile people with ASD. When they see my son, who weighs the same as an NFL lineman, says horrible things he does not act on, do they see just another Sandy Hook shooter in the making? We must be strong and not allow our natural tendency to apologize for our child's disability guide us to the easiest way out. Enough. We will generate a call to action, but for now, we must recover and overcome our disbelief.