Ruth Johnston

My son is 38 now, so he's a little older. Nobody was identifying autistic unless they were can or autism back then. And so he wasn't identified till he was a teenager and never had services and things like that. I never had the experience of being the parent in the IEP meeting and working with it. I homeschooled him and we just dealt with the bumps. I love him dearly.

My son is 38 now, so he's a little older. Nobody was identifying autistic unless they were can or autism back then. And so he wasn't identified till he was a teenager and never had services and things like that. I never had the experience of being the parent in the IEP meeting and working with it. I homeschooled him and we just dealt with the bumps. I love him dearly.

My son is 38 now, so he's a little older. Nobody was identifying autistic unless they were can or autism back then. And so he wasn't identified till he was a teenager and never had services and things like that. I never had the experience of being the parent in the IEP meeting and working with it. I homeschooled him and we just dealt with the bumps. I love him dearly.

And it was on the one side, it was great delight. And on the other side, sheer terror and misery. because he was not easy. And when he was 13, we started to see the onset of, that's something I should talk about, what it looked like for him to start to get schizophrenia, because it took at least 10 years to know that's what it was. That's important.

And it was on the one side, it was great delight. And on the other side, sheer terror and misery. because he was not easy. And when he was 13, we started to see the onset of, that's something I should talk about, what it looked like for him to start to get schizophrenia, because it took at least 10 years to know that's what it was. That's important.

And it was on the one side, it was great delight. And on the other side, sheer terror and misery. because he was not easy. And when he was 13, we started to see the onset of, that's something I should talk about, what it looked like for him to start to get schizophrenia, because it took at least 10 years to know that's what it was. That's important.

I look at the parents who have autistic kids and I almost have a bad attitude because there's an overwhelming sense of we're going to take this school to court. We're going to make sure everything is perfect. You're going to do all of these things. And I'm thinking when they turn 18 and some of them get schizophrenia, you're not going to know what hit you because the legal system is not like that.

I look at the parents who have autistic kids and I almost have a bad attitude because there's an overwhelming sense of we're going to take this school to court. We're going to make sure everything is perfect. You're going to do all of these things. And I'm thinking when they turn 18 and some of them get schizophrenia, you're not going to know what hit you because the legal system is not like that.

I look at the parents who have autistic kids and I almost have a bad attitude because there's an overwhelming sense of we're going to take this school to court. We're going to make sure everything is perfect. You're going to do all of these things. And I'm thinking when they turn 18 and some of them get schizophrenia, you're not going to know what hit you because the legal system is not like that.

It's not at all like that. And basically what I'm advocating for in my county is is that now our state law permits us to set up an assisted outpatient treatment program. And what that does is it permits treatment to be civil court mandated based on evidence that's not just danger. Pennsylvania, for any other kind of mandated treatment, they have to meet a danger standard.

It's not at all like that. And basically what I'm advocating for in my county is is that now our state law permits us to set up an assisted outpatient treatment program. And what that does is it permits treatment to be civil court mandated based on evidence that's not just danger. Pennsylvania, for any other kind of mandated treatment, they have to meet a danger standard.

It's not at all like that. And basically what I'm advocating for in my county is is that now our state law permits us to set up an assisted outpatient treatment program. And what that does is it permits treatment to be civil court mandated based on evidence that's not just danger. Pennsylvania, for any other kind of mandated treatment, they have to meet a danger standard.

You tell someone with an autistic kid that they've just shepherded through school, they think everything's going better, Levi was starting college and he suddenly couldn't concentrate. He wasn't interested. And eventually he's in the legal system. And you're told, you're literally told, Mrs. Mother, there's nothing we can do. You have to wait for something to happen and hope it's not very bad.

You tell someone with an autistic kid that they've just shepherded through school, they think everything's going better, Levi was starting college and he suddenly couldn't concentrate. He wasn't interested. And eventually he's in the legal system. And you're told, you're literally told, Mrs. Mother, there's nothing we can do. You have to wait for something to happen and hope it's not very bad.

You tell someone with an autistic kid that they've just shepherded through school, they think everything's going better, Levi was starting college and he suddenly couldn't concentrate. He wasn't interested. And eventually he's in the legal system. And you're told, you're literally told, Mrs. Mother, there's nothing we can do. You have to wait for something to happen and hope it's not very bad.

And in our case, when something happened, it was that he killed my mother while she was eating breakfast. That's pretty bad. Meanwhile, you have reams of evidence that things are bad. None of it matters.

And in our case, when something happened, it was that he killed my mother while she was eating breakfast. That's pretty bad. Meanwhile, you have reams of evidence that things are bad. None of it matters.

And in our case, when something happened, it was that he killed my mother while she was eating breakfast. That's pretty bad. Meanwhile, you have reams of evidence that things are bad. None of it matters.

That's exactly what it is. It's instead of waiting for them to get dangerous and fall into the criminal system. Instead, you have a process that you could go through a civil court. And in a sense, it's mandating them to have treatment. In another sense, we can look at it as it's mandating the county not to just conveniently let them fall through the cracks.

That's exactly what it is. It's instead of waiting for them to get dangerous and fall into the criminal system. Instead, you have a process that you could go through a civil court. And in a sense, it's mandating them to have treatment. In another sense, we can look at it as it's mandating the county not to just conveniently let them fall through the cracks.