March 1st, 2014 was a day of mourning. Vigils, organized by self-advocates and allies, took place across the country to mourn the loss of people with disabilities murdered by their families or caregivers. This tradition, still in its early years, seeks to memorialize victims of a long-standing atrocity. A list of known murder cases (see below for full list) reaching back to only 1993 contains more than 100 names. Since last year’s Day of Mourning, ten more names have been added to the list.

One of these vigils was held at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley, CA. The event was the product of efforts by Jessie Lorenz and Peter Mendoza of the Independent Living Resource Center in San Francisco (ILRC), Mark Romoser of the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center (SVILC), Brent White of Ala Costa Adult Transition program (ACAT), and activists Rob Gross and Corbett O’Toole. It was the largest gathering in the country, with just over fifty people in attendance. Walking up to the site, one could see large posters listing the names of those lost with the statement, “Mourn for the Dead, but Fight like Hell for the Living.”

A Narrative of “Mercy”

The names are not well-known to most. These murders did not produce the public outrage and media frenzy typical in murder cases of able-bodied victims like Caylee Anthony or Benjamin Yhip. In the overarching narrative of disability in this country, parents and caregivers are framed as heroes and martyrs for the terrific “burden” they must carry. When filicide is committed, the rhetoric of having “freed” their child or committed an “act of mercy” is embedded in the scant news stories produced.

Tracy Latimer is the first name on the list. In 1993, Robert Latimer killed Tracy, then 12 years old with cerebral palsey, by putting her inside his truck and gassing her. Latimer confessed to planning the killing and contemplating multiple ways in which he would carry it out, but was still convicted of second-degree murder. He served roughly ten years in prison – less than what many states in the U.S. require for manslaughter convictions. Many Canadians felt his sentence was overly-harsh, and that Tracy’s was a “compassionate-killing.” Latimer had “saved” her from a life of immobility and difficulty.

Alex Spourdalakis, an autistic 14 year old in Illinois, was stabbed multiple times in the chest by his mother and godmother, and then fed an overdose of sleeping pills. In a show of bringing attention to the issue, CBS shot a piece called “Behind the Tragedy: Mother Murders Autistic Son.” The documentary cites the severity of Alex’s autism and the amount of care that he needed as justification for his murder. Despite statements by the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network condemning the media’s misrepresentation of the case, and a petition of over 2,000 signatures on change.org, this video is still available to watch on CBS’s website and other outlets.

A Life Lived Fully with Disability

The deaths of Tracy and Alex were tragedies – their lives were not. In order to prevent future abuse and murder we must stop seeing disability as tragedy. Instead, we can see natural human variation, diversity, and life capable of being lived fully. These murders were not justifiable as “acts of compassion” or manifestations of a “great burden.” The people killed were denied a worthy life by an act of hatred and fear.

Of the fifty or more people who came to the Berkeley vigil, many spoke of their feelings of grief, anger, and being largely misunderstood. Brent White, an autistic person who designed and directs ACAT, remembers his first experience seeing an autistic child portrayed on television about 25 years ago,

“He was portrayed as this feral kid – incapable of loving or caring about his family – and violent.”

He says that personally, his identifying openly as autistic is important in changing this perception,

“There’s an idea that there are no autistic adults. It’s important that people who are autistic identify that way, and understand that there’s a spectrum, and a huge range of capabilities.”

Making a Change

How do we step away from the perception that a disabled person’s life is one of suffering and tragedy? How do we perpetuate the reality: that a person with a disability struggles, succeeds, creates, loves, and lives a fully human existence different from, but no less worthy than, those of able-bodied peers?

I am an able-bodied person at this time in my life. I have not lived the experience of disability, and therefore must defer to others for ideas and expertise. But as allies and people who believe broadly in social justice and human rights, we have a responsibility to listen and to help change the narrative to one that reflects the inherent value of life and a shared humanity.

So what can we do? We can educate ourselves: through blogs, newsletters, members of our communities, and other first person accounts. We can support visibility by increasing access to businesses and public spaces. We can take steps toward greater inclusion in policy-making and the work-force. Working with self-advocacy networks and members of the disability community, everyone must, “Fight like Hell for the Living.”

Heather Yaden (Rutgers University) Heather is a 2011 Rutgers–New Brunswick alumni with a degree in Psychology and Cognitive Science. She currently lives in Oakland, CA and works as a team member of Ala Costa Adult Transition program in Berkeley, CA. ACAT supports self-determination, independence, and empowerment in young adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities through teaching community engagement and life skills. She is passionate about social justice and class issues: feminism, queer theory, disability rights, diversity, equality and the intersections of identity. Check out her twitter @HdAvery.

—————————

List of Known Murder Cases Commemorated

in the Day of Mourning 2014