A group of Sunnyvale homeowners sued their neighbors, alleging that the "disruptive" behavior of their neighbors' autistic son created an "as-yet unquantified chilling effect on the otherwise 'hot' local real estate market" and that "people feel constrained in the marketability of their homes as this issue remains unresolved and the nuisance remains unabated."
I'd like to think that my gut-churning response to this story would have been the same had I not had similar issues with my neighbors. But I am not sure. We all take refuge in our homes, leaving the real world around us safely outside our doorstep.
I live in a small community, and my neighbors know about my son. I have personally spoken to them about our struggles and have baked them cookies to apologize for difficult nights.
The police department, too, knows about my son. Many of the officers know him personally and have had cordial relationships with him over the years. It is both surprising and shocking then, not to mention traumatic, each time the police knock on my door or show up in force outside of our house.
My son has Tourette's syndrome, a neurological condition that manifests itself by involuntary movements and vocal tics. His ticcing can be loud and disturbing. He sometimes yells things that can sound scary to the casual observer. The neighbors call the police with regularity. I suppose some of the time it is out of legitimate concern, but I suspect that most of the time they just grow tired of the noise.
Neighborhood meetings have been held without our being present to discuss what to do about our family. Demands have been made on the police chief to do something about the noise. I would not be surprised if our neighbors have contemplated filing a lawsuit against us. But these litigious yearnings are misplaced and only lead to more stress for families who are already facing often insurmountable problems.
The lack of understanding and callous disregard for the civil rights of those who struggle with neurological disabilities is not uncommon. In suburban Chicago, a condominium association filed a lawsuit to force a man with Tourette's syndrome to sell his home because they said that the noises he made disrupted their lives. In Florida, a woman whose Tourette's syndrome caused her to have facial tics and profane outbursts was kicked out of Walmart while shopping with two of her children and permanently banned from the store.
We would all like to be rid of things that disturb our quality of life. But banning people with disabilities from certain segments of society selfishly ignores that they, too, are entitled to live their own lives free of interference from their neighbors.
People who suffer from autism or Tourette's syndrome or the broad spectrum of other neurological conditions that cause people to do things involuntarily are not monsters. They are not trying to disrupt your lives. They would much prefer that their condition did not disrupt their own lives or those of their families.
It is time to stop vilifying people who do not fit neatly within a certain construct of what others define as normal and adopt the definition of neighbor that describes "one who shows kindness or helpfulness toward their fellow humans" rather than only "someone who lives nearby."
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