It’s March 1st, which means it’s once again the International Disability Day of Mourning. This is a day dedicated to mourning the losses of disabled people who were murdered, usually by parents or caregivers, because of their disability. It’s...
It’s March 1st, which means it’s once again the International Disability Day of Mourning. This is a day dedicated to mourning the losses of disabled people who were murdered, usually by parents or caregivers, because of their disability. It’s a solemn day for the disability community, and should be a solemn day for anybody who knows what it is.
I know I’ve been pretty quiet on here lately (I’ve a super busy patch at the moment), but I intend to keep my promise of publishing the names of people murdered just because they were autistic in the last year. Grim, I know. But I want to keep memorializing these people, both as a way to pay my respects and a way to demonstrate to readers the seriousness autism advocacy. The way that society views and treats autistic people matters. It is literally life or death. We as a global community urgently need to step up.
Unfortunately, I do not have the time to do a longer write-up on the significance of the International Disability Day of Mourning. But if you would like to read more, at the end of this post I will link to the previous three posts and name lists I have done on this day as well as the International Disability Day of Mourning Website.
Please take a moment of silence and contemplation as you read these names. Here is the list of autistic people murdered by their caregivers since last year:
Hezekiah Pettiford – Age 15
Peter Cuacuas – Age 7
Name Unknown – Age 16
Jax Ponomarenko – Age 5
Name Unknown – Age 9
Brian Cotter – Age 15
Liam Husted – Age 7
Darren Henson – Age 9
Hallen McConnie – Age 15
Chelsea Hill – Age 18
Connor Hill – Age 18
Mason Weston – Age 11
Richard Wix Jr. – Age 30
Kendrick Lee – Age 8
Nicole Hall – Age 8
Cara Broyles – Age 27
Ashton Yap – Age 11
Ethan Yap – Age 11
The list is longer this year than it was last year, standing yet again as a sickening reminder that we still have a long way to go. Lives stolen simply because of neurology. Let these names never be forgotten. Let the flame burn on.
Links:
Disability Day of Mourning 2019
Disability Day of Mourning 2020
Disability Day of Mourning 2021
International Disability Day of Mourning Website and Memorial
