New Brunswick's Shameful Treatment of Vicki's Autistic Son

New Brunswick's Shameful Treatment of Vickie's Autistic Son

By Vickie Carter:
""Hello everyone. As you all know the needs of adults with Autism are not being met in the province of New Brunswick. I did not know how dire the situation was until going through a horrible event this week with my 23yr old son.

His is diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder Not Not Otherwise Specified. He has been residing in a level 4 home since September of 2018. He has been struggling with instability on his meds for the past few weeks and was taken to the Moncton Hospital for treatment on Sunday evening by the RCMP. He was kept in emergency until 6:45 Monday morning when he was released to the street in his PJ's, sneakers and a light coat in the dark and rain. No one from emergency contacted his care home or me prior to his release. He walked about 1.5 miles to my home and luckily I had not left for work yet and was able to receive him and keep him for the day. We returned to his care home that evening and he again became aggressive and the RCMP were called again to find him as he had run away from the home and to return him once again to the Moncton Hospital for treatment. The ER doctor agreed he was very sick and admitted him on a 72hr psychiatric hold. Keep in mind this was roughly 12hrs after emergency released him to the street. He was then admitted to the psychiatric unit where he again became aggressive and police where called to diffuse the situation. At the time of the incident he spit at staff and uttered threats as well. Two of the staff pressed charges against him for his actions. I was called the next afternoon and told he would be going to court the next morning at 9:00 am to have a judge order him to be sent to Restigouche where he could be assessed for a care plan to meet his needs. I arrived in court yesterday morning to attend his hearing and no one knew anything about him coming to court. His name was not listed on any court papers for that day. The RCMP had picked him up from the Moncton Hospital at 8:30 in the morning so no one knew where he was at that time. With the help of a Crown Prosecutor we were able to locate him and he was being held in the detention center because he was to medicated to go to court in the morning. He appeared in court at around 1:00 pm and no one in the court room knew of his special needs and the Judge ordered he be sent to jail for a 5 day fitness evaluation.

The hospital had not notified his Social Worker or mental health social worker of his court hearing. I then asked to speak and advised of his diagnosis and that we tried to get him help but it was declined. She refused to send him to Restigouche and was determined to send him to jail. The crown and legal aide called her into her chambers and after much debate she agreed to send him to Restigouche instead of jail. During his court appearance I saw him in the prisoner dock in handcuffs and shackles. His face was badly bruised and his eye was swollen shut. I advised the Judge that he did not have those injuries when I saw him on Monday and she dismissed my concerns. I went to the Moncton Hospital to ask about the incident and a staff member advised the police tackled him from behind and he fell face first on the floor. I'm not a doctor but from what I could see it looked like he had been punched in the face several times. I am still waiting for a call back from the nurse manager at the psych unit to discuss the incident and the injuries to his face. My son has spent extensive periods of time on this unit and he is very well known to staff there. It is my opinion the charges were laid because they didn't want to deal with him on the unit and simply wanted to push him off to another hospital. I wasn't even informed he had charges against him until I spoke with the lawyer at court. The hospital informed me Tuesday afternoon there where no charges and he didn't hurt anyone. I am very dissapointed in the lack of care he received at the Moncton Hospital especially since his illness is very well known to them. I did speak with Restigouche this afternoon and he is doing better. They were also kind enough to allow me to speak to him directly.

I am still in shock of the events that occurred this week. I'm ashamed to call myself a New Brunswicker at this time. Shame on the government of New Brunswick!! This is abuse of our most vunerable citizens.""