[Tozzie]

oh dear, I wasn't trying to brand him that way, I was genuinly worried, but think of me as you wish. I am not so immature as to try sway peoples votes to get Dexter to win, its a TV show for goodness sake. If Dexter wins, thats good, if he doesn't it won't be the end of the world, I'll still think he was my number one anyway. I'm sorry if I offended you, it appears I did by my concern.

[Johnnyuk123]

Originally Posted by Tozzie

oh dear, I wasn't trying to brand him that way, I was genuinly worried, but think of me as you wish. I am not so immature as to try sway peoples votes to get Dexter to win, its a TV show for goodness sake. If Dexter wins, thats good, if he doesn't it won't be the end of the world, I'll still think he was my number one anyway. I'm sorry if I offended you, it appears I did by my concern.

Just ignore them. You've not done anything wrong.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Tozzie

oh dear, I wasn't trying to brand him that way, I was genuinly worried, but think of me as you wish. I am not so immature as to try sway peoples votes to get Dexter to win, its a TV show for goodness sake. If Dexter wins, thats good, if he doesn't it won't be the end of the world, I'll still think he was my number one anyway. I'm sorry if I offended you, it appears I did by my concern.

Wasn't referring to your posts m'dear. It isn't the discussing of callum's mental state that I have a problem with per se. It's the constant jokes about bodies under the patio that play on the idea that someone with a mental illness or instability is dangerous. It's when someone says yes, they think he is mentally ill, and therefore he is dangerous. It's the routine conflation of 'psychotic' with 'psychopathic'.

It's done in humour mostly, but we live in a world where a person with severe learning disabilities, or with a mental illness like schizophrenia is likely to face serious and violent abuse or attack because of their mental state.

[Im_Juz_ChiLLin]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Wasn't referring to your posts m'dear. It isn't the discussing of callum's mental state that I have a problem with per se. It's the constant jokes about bodies under the patio that play on the idea that someone with a mental illness or instability is dangerous. It's when someone says yes, they think he is mentally ill, and therefore he is dangerous. It's the routine conflation of 'psychotic' with 'psychopathic'.

It's done in humour mostly, but we live in a world where a person with severe learning disabilities, or with a mental illness like schizophrenia is likely to face serious and violent abuse or attack because of their mental state.

huh where are your facts for such statements?

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Im_Juz_ChiLLin

huh where are your facts for such statements?

Attacks on the learning disabled are a serious problem in this (and I assume many other) country. As a local councillor I was regularly approached for help by parents/carers of learning disabled adults who were facing persistent and aggressive antisocial behaviour, sometimes to a very frightening level from neighbours and other local residents. Not just youngsters, mind you, full-gron adults too, who felt fully justified in hurling appalling abuse at these vulnerable people whenever they stepped out of their front door.

If you think bullying, namecalling and haranguing ends when they leave school think again. bricks through windows, dogmess through letterboxes etc. Shocking stuff, really.


Every so often a case is so terrible and the results so tragic that they hit the news:


http://www.theguardian.com/society/2...alcare.comment

n a particularly disturbing murder case involving a man with profound learning difficulties, a teenage girl and two men tortured 38-year-old Steven Hoskin before forcing him to his death from a 100ft viaduct in St Austell, Cornwall.

Yesterday, they were jailed for murder and manslaughter. As well as drugging him with 70 paracetamol tablets, burning him with cigarettes and forcing him to walk around on a dog lead, the offenders made Mr Hoskin confess to being a paedophile before killing him. The evidence in this case suggests that had Mr Hoskin not been a disabled person, his murder would never have taken place.

Disturbingly, this case is not a one-off but a stark example of the many shocking crimes faced by disabled people, based on society's fears and prejudices about their impairments. In recent weeks, three other similar crimes involving disabled victims have been reported, indicating that disablist crime is a growing trend in our society.

One incident in Gloucestershire involved a man with learning difficulties being locked in a garden shed, beaten, burned and humiliated - before he was finally murdered. Another victim with learning difficulties in south Wales was strangled and beaten with a stick in an isolated spot. In Northampton, a man was tipped out of his wheelchair and kicked while on the ground, causing a head injury. He died the next day.

A recent poll of disabled people carried out by Scope indicated that as many as 47% said they had either experienced physical abuse themselves or witnessed physical abuse of a disabled companion.