Two Pound Ridge, NY parents have been arrested for keeping their 17- and 19-year-old sons, both of who suffer from autism, in "extremely unsanitary conditions." But parents Jean and James Yates say cops overreacted to an apparent "holding pen" they had built for their 17-year-old so he "doesn't roam around at night and hurt himself." James Yates told LoHud, "This is a soccer net so he wouldn't climb over it. He's not strapped in, and is happy as can be."
James Yates also said the unsanitary conditions were because they were remodeling and because snow outside kept them from throwing out trash. He told ABC 7, "I told the judge we're fixing up the house when they showed up. We're not living in that big pile of crap. We were causing the crap." The investigation began when the 17-year-old suffered a seizure, and the paramedics who came to the home called social services. Child welfare officials have taken the teens into custody.
Jean Yates reportedly scolded her husband for speaking to the media, but James Yates said that he wanted to set the record straight, and that it's hard for people to understand how to raise autistic children. He said of the seizure, "All of a sudden it became, 'You can't take care of the kids.'" He also said their youngest son tended to run away when he had the chance, and the older had a tendency to bite. "If you have autistic kids, don't open the door because nobody understands it," he said.
