Demons and Demonization

[Mrs Haruo]

I used to do respite care for families with severely disabled children. One of my client families had a severely autistic son who was about 8 years old. He was non-verbal, sweet and very affectionate when he was calm, but if over stimulated by flashing lights or too much noise could melt down into a destructive, screaming banshee. His family moved out to acreage in a rural neighborhood hoping the quiet and distance from neighboring homes might make Donny's occasional screaming fits happen less often and be less disturbing to neighbors. Soon after moving in, a neighbor invited the family to their church. It turned out to be a Pentacostal church with a great deal of emotional ad libbing to the singing, plus a raucous "Praise band" with loud percussion complete with light show. Donny's parents could sense Donny was starting get upset and tried to get up and leave, but heard the neighbor call out "Thats the little boy I was telling you about! And a group of well-meaning but ignorant people surrounded the family and started "praying the devil" out of Danny, which frightened him all the more. He went into a kicking, screaming meltdown, meanwhile his father had to threaten to call the police to get out of that church- the pastor was so determined to "Cast the Devil" out of their son.

[Jon Estes]

[Rvaughn]