Nothing violent about autistic people

The reason some residents of Leader Drive in the Town of Mono oppose having a Kerry's Place in their midst is likely because they don't understand autism.

So says Jim Preston, regional executive director of the Central-West division of the Kerry's Place organization, which supports people who suffer from autism and tries to enrich their lives in a variety of ways.

Kerry's Place has six locations and cares for 25 autistic people in Dufferin County, including some families.

Mr. Preston said the two primary concerns of neighbours are safety and how the home will affect their property values.

The four people who will live in the Leader Drive home are in their 40s and 50s and have no history of violence, he said. In fact, they've all lived in the town, on farms, for more than 25 years.

"Having autism doesn't mean they're a safety threat," he said, and as for its impact on property values, the Ministry of Social Development looked into that and found there wasn't any.

Mr. Preston sees the Leader Drive situation as "a question of building neighbourhood relationships, and that's something you do when you move in.

"Hopefully people can get to know and understand each other and live inclusively."

He noted that the neighbours seemed to think there would be no live-in staff, but that simply isn't so: "Staff will be there all the time."

He thought it "important to understand that these are four adults who have the condition, but it comes down to the whole thing that we tend to sometimes look at the person's diagnosis first as opposed to seeing them as people first.

"I think it's important to accept people as people, as human beings, rather than just branding them as disabled or autistic without considering the fact they are people first."

They're people with talents and abilities like anyone else, he added.

The move to Leader Drive is scheduled for October. Meanwhile, the Kerry's Place organization is seeking a location for a second home, which may or may not be in Mono. Mr. Preston said the

intent is "to provide an opportunity for people to live in a place that works for them and to be good neighbours like everybody else and contribute to the community, as opposed to, in the opinion of some, being unwanted and detrimental to the community."