Dealing with people who are suffering from some kind of mental disability can be a challenge, especially if they are unpredictable. However, someone else’s problems shouldn’t come at the cost of the safety of others, and in one Washington woman’s case, her pet dog. She was walking her Spaniel in a park in Seattle when she was approached by an older woman and her adult son with special needs. The son wanted to pet her dog, so she obliged, but it wasn’t long before things got unexpectedly violent.
The dog, who’s friendly to strangers, rubbed her head against the son’s hand when all of a sudden, he jerked back his hand. “He pulls back yells ewww and tries to stomp on her,” the woman recalled. Without hesitation, she pulled her Spaniel back and warned the mother to control her adult son. But, he wasn’t finished with his violent behavior and angrily charged at the woman and her dog without warning. Her immediate reaction was to push-kick him back by reflex.
The special needs son fell backward and started crying, followed by the mother’s profuse apologies. She claimed her son never acted like this before, but the dog owner found that hard to believe after what just transpired. “Why do you bring him out if that’s what he does?” she questioned. “You said he’s never done that before. How do I know you’re not lying?” Eventually, the two parties parted ways semi-peacefully, but that’s one local park she likely will steer clear of in the future.
Many Believe the Dog Owner’s Reaction Was a Valid Use of Self-Defense
The Washington woman’s question now is whether her reaction to fight back against the special needs adult son was an overreaction. Luckily, plenty of people appear to be on her side in her post of the story on r/AITAH. “Their special needs are not an excuse,” reacted a commenter. “Are you supposed to end up seriously injured just because he has special needs? That seems unreasonable,” agreed another. “Being special needs does not enable someone to be a risk to others/the community by being allowed to assault people,” added a third.
Of course, there were several people saying that it’s essential to “be kind” and gentle to special needs individuals since they are mentally disabled and don’t understand things as we would. But when a grown adult gets violent, regardless of disability, protecting oneself and others should always come first. Another example would be a couple in California with a schizophrenic man as a neighbor who was recommended to call Adult Protective Services after he became a severe nuisance to the neighborhood. A potential danger, although innocent or ignorant, is still a danger and should be handled as such.
