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'Like a caged animal': Young man with autism involuntarily held at Grand Strand hospital

Sun News - 5/14/2021

May 13—When Shawna Sparlin sought help caring for her 18-year-old son, who has severe autism, she pictured him in a nice group home, surrounded by qualified professionals providing necessary services.

Instead, he's been held in a room at Grand Strand Medical Center for more than a month, heavily medicated, isolated from his mother, with no clear timeline for when he might be moved to a more appropriate setting.

Sparlin explained that she and her son, Braedan, were living in a homeless shelter when a shelter case manager witnessed Braedan acting violently toward her, and that incident was reported to police and the S.C. Department of Social Services (DSS).

After consulting with the DSS case manager, she was in the process of relinquishing custody under the premise that Braedan, who is nonverbal, would be placed in a facility suited to meet his specific needs, but the agency ultimately took him involuntarily on April 2 and placed him in the hospital, where he's remained ever since.

"We've been homeless for a year and half, and all I can do is just meet his most basic needs," Sparlin said. "I wanted to give him something better, but it's not turning out that way."

In state custody

Danielle Jones, a DSS spokeswoman, confirmed that Braedan was taken into emergency custody by law enforcement and determined to be in need of services and housing supports provided by the S.C. Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN), which is working to secure his placement.

A DDSN spokeswoman told The Sun News that Braedan became eligible for services Apr. 23, but she didn't readily have any other details on his situation as of Tuesday. She said she'd provide more information as it became available, but hasn't contacted The Sun News since.

A letter sent Apr. 26 from DDSN to Sparlin, which she shared with a reporter to confirm the details she had provided, notes that Braedan was initially referred for services by his mother but is now in the custody of Adult Protective Services via DSS and involuntarily committed to Grand Strand hospital.

The letter, which includes the agency's full evaluation of Braedan, shows that he is always naked with hospital staff observing that he doesn't like clothes, but Sparlin disputed that detail, noting he never showed any distaste for clothing with her, and he was likely just ripping up his hospital gowns because he's bored.

He had been attending special education classes at Myrtle Beach High School while living at the shelter, but she suspects he's not receiving any educational services at the hospital since she's gotten multiple emails from his teacher about absences.

Sparlin also complained that the entire evaluation was skewed due to him being heavily medicated, and he's actually much smarter than the evaluator observed.

"He feeds himself, dresses himself; I worked very hard to make that happen," she said. "And I'm worried it's all going to be gone."

No visitation

Sparlin hadn't initially contacted DDSN when they moved to the Myrtle Beach area six years ago because of the traumatic experiences she had with state agencies in Arizona.

Child protective services in Arizona took custody of Braedan and both of his older brothers, who also had autism, in 2009, Sparlin said, and both of her other two sons died, one in a group home and another in a foster home. Online court records show the state settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Sparlin in 2013.

"I didn't want him lumped in with those services again after what happened in Arizona," she said. "For me to make this decision (to turn him over to DSS custody) was not easy."

Sparlin said she's been told on several occasions by the DSS caseworker that they found placement for Braedan, but it keeps falling through, and she was recently told he could be left in that hospital for months because there's no availability.

"It tortures me," Sparlin said about thinking of her only remaining son, sitting naked in the hospital room. "I'm not sleeping, not eating. All I can think of is him being trapped there.

"These agencies just see the label of autism, but to me they're just Stephan, Shane (her deceased sons) and Braedan," she said. "They're people with likes and dislikes just like anyone else. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, but they're treating him like a caged animal."

The hospital, meanwhile, hasn't allowed her to see him, she said, which is adding to her grief.

Katie Maclay, a spokeswoman for Grand Strand Health, stated that, in general, their visitation policies prioritize the safety of their patients and any potential visitors, but did not cite a specific policy that would prevent Sparlin from visiting her son.

Issues statewide

Local autism advocates Christine Sullivan and Sarah Pope were incensed when told by a reporter of Braedan's situation, but not necessarily surprised at Sparlin's difficulties in trying to get her son the help he needs.

"I think this is the most difficult situation that families face when they need help from the state provider is that they're not getting the assistance they need," Pope said. "The only way to get help is to be on the critical wait list for residential placement in our state. ... If you don't understand the complexity of the system we're dealing with, you're not going to get help."

Sullivan, who also has a son with severe autism, said that with South Carolina refusing to expand Medicaid and a lack of funding or housing available for people with severe autism, state officials have essentially decided that the situation Braedan currently faces is acceptable.

"Waiting for placement in a DDSN group home usually requires someone to die (to create availability)," she said. "It's abuse of neglect. ... Parents need to be ready to fight (to create change). This can't go on."

Pope said children with severe disabilities typically just live at home with their parents their whole lives, but an aging caregiver population is creating a "tsunami" of adults that are soon going to need placements with nowhere to put them. That's why her nonprofit, SOS Care, has recently prioritized the creation of Oak Tree Farm, an affordable housing community in Conway designed for adults with autism and intellectual disabilities to live as independently as possible.

Sparlin said that shortly after DSS took custody of Braedan, they offered to return him to her care with in-home services, but she noted she didn't have a home, and the shelter had warned they both could be kicked out if his violence continued.

And then they'd be back to living in her car, an untenable situation the duo suffered through for two weeks prior to moving into the shelter, she said.

"I'm just not physically able to care for him anymore," Sparlin said. "I didn't make this decision because I don't love him. I just want him to have a better life."

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