Re: What if Chris was put in a mental institution
Well, to be fair, an institution is different from a group home. Group homes are great for high and even medium-functioning autistics. My SIL used to work in a group home, she checked on it every few days and among her jobs were...
-making sure that each tenant was spending their money appropriately (not going into debt, using their tugboat to buy food and other necessities before they used their money for fun)
-making sure the house itself was clean and chores were being done
-making sure each tenant was taking care of him/herself as needed, hygiene and medication-wise
-some counseling and mediation as needed when a problem arose
-coordinating and planning outings like to the zoo, etc
The residents of this home varied from 20's to 60's and I think there were 6 or 8 of them.
She no longer does this as she now works in special needs education, but she told me about it. Some autistics really benefit from this because it gives them a semi-normal life and relative freedom, and social interaction.
An institution on the other hand, sounds just that... an institution. An institution would be stricter and much more regimented than a group home, with much less tolerance for shit. (literal and figurative) and this would be what Chris needs immediately. (I honestly see institutionalization, and nothing else, as the first step in successfully helping Chris)
In a theoretical situation where a judge sees Chris is unfit to take care of himself (especially of he melts down in court) she could order him to an institution, and after a while, if he actually learns and manages to improve his attitude and behavior, he could then be moved into a group home.