Slur Wounds Mother of Autistic Man

LANSING, Ind. -- Julia Cox fears a speeding motorist one day will hit her 21-year-old son on her street.

"My son has autism," she said. "You picture a 21-year-old taking off like he's 3 years old, and I can't do anything about it. I don't want him to run out in the street, but sometimes he just does."
For more than a year, Cox, 46, begged the village to put up a sign to warn motorists to drive with extra care in the area. In January, a sign reading "Caution: Handicapped Person" was erected near the end of her driveway, in the 18400 block of Ridgewood Avenue.

On July 22, the sign was vandalized.

"Retard F U" was written across the bottom of it in thick black ink. Cox was hurt and angry.