Police Trying to Find YouTuber's Autistic Son to See If He's Safe After Being Rehomed | 22 Words

After announcing that she was "giving-up" her adopted, autistic son, Myka Stauffer has been on the receiving end of intense backlash from her fans. She has also been accused of using her son to make money and leaving him because she couldn't deal with the struggles of having a child with special needs.

Now, the police have gotten involved. Read on to discover why the felt they had to intervene and what they found when they did.

YouTuber Myka Stauffer has recently sparked an intense debate...

After people relentlessly asked why she hadn't been posting about her adopted, autistic son, she was forced to address the issue publicly.

For those of you who might not be aware, autism is a life-long developmental disability.

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 The condition affects how people perceive the world, and how they behave and interact in social situations and with others. It is characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication.

And it is incredibly common.

In 2018, the CDC determined that approximately 1 in fifty-nine children is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder here in the States.

There is a spectrum.

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 And, dependent on where a person sits on the spectrum, the characteristics of autism can vary.

All autistic people share certain difficulties, but being autistic will affect them in different ways.

Some autistic people also have learning disabilities, mental health issues, or other conditions, meaning different people need different levels of support.

And, most importantly...

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 Autism is not a disease or illness, therefore it cannot be cured.

Autism is generally believed to be caused by genetics.

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 Research has consistently supported the theory that autism tends to run in families. Changes in certain genes increase the risk that a child will develop autism. If a parent carries one or more of these gene changes, they may get passed to a child.

And it is definitely not a result of vaccines.

So all you anti-vaxxers out there can just pipe down, okay?

Anti-vaxxers have long blamed vaccines on autism.

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 But scientists have conducted extensive research over the last 2 decades to determine whether there is any link between childhood vaccinations and autism. The results of this research is clear: Vaccines do not cause autism.

And there is no cure for autism.

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 Autism is not a disease that can be magically irradicated with a course of antibiotics. It is a social disorder with characteristics that, instead of being curable, can be managed and improved over time.

But it seems as if this is still sometimes too much for parents to handle...

A family YouTuber has recently been thrust into the spotlight after she and her partner decided to "secretly re-home" her adopted, autistic son.

Myka and James Stauffer posted a video in which they explained what was going on with their family.

After fans started noticing something a little off with Myka and her son, Huxley, who was adopted from China 2 and a half years ago, they started asking her about it.

That's when she announced that she had "re-homed him."

They explained that the reason why they had to make this decision because Huxley has "special needs that [they] weren't aware of."

In the 7-minute YouTube video titled "An update on our family", they said this:

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 "With international adoptions, there's unknowns and things that are not transparent on files, and once Huxley came home, there was a lot more special needs that we weren't aware of, and that we were not told," James says.

"So over the last few years, Huxley has been in numerous therapies to try and help him with all of his needs."

via: YouTube

 "For us, it's been really hard hearing from the medical professionals, a lot of their feedback, and things that have been upsetting, really upsetting for us, because this is not what we've ever wanted to hear. We've never wanted to be in this position. And we've been trying to get his needs met and help him out as much as possible… We truly love him."

With tears streaming down her face, Myka added this:

via: YouTube

 "There's not an ounce of our body that doesn’t love Huxley with all of our being."

She continued saying:

"Do I feel like a failure as a mom? Like, 500 percent. So when you get insidious, hurtful comments, it just makes it hurt worse. It's not about me at all, it's just this journey, the last couple months have been like the hardest thing I could have ever imagined to going to choosing to do because ultimately, after pouring our guts and our heart into this little boy…"

They did not reveal any details about where Huxley had been placed but they did describe it as his "forever home."

"He is thriving, he is very happy, he is doing really well, and his new mommy has medical professional training, and it is a very good fit."

The announcement was met with intense backlash.

Fans felt irritated and betrayed that the couple had built a fanbase around promoting children with special needs. She's even had sponsorship deals with the likes of TJ Maxx, and Danimals yogurt because of her adoption.

So many people started accusing her of "making money off of him."

And then "giving him back" when they were done with him. This is a child, not an item you bought in a store that you can return or exchange.

It seems as though a lot of people have a big problem with their decision.

And now people are calling for her to put every single cent into a fund for Huxley when he grows up.

Twitter users were extremely vocal about the decision with a lot of backlash being hurled at the parents.

This one user claimed she was extremely "depressed" upon hearing the news.

Apparently, it was "kept a secret" until now.

"To be clear she pretended he didn’t exist for MONTHS and deleted comments from concerned followers. Finally JUST addressed it today bc people were tagging her sponsors asking why they’re paying someone who, like... gave up their child after gleefully profiting off him for years."

Others have talked about the challenges parents with special need's children face:

Since the couple has 4 other biological children, this factor could easily weigh into their decision. As parents, they would only do what benefits the child's health and safety.

This is also the main reason that the police have now gotten involved.

The Ohio sheriff's office is now trying to locate Huxley and his new family after concerns that he may not be fully safe where he is.

Even though Stauffer and her husband said the re-homing was carefully considered, some people do not believe them.

The news comes after the YouTuber decided to delete all her pictures with her adoptive son from her Instagram, just leaving her biological children on her feed. This happened just days after the news was released.

Tracy Whited, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office said this:

"We’re very aware of this case. We are investigating, but it is an active case, and as such, we cannot divulge too much information just yet."

Attorneys Thomas Taneff and Taylor Sayers who represent the Stauffers ensured that all the right precautions were taken.

via: Twitter

 "Over time, the team of medical professionals advised our clients it might be best for Huxley to be placed with another family. This is devastating news for any parent," the lawyers stated.

But her current claims go against her claims back in September when she wrote a piece for Parade.

In it, she claimed: "He is a great kid and his condition doesn’t involve that much overall care. All you need is a big heart and practice patience every day."

Here's the full emotional video:

We hope everyone involved in this manages to heal and move forward, especially Huxley. If you want to read more about celebrities that are involved with anti-vax campaigns, then keep scrolling...