Erin O’Loughlin embraces her son Brendan O’Loughlin after his brother Marcus O’Loughlin, who has autism, attacked him while they were playing on the trampoline outside the family’s home in Cary, NC on October 6, 2014. As Marcus has aged, the frustrations that result from his autism have turned him violent towards his family. Shortly after […]
Erin O’Loughlin embraces her son Brendan O’Loughlin after his brother Marcus O’Loughlin, who has autism, attacked him while they were playing on the trampoline outside the family’s home in Cary, NC on October 6, 2014. As Marcus has aged, the frustrations that result from his autism have turned him violent towards his family. Shortly after this incident Erin and her husband Colm O’Loughlin decided to permanently move Marcus, at age 11, to an assisted living facility for their other children’s safety as well as their own. “We know in our hearts that Marcus is going to need assistance for the rest of his life,” Erin said. “As far as Marcus living a regular normal life with everybody else in the world, that might not be right for him and he might not be happy with that, so why should I push that on him? We just want Marcus to be happy. We want him to reach his full potential, whatever that might be.”