Horrifying portrayal of Aspie man in local paper

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I have AS, but I'm not a stalker. Some may say that I'm a stalker because I follow my favourite band around the area where I live. (I got to all the concerts that are less than a 6 1/2 drive away, and now I am going to a concert where I actually have to take a plane to get there), sure, I hang out outside their bus trying to meet them, but they don't mind, they know who I am. We aren't allowed ON the bus, but they don't mind if we are hanging out AROUND the bus.

This guy is giving us a bad name, whether he realizes it or not. It's probably not his agenda to do that, and I sympathize that he probably IS being made fun of, and taunted, as many of us have been (or are being). I get harassed by police now & then, when they think my body language and eye movements don't fall in line with my words or actions. I don't blame them on one hand, but on the other hand, there NEEDS TO BE more law enforcement personnel training on Asperger's and Autism.

There's no excuse for doing to the neighborhood what that article alleges, but I also know how the media work. I believe about 40% of what's written, and I believe that there is at least 40% of additional information which is omitted in many stories.

Charles

Those are the excuses people use to keep us separated from the rest of society. Some of them are very old, and go back to the eugenics movement or further.

Yes, I believe a lot of it is just media opportunism, to exploit the NT tendency to value perception and "branding" over rationally calculated reasoning (at least, as concerns media and advertising in general). Unless one of the journalists has an immediate family member with autism...unlikely this angle of psychological warfare against us Aspies is gonna change. Same mentality why teachers ignore Aspie complaints about bullying, trying to convince the Aspie target that it's deserved due to his own odd behaviour - but the underlying reality is that teachers in general are anti-Aspie b/c it's "extra work". Institutional discrimination is not just limited to the media, but they sure put a negative spin on Aspie-ness. The warped individual who did this is probably not Aspie but just a psychopath trying to discredit Aspies - I'm sure he has harassed and bullied Aspies in the past and his motives are 2-birds-for-one-stone: carry out his despicable action AND THEN claim to be an Aspie to take a cheap shot at the people he hates so much. On that note, with respect to institutional bullying, I think that in the case of the bully and the Aspie in middle school, the former is far more likely to exhibit the kind of antisocial behaviour described - while their target grows up feeling cowed and marginalized, so society loses TWO potentially productive members by not addressing the matter sooner.

They say that Aspies are not good at seeing the big picture, but how's that for big picture thinking?
When it comes to the AS civil rights struggle, big picture thinking comes naturally for us

That article is horrifying for many reasons. I agree with everyone here, this guy is an individual with his own set of issues. asperger's is an aspect of his personality, not the 'cause' of his illegal behaviors. BUT, looking through the sequence of events, I'd say this fear mongering community and police department set this guy up. All of a sudden, after his 'concerned neighbors' vandalized his unsecured the van that the police department so conceniently left open, the guy has 37 restraining orders?

Paintball gun? A small scratch in a car that could probably be buffed out in under 5 minutes?

Sounds like this community just want to ship their 'problem' off to someone else. If his Asperger's is such an issue, why wasn't their psychological evaluations and testimpony at his trial to get him evaluated and possibly ruled incompetent? If he is such a danger he needs 24hr supervision, it sure sounds like his rights have been violated as a disabled citizen.

Whatever actually did or did not happen, this is a prime example of sheep mentality. Toss the black sheep to the wolves to ensure the homogeny of the flock. Welcome back to the Dark Ages. Can't say we missed them...

no wonder aspies and autistics have been given such a bad rap! one bad apple has to ruin it for us all! Yes, we have difficulty "reading between the lines" but we know what is and is not lawful. Yes, we are inclined to stare, but we also know that its rude and even perverted to stare in peoples windows! This guy apparantly doesnt know the meaning of the word "self restraint" And the NTs who commented.... Acting like everyone who recieves a diagnosis of Autism of AS should be locked up and never shown the light of day! I know of severtal autistic people who are successful function members of society...take Temple Grandin for instance! Where do you think society would be if the most unique minds in it were institutionalized? probably still living in caves...

AS should not be the issue, but this person seems to have a criminal personality, and needs help.

Autistics are a minority group and minority groups always get labeled in the press. Being a biker it makes my blood boil when I read something like "Biker caught with drugs" but never "Car-driver caught with drugs". If you're not average Joe then the press will point this out in any story.

A history of lewd behavior and he keeps peering into his neighbors windows with a flashlight? That's not in the DSM.

I think it's funny that they try to pin the whole of his behavior on AS, as if NTs don't do that kind of stuff. I guess they don't have any other details and have to play up the ones they do have.

My own view of the matter is that the police have a duty to prevent crime as well as to arrest criminals, if they were aware that the van was unlocked but left it in that state on a public road then the "reasonable man" would understand how to contents would be very likely to be stolen by passers by.

So from a civil law point of view I would say that the police have commited a tort against the man, I would argue that they should replace the stolen items on a new for old basis, in the case of the unlawful release of information I think that it is harder to fix.

I would reason if the man is unable to live in a home due to the release of information that the police department should be required to find an equivilent home for the person at their expense. If they winge about the cost, then they should point out that they made a reckless choice which can be understood as themselves attempting to impose a fine (through the loss or destruction of property) without due process of law. I would rule if I was a judge that this attempt to subvert the legal system then should result in the police officers responsible having fewer legal rights regarding "due process" than the normal citizen.

On the criminal side I think that the man's conduct is not acceptable but I would also like to point out that the newspaper may well be guilty of a crime of incitement of hatred against a minority.

_________________
Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.