More bad press for aspies

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I see a bunch of stories like this where the reporter mentions Asperger Syndrome but doesn't mention whether or not the accused is trying to use it as a defense. It seriously annoys me... why bring it up if you're not going to tell us that he is or isn't going to try to use it?

The small thing about Aspergers and living a "miserable existence" annoys me but quite frankly it could've been a lot worse...

I am just saddened by the fact that they didn't mention that while roughly 1% of the population have this, 99% of the crime is committed by NT as*holes who cannot use that excuse.

I have Aspergers, and I do not troll...I have gone the other way and end up with a moderator position on everything I come into contact with it seems lol

But supposing he does have AS? What now - are you going to demand that he's un-diagnosed to protect your delicate sensibilities?
Just because someone else with AS knows what he did was wrong and wouldn't have done it says nothing about his state of mind and reasons for doing it.

Statistically, someone undeniably having AS will commit a crime sooner or later, and if it's serious enough then both the crime and that they have AS are likely to get reported in the press.
Having AS does not guarantee someone is as pure as the driven snow, and neither does the mention of a diagnosis by the defence mean anything other than it may be a mitigating factor.
And as for newspapers generally - I'd be surprised if anyone is surprised about the poor quality of their reporting.

That's about the top and tail of it, and I think it's quite wrong to jump to the conclusion that it's simply a handy label being used as a means for them to get an easier sentence.

What am I learning from this?

(1) Asperger is not psychopathic personality disorder. It is not an excuse to act like a prick.
(2) Korean guy at Virginia Tech shoots people, and all of a sudden all Koreans are killers. White guy does it in Norway, he is just an extremist. Same thing with Aspergers. It is easy to stigmatize a minority.
(3) Don't troll unless you are behind two or three proxies.
(4) Don't say things on the web you wouldn't say in real life. Hard to do, I know.

The press are just adding that he has AS to sensationalize the story more. It was unnecessary though, since there are so many articles like this popping up lately where they just carelessly mention it like this without thinking about how these instances can collectively create an unfavourable portrayal of people with AS.

I think that if anything, it highlights the dire need for services for adults on the spectrum. If he was working or going to school, maybe he wouldn't be living such a "miserable existence". For many of these things to be accomplished, though, therein comes the need for appropraite supports. The press should focus less on sensationalistic pieces of tripe like this and more on the actual - and preventable - issues that led to this guy being arrested in the first place.

paparazzi just managed to photograph him this week, dont look too AS to me....

What do you mean "don't look too AS to me?" I don't see how you can tell from a photograph.

I'm totalling guessing and being facetious, I dont know anything about him

The guy who use to give me rides to my Dungeons and Dragons group was convicted of having child porn and concealing hidden cameras in the bathroom of the computer store he worked at he blamed his perversion on his High Functioning Autism. He went to college, drove, lived on his own, and had a good paying job. His autism had no obvious effect on his life. Having met him I would say he was very lightly effected by his his autism if at all. But you can guess what his lawyer blamed his having child porn on his computer on? His lawyer tried to make it sound like he had no self control due to his HFA. I have since cut off all ties with this guy but I have heard he goes to all the autism meet-ups in the Buffalo area where he whines about not being able to use a computer due to his "addiction".

Since when did Asperger's Syndrome have a "look"? Down turned head while looking up that's how I walk down the street. If anything he stole my look.

Last edited by Todesking on 14 Sep 2011, 11:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Ah, okay!

He looks more like a bully than an aspie, and in a way, he IS a bully.

Sometimes it does, I've noticed, but that's just my opinion and one can't really generalise here.



Did you know that Aspies can be bullies?

Oh yeah.

People should not be put in jail for merely being offensive.

"Offensive" is socially subjective. Making something illegal because it is offensive opens the door to banning anything, all you have to do is convince the public to feel offended.

This guys a jerk, but England is heading on a slippery slope to tyranny by jailing him.

If he's actively pursuing them with these offensive messages, I have no problem with him being convicted of harassment. But should that warrant a jail sentence? Consider the many, more serious offences he can commit without being jailed. Consider any benefit to society, short term and long term, in jailing him. Why couldn't they give him a fine, community service, and counselling?

As for it being bad press for aspies, I can't see any link being made between his conduct and AS by the article (which is surprising, but pleasing). His lawyer mentioned it in court, and the journalist reported it, that's all. Besides, if we are prepared to claim many of the intellectual rockstars (many of whom were dead before Asperger's paper, let alone its modern rediscovery), we should be prepared to accept that some Aspies will do bad things, whether that behaviour is influenced by AS or not.

I don;t know if any of you remember this case of the bi-polar guy smuggling kilos of drugs through some far east country a couple of years back and all the court case surrounding it.

His lawyers decided to say he had bi-polar though no evidence of such was ever proven befre his flight.

He got executed and quite frankly, I am not unhappy about that.

He lied about having bi-polar to get away with it and it backfired on him.

Maybe less people will use the insanity plea if the courts simply decide then that there is no point in having them around if they cannot control their urges.

Having an unfortunate attraction to something is one thing, actually following through with it is quite another, and there is no excuse in the world for it and these lawyers who are jumping on the autism bandwagon should be struck off for gross stupidity.