I was called a killer today due to having autism.

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All I can say is "This is now being looked in to."


I am not that upset over this. I have had way way more bad stuff happen to me in my life then this.

I did go back that way today to the gas station. and all was good on the way there and back.

Good for that.

Hopefully that guy won't stop to harass anyone else in the future.

^SECONDED.

This kind of thing is exactly what I've been talking about in other topics, and sadly, this kind of thing won't just stop, it'll get a whole lot worse before it gets any better.
The reason so many people are willing to jump on this "bandwagon" is simple; People are ignorant, people are stupid, they fear what they don't understand, and they destroy what they fear out of their ignorance. And when it's all said and done and a society has been changed forever by their lack of understanding and compassion, they look back and say "it'll never happen again" but it always does and it always will. People don't change.

Everytime I hear anything like this, it enrages me. They all want to talk about justice and yet they're the ones pointing the fingers and causing injustice, raising their pitch forks and going on their witch hunts. And they call themselves enlightened, idiots, fools, the whole lot of them. Why can't they just leave us the h**l alone?

I have my own two cents to share on this and I warn you all, it's not optimistic in the least:

This massacre has pretty much put the nail in the coffin on the reputation of Autism, which as already on life support prior to the shootings.

I know alot of you feel that we should just forget about what happened to people like the OP and just accept the fact that some people are idiots. Well when one autistic man goes into a place fills with children for a killing spree and the media beats it in the people's heads that the gunman had autism, let's be honest with ourselves...that's the kind of circumstance where the majority of people are not going to understand nor will care to understand the actual facts behind autism.

Consider the 9/11 attacks. Do you think that much of the American public who immediately went after everyone that looked remotely Muslim have grasped any difference between Muslims and terrorists since then? If the recent case of a woman who shoved an Indian man infront of a oncoming subway is any indication, the answer is no.

Now I get that this ignorance against autistic people is the result of fear but reading about cases like the OPs and the current obsession with school safety and eyeing any suspicious loners, makes me concerned that this will continue to be an ongoing reality for the majority of us. And the way I see it, if they're not going to care about understand us, then why should we care with how we respond back? Few of the ignorant are willing to have someone convince them to change their viewpoint once it's set.

I fear that all the pleas that were made by Alex Plank and other representatives of the autism community have gone mostly ignored by the public. But thinking about it, perhaps asking the public to not blame Autism for the shootings was the wrong approach altogether. Considering the timing, I guess that it would've done us better to have maybe done something charitable for Newtown (as an autistic) like alot of people have instead going on a tirade that was going to get ignored anyway, or some sort of gesture to show everyone that we ARE capable of empathy. But even then, what were the chances that people would change their minds about us after that?

Sorry to be so pessimistic about this but I see no point in playing nice when this kind of bigotry is present. Isn't this why kids are constantly told to fight back against bullies when they are being bullied? You might say "well that will just make us look even more bad". Well I hate to tell you this, but once one man who shares the same condition that we do, goes on a rampage killing 20 kids, the public's minds about us is already set. No real turning back when it comes to most NT minds.

Last edited by raisedbyignorance on 05 Jan 2013, 2:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

How so? By being angry at how people with ASD's are now being treated? To be fair, "normal society" is waging war against us, not the other way around. They attack us, spit in our eye, you name it, and all for what? Anger? Some sick and twisted version of "justice"?
I ask you, how can we not be angry about this? How can people expect us to be calm when we're being beaten and harassed in public?

I think we have more right to be angry right now than they do. They're not being mistreated for something they can't change, we are.

That's good.

I can't imagine the lowness of the person who accosted you. This is beyond bullying - it is hateful. If he does this again, make sure the police know of it.

It doesn't matter if that a$$hole thought he was being funny... It's not funny. No funnier than a joke about Hitler in a Jewish retirement home.

There is nothing we can do about people full of hate and prejudice, and that's a sad thing. But what we CAN do, is to refuse to be knocked down emotionally by those people. As one of the previous members posted (in an interracial relationship), there are hateful people out there, and only our strength and self-esteem can overcome the hate. And it CAN overcome the hate just fine. Remember that hate eats away from the inside out, and the real victims are the haters. I'm not saying that we (nor any other groups or people who are the focus of hatred or prejudice) should not be offended, as of course we ARE offended. But we need to keep in mind that we are not the reason for the hate; the hater's hate comes from self-hate within.

Maybe some day fate will find the man who acted that way toward the Autism community, in a situation where he is robbed but the robbers are caught because an autistic person happened to notice in perfect memory, a getaway car with a mismatched tail light lens, and every license number on every car at a certain location, and maybe some day a Black person will pull the racist who shouted the N-word at the interracial couple, out of the way of an out-of-control truck.

Charles

OP, thank you for your courage. I'm glad you didn't let him force you into hiding.

I don't like the puzzle ribbon, but I think I'll put that aside for now, at least until the rainbow infinity symbol becomes more well-known. I can pin one to my backpack. The more people are out there showing support, the more they will understand that autistic people are everyday folk, not merciless killers.

It's not like I chose where I was born (it's also too expensive to move to another country). Idiots reside in all parts of the world, not just the United States.

Back to the topic: Unfortunately discrimination isn't new. It seems like we are the new "N-words" for bigots. I've been called a "ch**k," "Yid" Kid," "Jewbait (due to my serious beak - I'm not even a practitioner of religion)," "Columbine Kid (by virtue of my attire)" and "race traitor." Humans can be quite moronic. Makes me question evolution at times.

THEY ARE ALL FILTHY SOBS Wow saying that about everybody in the US. What is the difference between your statement and the OP? Well the way I see it not much. Didn't you stereotype just like stupid man did? Have you become the thing you hate?
PS not trying to be insulting just wanted some questions answered.

Those are good news!

I have to say, it takes courage to just go on with everyday life, I think I would avoid that spot for two more days before getting back to my regular routine because I would suspect the person waiting there for me.

I am not capable of understanding what the motives of this ignorant, idiotic and irrational person were who offended you.

And I can only hope the results of the shooting will not last long. So far there have been certain trends about shootings:
Here in Germany gamers were the suspicious people for quite a while, later on silent introverts and now this.

Because Americans are paranoid, narcissistic, blame-everyone-but-themselves type of people. I should know. I live there, and see plenty of them on a regular basis, especially down here in the Deep South.

Lostonearth35 is completely overreacting and being unfair because he is (rightfully) upset, but I can understand why he feels anger towards the USA. Generally, Autistic people are not treated with an acceptable amount of dignity and respect. Examples of this would be:

* The JRC.

* The underpublicised case of Shane Finn.

* Corrupt "advocacy" organisations.

None of the above goes on here in the UK. The JRC is a disgusting establishment which advocates physical and emotional abuse, starvation, total control, and downright torture of Autistic people. Would this be allowed in the UK? Hell no.

The case of Shane Finn was a case in which a fourteen year old Lower-Functioning Autistic with the IQ of a third grader drew a childish, TRIVIALstick-figure drawing of himself shooting his teacher in a "special needs" class purely out of boredom. The teacher's reaction? To expel him from the school and call the police who went on to have him charged as a f*****g terrorist and be forced to attend a government tribunal! Strangely enough, the media hasn't breathed a word about the result of said tribunal. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the poor boy and his mother were illegally executed.

In the UK, this would be dealt with via a clear and informative lecture, explaining exactly why the behaviour is unacceptable, and offering strategies as to what he could do instead. Not with charges of f*****g terrorism.

Autism Speaks is often cited as our number one advocacy organisation, even though the vast majority of Autistics hold a very low opinion of them. There are a couple in England and Wales, but in Scotland, as far as I'm aware, there are no big organisations like this at all.

I apologise for slightly derailing this thread, but the general wellbeing of American (or should that be European immigrants?) Autistics is always a worry to me.

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B9, I'm tired, and this post is already far longer than I originally intended it to be, which is why I'm not going to respond properly right now. Also, I don't really think people who're willing to just lie back and take this mass discrimination as it comes are even worthy of a response.

While there is a kernel of truth to this, the American public (as a herd mentality) also has about a 5 second attention span. They tend to believe whatever is in front of their face at the moment. I have an idea to take advantage of this, but it will take several days to work it out privately IRL.

Please do not condemn my ENTIRE country because of some yellow journalism & some idiot from the shallow end of the gene pool. We are not all bad.
The Media are much to blame here though!

Sincerely,
Matthew