Excusing criminal acts with an "ASD defense"

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It seems like WP members argue that AS is not brain disorder, but once an ASD person is a suspected criminal, then it is OK to argue that AS is a brain disorder that may have caused this person to do such criminal acts ??

This came up yesterday, when this was posted on another thread ...
http://www.change.org/petitions/janet-l ... e-must-end

Quoted:
-"We told them that his behavior according to Dr. Mills is typical of one with Asperger Syndrome. We told them he has an organic brain disorder".
-?It behooves us to draw to the court?s attention the obvious: that patients with Asperger?s Syndrome suffer from mental disorder and that their offending and subsequent disposition must be placed in this context.

If ASD is the cause of criminal acts, and is not curable, then the conclusion that would be made - absent of all other evidence - is that ASD people are statistically more likely to be criminals, because they have a condition that is a predisposition to said criminal actions.

I handed myself in to the Police last night for causing £1000 worth of damage to some ones property. I am due in court on the 18th of June, and though I was drunk at the time,very drunk, and had ate 5 tabs of an LSD analogue called Lysergic Acid Dimethylazetidide (that is an insane 750ug) and I am on the autistic spectrum and the people who's properties I have damaged have done me wrong on a scale that it makes what I have done to them totally and utterly insignificant,. I am 100% responsible for my criminal behaviour and have no choice but take what ever punishment the judge see fits. My behaviour was childish but I manned up, handed myself in and took responsibility.

Excuses, excuses.

ASD is NOT the cause of criminal actions. People with ASD's possess free will.

Sorry, I believe the WP consensus on both issues you raise is the opposite of what you say.

Most people on here view autism as a "brain disorder".
Most people on here argue that autism is not a "get-out-of-jail" card.

wrt this specific example, it is hard to say given that Mr Jason is presenting such a one-sided account (he had not even detailed what his son's crime was). A bit of Googling tells me that he has repeatedly stalked an ex-girlfriend, even after he was told not to. Whilst 55 years is ridiculous (minimum term laws eh...), autism should not be a valid defence.

As an ASD person myself. I don't find it any harder or easier to obey the law like everybody else, including NT's. Now granted, I do as well as every else commit some sort of so called "white law breaks", like 5 over the speed limit, using pirated software on the computer, etc.

He is charged for stalking and extortion. I did not, having read very quickly through, find out what he actually did to get the extortion charge. I do, however, understand someone with AS having problems with stalking. But I also believe that educating the AS person regarding their behavior would be useful to help them understand what exactly constitutes stalking (making a list would help!), and then that would probably ameliorate that problem. I also think that the obsessive behavior could be treated effectively with SSRIs. I do not think that the sentence was commensurate with the crime, however. Unless I'm missing something major here, 55 years incarceration sentence comes off as being very heavy handed.

On the theory that Asperger's-Autism Spectrum is being wired up different (which is the first way I understood the spectrum, although now I'm branching out in my understanding)

that can be viewed as an organic brain disorder,

or it can be viewed as both a difference and a disability.


PS It does not excuse criminal behavior. although I'm kind of glad seeing his parents standing up for him, might wish they did it a little different.

DukeJanTheGrey, I'm glad you're taking responsibility. I do hope you get a good, solid, aggressive, confident, local attorney. That's part of my theory of what works here in the States. Things might be different in the UK.

Offhand, I would mention the drunkeness, even slightly downplay it. I would not mention the LSD analogue. I don't think you're required to volunteer information. If you have mentioned it, I might slightly downplay it. Like you are, by stating, I'm taking responsibility. In any case, this advice also applies to the States (I live in Houston, Texas)

I see most people here argue that ASD is just a difference , not a disorder of the brain ???

Is this right?

Here's the other WP thread where this is being discussed:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp6082735.html#6082735

Here's a December 17, 2009 legal document. So yeah, things have been bad for a while.

http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20IACO%2020091217303

Here's the change(dot)org activism the parents are doing:

http://www.change.org/petitions/janet-l ... e-must-end

It's essentially the same as using religion as an excuse to do (or not do) something.

Here's the way I look at Asperger's-Autism Spectrum, and this is my own best attempt:

1) sensory issues, repeating lights or sounds or smells or some fabric textures can bother us more than 'average' persons (of course there's no such thing as an 'average' person anyway, and how boring a place the world would be if there were Or, if you find a person making average income, having an average education, and with an average number of children, and picking just these three traits, that's is a comparative rarity and is interesting in that regard!)

2) patchy social skills, which can include some skills above-average as well as other skills below-average,

3) intense intellectual or artistic interests, which at different stages can involve really getting into the activity on your own, and at other stages a strong desire to share what you have done or learned

4) stimming, which in many cases can be functioning in dealing with sensory issues or maintaining concentration or simply adding joy to life. At other times, stimming can itself be a distraction, and

(maybe) (5) meltdowns.

And interestingly, many human beings generally share these traits. We just seem to have them differently, often to greater extents.

lovenothate,you think we are brain damaged!

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt258425.html

Yes, I have brain damage such as it is. People tell me that, or think I am weird.

However, I never mentioned myself in this thread, so my personal story is not pertinent to the original question: It seems like WP members argue that AS is not brain disorder, but once an ASD person is a suspected criminal, then it is OK to argue that AS is a brain disorder that may have caused this person to do such criminal acts ??

The thread you linked shows many WP members don't believe they are disordered.

WE ARE NOT.PERIOD.IT IS NOT A CRMINAL EXCUSE,EITHER.

Correct me if I'm wrong but stalking a ex-girlfriend does not seem like a behavior that an autistic person would do. especially to the extreme that the court docs describe it as.