Trigger Warning: Mass Murder, Ableism
The two articles in the News section of Autism Parenting Magazine are getting covered together. These are a reference to Newtown and coverage of LEGO helping a 10 year old with Aspergers to get the LEGO set that he had spent two years saving up for.
The coverage of Newtown notes that the media has a tendency to sensationalize events. It also mentions that violent crime rates are similar between people with Aspergers and the general population and that most of the violent crimes comitted by Asperger's Autistics are actually property related. It even made mention of the fact that Autistic violence tends to be an immediate lashing out in response to an immediate stimulus, not premeditated attacks. While something premeditated is not mutually exclusive with any neurology, an Autistic one is not the cause.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be some passing of the buck to those with antisocial personality disorders. People with personality disorders do not need the extra stigma of being associated with mass murder any more than Autistic people do, and I hope that people not shift the blame to them, either.
The LEGO story, however, was quite good. The fact that the boy has Aspergers is really only relevant in that his participation in a LEGO playgroup is supposed to be good for his social skills (it probably is! Social interaction that people enjoy can have that effect,) and this is a story of customer service going above and beyond more than anything else.
The two articles in the News section of Autism Parenting Magazine are getting covered together. These are a reference to Newtown and coverage of LEGO helping a 10 year old with Aspergers to get the LEGO set that he had spent two years saving up for.
The coverage of Newtown notes that the media has a tendency to sensationalize events. It also mentions that violent crime rates are similar between people with Aspergers and the general population and that most of the violent crimes comitted by Asperger's Autistics are actually property related. It even made mention of the fact that Autistic violence tends to be an immediate lashing out in response to an immediate stimulus, not premeditated attacks. While something premeditated is not mutually exclusive with any neurology, an Autistic one is not the cause.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be some passing of the buck to those with antisocial personality disorders. People with personality disorders do not need the extra stigma of being associated with mass murder any more than Autistic people do, and I hope that people not shift the blame to them, either.
The LEGO story, however, was quite good. The fact that the boy has Aspergers is really only relevant in that his participation in a LEGO playgroup is supposed to be good for his social skills (it probably is! Social interaction that people enjoy can have that effect,) and this is a story of customer service going above and beyond more than anything else.
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