He's autistic, not insane

I just got through watching an episode of the latest Law and Order franchise, Trial by Jury and I am so spitting mad that I feel like I could break something. Tonight's episode centered on a man who was accused of rape and murder. He was old money and there was all these other undercurrents going on but what really got me was his defense. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity because (I may need to throw something here), he has Asperger's Syndrome. AS is considered to be on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum. There is quite a debate about whether it is simply high functioning autism or a separate diagnosis. The debate seems to center around the fact that most people with AS do not have speech issues and their issues tend to be less severe than people on the middle to low end of the spectrum. But let me make it clear here that no matter your place on the autism spectrum, you are not insane simply because you have autism or AS, and that would not excuse you from committing a crime. Let me repeat that again: being autistic does NOT mean you are insane in any way shape or form.

The argument for the rapist seemed to be that, like most people on the autism spectrum, he had a hard time reading faces or interpreting other people's social cues. Therefore when a young woman smiled and him and asked him for the time he didn't understand that that was all she wanted from him. He thought she was hitting on him and apparently this gave him the right to have sex with her, even though she was hysterically crying through the whole thing. It was consensual, he said. And of course since he has AS he didn't realize that it wasn't consensual and so you should excuse him from raping her.

The police psychologist who interviewed the defendant seemed to agree with this whole defense. Yes, she did say that people with AS are more likely to be the victims of a crime than the perpetrators, but then seemed to give this particular guy a free pass because of his disorder. The defense lawyer in his closing arguments said that people know speeding is wrong but what if you didn't have a speedometer, how would you know you were speeding (and therefore doing something wrong). Similarly if this guy couldn't read faces and social cues how was he to know that he was hurting this woman and that she didn't just want to have sex with him. Luckily the jury didn't buy this incredible line of bullshit but what bothers me is that the show used AS as some kind of excuse at all.

People with AS know right from wrong. They tend to be sticklers for rules as it helps them to understand and keep order in their surroundings. They are not crazy and they are not rapists. I think what bothers me most of all is that someone tuning into this show, who knows nothing about autism and AS, now might think they have some kind of understanding that autistic people are crazy or don't know right from wrong or are rapists or tend to be violent. ALL OF THESE ARE FALSE STATEMENTS!!!! I know autism and AS are all the rage now because of the increase in diagnosis but don't use it totally out of context. What this guy did to these women had nothing to do with AS. It did seem like he was not quite right but this seemed more from his crazy and abusive upbringing than anything else. Obviously they tried to make him exhibit some AS traits but it has nothing to do with his being a rapist.

One day my son will grow up and I hope to God that no one notices a few odd quirks about him and assumes that he is insane or somehow violent because he isn't the best at interpreting social cues. He certainly does know right from wrong. Shows like this will not help to get people to better understand this diagnosis and I am very surprised this somehow got aired on NBC, the network that recently had such a big push for information on autism. I will write to them to protest but the bottom line is that I doubt it will do much good and certainly the show is already out there. For those that have seen it, it may be difficult to separate AS from violent behavior and who knows what that might translate to down the line. "Yeah, I know that kid down the block is AS or has some similar issues. I think he should stay away from our daughter in case he misinterprets her behavior. "

A good book that is out in the popular press that gives you a possible glimpse into the mind of someone who is autistic is "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" by Mark Haddon. Or if you like soaps check out the character Lilly on All My Children. Or read a book by Temple Grandin. Just don't think that AS is how Trial by Jury portrayed it, for my son's sake and for everyone that is affected by autism.