#AutisticAF

Canadian Alek Minassian found guilty of mass murder… despite being autistic.

Good.

Yes… good.

Ultimately, this may be the best outcome for the #actuallyautistic community…

Because lately, defense attorneys in the US & UK have tried to have murder and other crimes excused on the basis of mental disability… namely, autism.

If #autism were accepted as a defense for violence…

ALL autists could come to be feared as monsters by our neighbors, doctors, cops, government, vigilantes taking the law into their own hands…

There ARE co-morbidities & disabilities that might impact sentencing…

But in the US, under the DSM V definition… which does not include intellectual disabilities…

Autism shouldn’t become a “free pass”. So that autists do not become even MORE resented… and feared… by the general public…

“They’re crazy enough to kill ya… but they’ll get away with it.”

We’re weird. Not Frankenstein’s.

Big diff.

So #AutismRights…? #DisabilityRights…?

Come with responsibilities.

“A judge has declared that the man responsible for Toronto’s deadly van attack in 2018 is guilty of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.

“In rendering her decision, which was broadcast on YouTube Wednesday morning, Justice Anne Molloy said Alek Minassian’s rampage was “the act of a reasoning mind,” and noted that the 28 year old has “no remorse for it and no empathy for his victims.”

“He freely chose the option that was morally wrong, knowing what the consequences would be for himself, and for everybody else,” Molloy said in her decision. “It does not matter that he does not have remorse, nor empathize with the victims.”

Please note… to my knowledge, Canada does not have the death penalty. Which would definitely lead me to rewrite the tone of the post above….

Thank you to my wife, Kimmie, for input, ideas, and “needle to the eyeball” phrases…