Violence: sociopathy vs. autism
With the
anniversary of the Columbine massacre comes renewed media interest in psychopathic killers on the rampage. Okay sure, some killers are psychopaths. But psychopaths are not the only sometime-violent members of the empathy-challenged club. Ann Bauer
recounts her struggles with a particularly violent autistic son who had to be institutionalized. Under the sub-headline "For years I thought of his autism as beautiful and mysterious. But when he turned unspeakably violent, I had to question everything I knew."
His destruction was utterly senseless yet brilliantly thorough: He submerged his computer, stereo and iPod in water; threw puzzle pieces and Styrofoam cups into the toilet and flushed them, plugging the pipes literally dozens of times a week; and urinated on every square inch of his room: bed, walls, floor, closet, everything but the ceiling and that only because he had not (yet, I suspect) figured out how.
When I asked him why he did these things he would say, eyes narrow like a night creature, "I don't like being caged."
. . .
[W]hen I showed up at the group home that morning, he was drinking coffee and pacing and still not dressed. I went into his room, took some clothes from the closet, handed them to him. And hinting at what he was about to do only with a small sigh, as if to say, "I've had enough," my son picked me up and threw me across the room.
. . .
Secretly, as if committing a sacrilege, I searched online using keywords such as "autism" and "violence" and "murder." What I found was confusing. There were roughly a dozen recent articles about heinous acts committed by people with autism and Asperger's syndrome, but each was followed by editorials and letters written by autism advocates vigorously denying a link. There were a few studies from the '80s and '90s, but the results -- when they showed a higher rate of violent crime among people with autism -- appeared to have been quieted or dismissed.
On the other hand there were, literally, thousands of heartwarming stories about autism. A couple of the most widely read were written by me. For years I had been telling my son's story, insisting that autism is beautiful, mysterious, perhaps even evolutionarily necessary. Denying that it can also be a wild, ravaging madness, a disease of the mind and soul. It was my trademark as an essayist, but also my profound belief.
. . .
Back when Andrew was in junior high school, my mother had a friend whose adult son had only recently been diagnosed with autism. He'd been dysfunctional since childhood, failing at school, unable to make a friend or keep a decent job. At 35 he was still living at home, collecting carts at the local grocery store, and taking anticonvulsants (Tegretol was the unofficial treatment of that era for outbursts) to control the violent urges he'd been having for 15 years.
"You think he's better now," my mother's friend once said as we watched a young, laughing Andrew out the window, playing tag with his brother and sister in my parents' backyard. "But wait 'til he's older. Then you'll understand. "
I hated her and was furious that she wished for our downfall -- also that her dumb, psychopathic son had been given the same label as my beloved child. Autism had become oddly fashionable; my mother's friend was wealthy. Clearly she'd gone "diagnosis shopping." My son, I vowed, would be nothing like hers.
. . .
The chairman of Trudy Steuernagel's department rose at her memorial service to proclaim, "Autism doesn't equal violence." And this probably is mathematically correct: Autism does not always equal violence. But I do believe there may be a tragic, blameless relationship. Neither Sky nor Andrew means to be murderous -- of this I am sure -- but their circumstances, neurology, size and age combine to create the perfect storm.
. . .
Mine, I decide, must be in part to break the silence about autism's darker side. We cannot solve this problem by hiding it, the way handicapped children themselves used to be tucked away in cellars. In order to help the young men who endure this rage, someone has to be willing to tell the truth.
I don't believe auties and aspie's are bad any more than I believe sociopaths are bad. I'm just saying that we have a lot more in common than anybody would like to admit, a fact that may be surprising given the choir-boy image auties and aspie's have in society compared to the soulless demon image that sociopaths have. If the neurodiversity movement embraces sometime-violent auties and aspies, it should include sociopaths as well.
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With the anniversary of the Columbine massacre comes renewed media interest in psychopathic killers on the rampage. Okay sure, some killers are psychopaths. But psychopaths are not the only sometime-violent members of the empathy-challenged club. Ann Bauer recounts her struggles with a particularly violent autistic son who had to be institutionalized. Under the sub-headline "For years I thought of his autism as beautiful and mysterious. But when he turned unspeakably violent, I had to question everything I knew."
Intriguing essay and to say the least it has my mind moving fastly because at the age of 35 I have given birth to what the Birth to three system says a child with autism who has "inappropiate behavior and tantraums" kindly speaking at the age of 14 months he will try to ripe someone face off like a pitbull and pee in someones face when they are sleep each act is calculated and quiet and when told not to do an act there is a uncontrollable desire to just accomplish it. I am living in a class status who will in the future lock my baby boy under the jail and when the baby face with these acts are now precieved as adorable and friendly cause he gives a hug or sly comments of being fresh for wantig to kiss, hey I am intelligent enough and sad enough to find so much comfort secretly that my son with all my efforts to train him will it be enough. His father now sits in a jail cell 30 years old and hid the fact he was autistic and pretended very well now I a college educated woman is left alone to raise the element of society America is simply advertising only half the truth and it is the hardest job on earth and in some ways I pray to God I can crack this mystery to save my sons father and my son, the violence can be replaced with love will it truly calm there conflicting acts and the inner desires that are driven to commit crimes. He is sitting now in 20 hour lock up and no friends and family feels there life is better, my how secrets can destroy the future of a innocent person Now I am dealing with two children from a sociopathic behavior because I am vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, but I think deeply flawed (the main problem is that we need to embrace difference INCLUDING its dark side, it's not like the majority don't have a dark side too).
ReplyDeleteI'm autistic, and I do think the autistic rights movement is in denial about this, and is selling out autistic people who are getting targeted by the state for violence. Autistic people can become violent in very specific circumstances, one of these is meltdown which triggers fight-or-flight, another is if the autistic sense of equity and honour is badly offended, it feels almost obligatory to retaliate in some way. Now of course, when NT people get caught in fight-or-flight reactions and use violence, they get off on temporary insanity or necessity defences; when they are slighted so badly that they retaliate, it's considered mitigating circumstances because their motives are understood. When autistic people do it, it's considered inexplicable, random, for no reason. As far as I'm concerned, it's first-off the NT world's fault for pushing us till we snap, secondly these people have no right to judge us with all the skeletons in their own collective closet, and when they can't make sense of our motives, and thirdly they shouldn't be allowed to try us since they don't understand us well enough to ensure humane treatment in prison etc. If NT people can't break their perverse attachment to punishment, then at least they need to let us try our own people so they get fair trials.
I am very concerned about the views and misconceptions of may people surrounding autism and acceptable behaviours. I am the parent of two children diagnosed on the Spectrum as well as an educator of children with Autism or Asperger's syndrome. Autism and other identifications can never be used to excuse violent behaviours against other people! The identification may be used to explain behaviours and help educate and treat such individuals who commit violent acts against others, but acceptance of the acts themselves can never be condoned. Neuro-typical people who are accused of criminal activities are NOT deemed a free ticket by the defence of insanity. Quite contrary, to beliefs the defence is saved for people who have been identified with an a-typical behaviour repertoire, such as sociopathy, schizophrenia, etc and are deemed incapable of being rational and in essence unable to comprehend the consequences of their actions. Therefore the defence is typically reserved for the a-typical subgroup of individuals who are deemed through much medical and clinical evidence as being incapable of comprehending right from wrong. I have worked and lived with a wonderful group of autism spectrum people who are witty, intelligent and I feel no threat to society, but there is a subset of individuals wether they have the Autism diagnosis, or sociopathy diagnosis, who commit heinous and unthinkable crimes, with no evidence of remorse or concern for human suffering. This we can not justify regardless of sensory issues, tolerance/rigidity issues and anti-social behaviours, which are deemed to necessary in order to identify the major traits of Autism. We can not condone these actions regardless of wether intent or comprehension of actions is present. The safety of the individual and society must be forefront in our laws and how we tolerate behaviours from humans regardless of identification. Autism is no excuse, nor is a reason of insanity, when harm is inflicted on another human being. An identification of Autism gives an explanation of the behaviours exhibited but is not an excuse. We need to move forward and teach people what acceptable behaviours are and how to communicate their frustrations in a positive manner. It would be no different if a neuro-typical person harmed an autistic person, both are wrong because they cause harm to another human being. I would not change a single quirky or other harmless behaviour from my autistic children that is what makes them who they are and I love them for who they are. But I will not tolerate physical aggression or harm inflicted on anyone, not even from my own flesh and blood . I will teach them how to deal with the many sensory and communication hurtles they encounter on a daily basis in a humane and acceptable manner. I know they are destined for great things because I believe in them and see their potential. I want them to be productive and positive members in our society, while keeping their core identity intact.
ReplyDeleteI will teach them how to deal with the many sensory and communication hurtles they encounter on a daily basis in a humane and acceptable manner. I know they are destined for great things because I believe in them and see their potential. I want them to be productive and positive members in our society, while keeping their core identity intact.
ReplyDeleteWe have several sociopaths here who do just that for themselves.
“Autism and other identifications can never be used to excuse violent behaviours” - why on earth not? Neurological evidence shows that the parts of the brain which would control or process 'behaviour' switch off during meltdowns – see here: http://www.autism-help.org/education-behavior-aspergers.htm The parts which would be aware of consequences, both real (such as hurting someone) and invented (such as punishment), switches off during meltdowns – and punishing meltdowns DOES NOT work, and is proven not to work. You may as well say “epilepsy is no excuse for violent behaviours” if someone hits someone during a fit. Worse, meltdowns can be brought on by external stressors outside an individual's control. In law this should be recognised as 'temporary insanity' and 'absence of mens rea'. These terms apply to similar mental states by NT people, look up “battered person defence” for example. The fight-or-flight response is nearly always an effective defence for NT people. If there was any LOGIC – as opposed to PREJUDICE – in the legal system they would be applied to autistic meltdowns too.
ReplyDeleteI also don't think we understand what NT people call “right and wrong”. To be precise – our amygdala (compassion, imaginative empathy) works fine (in fact above NT levels) but the prefrontal cortex (which processes social conventions) does not – we can't be expected either to intuitively know social conventions, to apply them as others do, or to feel them to be moral (this is the opposite of sociopaths, whose prefrontal cortex works – they understand conventional moral constraints – but their . It is unfair and unreasonable to expect an autistic person to understand and identify with moral standards set up by and for NT's.
“We can not condone these actions regardless of wether intent or comprehension of actions is present. The safety of the individual and society must be forefront in our laws and how we tolerate behaviours from humans regardless of identification” - this is vile, authoritarian nonsense – by this standard, accidentally killing someone is the same as murdering them – unknowingly bringing flowers in a room, which cause someone with an allergy to have a life-threatening fit, is the same as attempted murder – a person should still be convicted of drink-driving even if they can prove their drink was spiked – a person who accidentally walks out of a shop without paying for something should be charged with theft – a person who sits on a wall and it collapses under them, should be charged with vandalism. A blind person walks into someone they don't know is there – that's assault, just the same as if they bodychecked someone on purpose? A deaf person fails to stop for police, that's a crime? Why, for this matter, shouldn't a rock which falls on someone's head be legally liable – it isn't intending to hurt, it doesn't understand what it does, but if this is irrelevant, then a rock, too, must have moral responsibility. It is very clear that, in law, WHENEVER an NT person does something they can't help, or even something they can help but only at huge cost, it gets put down as necessity defence or self-defence or temporary insanity or lack of criminal intent etc etc. It is any coincidence that the suspension of the basic principle of justice that something cannot be wrong without intent is ONLY used to justify the continuing fascistic persecution of the psychologically different, and NEVER used to protect vulnerable people FROM NT people and their obsession with maintaining their supremacy (safety FOR THEM not others) above all else?
The position that 'safety of individuals/society is paramount' is a fascist-eugenic position which in fact means that the safety of NT individuals is primary over the safety of autistic individuals ('individuals' used in an unmarked sense means NT, and 'society' is an instance of magical thinking whereby NT people attribute a collective essence to their homogeneous responses). Padding it around with the excuse that harmless eccentricity will be tolerated may serve to disguise this core, but it does not get away from the fact that, when push comes to shove, NT supremacy is primary in this position.
ReplyDeleteHave you every thought what effect your intolerance has on autistic people, who become afraid to go out in public in case we have a meltdown? What effect it has on people who go through life believing they are guilty for things they are not guilty for, and cannot stop? It is a matter of fact that most autistic people grow up traumatised, many autistic people develop anxiety, depression, PTSD-like symptoms, social avoidance, etc., as a direct result of the prejudice against meltdowns and the resultant risk of persecution. At any time, for reasons outside our control, we could be forced into a meltdown and then punished for the meltdown. We can't stop it. Do the order-fanatics have the slightest idea how this feels?! It's exactly the same as if we were at risk of being pounced on and attacked at any point. It hangs over our heads like an axe. It's like we're walking a tightrope over a pit of crocodiles whenever we're among NT people or out in public. And all of this in a situation where we're also forced to interact with NT's – we're expected to go out to work or school etc. Most autistic people manage it through denial, through pretending they don't have meltdowns, they don't do anything “bad” during meltdowns, or their meltdowns are always justified in a 'moral' way (they can't be morally justified any more than they can be morally condemned: acts in meltdown are not intentional). Very few of us are becoming conscious. These few are discovering the neurological facts, the parallels with NT responses which are not demonised, the fact that we can't control what we do in meltdowns or what brings them on. (The most we can do is try to catch them before they happen, or avoid things we *know* cause meltdowns – and, perhaps, to be very risk-averse about trying anything new – and most of us try to do this, but it is NOT foolproof and has NO parallel in obligations imposed on NT's). The position taken so often is that this absurd situation is tolerable because NT safety/security is paramount. But what use is safety/security without basic human recognition, without human rights, such as the right not to be blamed for something which is not intentional? NT people have adopted a fanatical ideological position that people are always 'responsible', and fail to reality-check this position against scientific evidence or against the effects of their own actions on other psychological types. This is why NT supremacy persists to this day.
Another problem here. Most autistic people suffer one or more kinds of pain and harm from certain sensory inputs – noise, bright lights, touch, being grabbed or hugged, being exposed to strong smells, etc (it varies with each person – I have even heard of aversion to the colour yellow). Some can suffer pain and harm from a socially-conditioned trauma-response connected to past experiences of overload. Does this mean an NT person (or for that matter another autistic person) is guilty of violence if they talk at a normal volume, or turn on the lights, or tap someone's arm, or wear perfume? Even if the NT person had no idea an autistic person might be present who had this particular problem? And even (like in the case of drink-driving) if no autistic person is ACTUALLY present and harmed by their actions? If we're saying that all violence to another person is liable whether it's deliberate or not, whether it's understood or not, then NT people are guilty of violence whenever they do any of these things (and I could multiply a thousand examples – including things I do myself). It can't be excused because they didn't mean to hurt anyone, it can't be excused because they don't know about autistic sensory problems.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, this would be a horribly cruel way to treat NT people. And secondly, the fact that NT people aren't held to this standard, but autistic people are, is a double standard.
Sorry, wrong link. Was meant to be:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.autism-pdd.net/testdump/test17134.htm
Sociopaths are BAD, very bad, evil, frightening because of the potential damage and the cunning ability they have to completely destroy another human being.
ReplyDeleteI have taught special education for 25 years and have had some experience with violent outburst from autistic children. For example, one boy about the age of 12, grabbed me by my upper arms and began to squeeze. His hands had to be pried off my arms and I was bruised with his hand prints as a result. I was told that he bit off his sister's finger. I have seen an autistic boy with no language skills, jump up and lash out at teachers, punching them in the chest uncontrollably. I had to shove a desk between this student and a teacher to stop her from being assaulted. Not long ago, I was walking down a hallway at school and a young boy who was with a parent swung at me with all his might, slapping me across the the upper arm. It was with brute force. Since I do not usually work with this population, my experiences are limited to the ones mentioned. But I have seen, in classrooms, students throwing themselves like projectiles, hitting anyone or anything in this way. These stories are real and we must find ways to protect and assist parents and teachers who habitually are assaulted by this type of behavior.
ReplyDeleteI have ASD. I have used violence only on objects.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you will believe the cold-mother theory later on, when your sex drive stops competing for your words and your mind does and is.
I don't think I explained my last paragraph - I was talking about a person hallucinating.
My words are not very cryptic, if you understand them.