Posted on 01/21/2007 6:30:44 AM PST by raccoonradio
The murderer talked about violence and reportedly dressed like the Columbine killers.
This article seems to blame the kids he talked to for not alerting adults. His parents never noticed? The medical professionals dispensing the various medications he was on never noticed?
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/21/teen_reportedly_talked_of_trying_to_kill/
So, IOW, he had no trouble understanding that if you stab someone you just might kill him.
Pass the twinkies, will ya?
You are exactly right. There is a spectrum of sociopaths from the violent ones to the ones who simply exploit by trickery and stealth. The latter gravitate to politics and the law. Bullies of all kinds are attracted to law enforcement, where they find that a powerful support system will cover up and defend their actions. In times of war, sociopaths will man the death camps and commit atrocities.
My point was that sociopaths are far more common and dangerous to society than more-obviously aberrant individuals like psychotics, who seem to inspire all the fear and rage on FR.
It's one thing to own or collect knives, but also having a bit of a fascination in stabbing someone (not in self
defense) is something different
>>Odgren had often boasted of violence; Ben Wasserman , 17, a senior, said Odgren told students last week that he kept a gun at home and had "once tried to kill someone."
>>His parents never noticed? The medical professionals dispensing the various medications he was on never noticed?
This is such a crock. True Asperger's syndrome kids are socially awkward, and may be intelligent/obssessed with things, but they know the difference between right and wrong. I am amazed at the creativity of lawyers in coming up with such absurd defenses, and the cretinous juries who would fall for them.
Medication can definitely help some people with Asperger's Syndrome. Also, if their problems are recognized early enough and handled properly, they can overcome many of their mental/emotional problems. Given the right support from parents, family, school and doctors children with Asperger's can lead productive lives. If the problems aren't recognized or ignored they have little chance of a normal life.
Your answer is very offensive. You're making an assumption about a disorder you probably know very little about.
And besides, you spelled "Asperger's" incorrectly.
Well that narrows it down a bit.
I have a nephew-by-marriage diagnosed with Asperger's. He is the nastiest, rottenist piece of juvenile merde I've ever encountered. A serial killer/rapist in training. To say he doesn't know the difference between right or wrong is laughable. He chooses to disregard it like a true sociopath which is his real pathology. IMHO, Asperger's (like Tourette's, ADD, ADHD, etc.) is simply an alibi for bad parenting and a consequence of a permissive society.
I have a very sweet passive 17 year old, highly intelligent grandson with Aspergers. If he killed someone, I would not consider his Aspergers as being a valid defense. Everyone must be held accountable to the same standard.
Yeah, and I'm sure your folk diagnosis of a disorder based on the observation of a single kid is much more valid than the work of hundreds of psychologists that have studied human psychology for years upon years and have more papers on the subject than you have books in your local library.
Can you provide a peer-reveiwed statement and studies backing up your claim that these disorders you mentioned are just a result of "Bad parenting" rather than relying on your own brand of folk psychology and anecdotal evidence?
And yes, if he's an Aspie, he probably does know right and wrong, he just needs to be told what's appropriate and he needs therapy to show him what's right and wrong.
Lot's of parents with Asperger's would probably feel offended at how you would say they're "permissive" parents.
BTW, I'm an Aspie and I turned out ok.
And this is how the aspie in question might get off, according to a good lawyer. He would feel as though he was threatened and he had to strike out and he didn't know the appropriate way to take care of it. Plausible defense since that's a major behavioral pattern of people in the Autism spectrum.
Personally, I think if his Autism is that severe, then he shouldn't be in a mainstream school in the first place. There are many special schools and tutors for people with AS.
Now that he's in legal hot water, I hope if he's found not guilty by reason of mental disability, he's sent to a psychiatric that can take care of his needs, but at the same time, he shouldn't be let out because he's proven himself to react violently to situations that he has trouble percieving.
Sending him out in public will just teach him that he can hurt people and get away with it because he's "disabled".
This single kid has had all the quack therapy in the world and he still lies, cheats, steals and beats up his mother on an almost daily basis, yet he is deemed not responsible for his actions due to his "disorder". Like the kid in Boston, is the syndrome going to be dragged out as his defense when he does something sufficiently horrible? Does he deserve a lifelong pass for his horrendous behavior? If he can't "help himself" from doing what he does, shouldn't he be locked away to protect society? What are the limits, if any?
There is a 4th grade student in a special ed program at my school who gets away with murder. His mother won't let the school give real consequences to this kid. The kid is "diagnosed" as Asperger's. Every parent in the school who knows the mom believes she doctor shopped for this diagnosis until she got it. The kid resembles a Fragile X child...extremely large ears, doesn't have the high intelligence of Asperger's, appears learning disabled. His Mother has extremely large ears (sign she is a Fragile X carrier) and is a narcissistic as they get. She has told me and other parents that "he can't be held accountable for his poor behavior--It's his Asperger's that is causing it."
This mother has every neighbor within 500 feet of the house upset with her. She calls the cops because people looked at her boy the wrong way. They truly are whack jobs...but she is already using this defense in the school environment.
The kid is truly BD....She is always talking trash about the teachers and staff..has nothing good to say about the school...and the school has to put up with this crap on a daily basis.
Your experience tracks mine almost to the letter. My sister-in-law ruined this kid from birth, telling him how much better he was than everybody else and he didn't have to abide by rules. When the kid became a monster of bad seed proportions, she knew it would reflect upon her. So I know for a fact she saw at least a half a dozen therapists until she got the diagnosis she wanted (having read about Asperger's in some magazine). I don't denigrate the disorder; my beef is with the phonies that hide behind it and the quacks that mete it out like handicapped stickers for marathon runners. Asperger's is becoming an alibi for psychopathy, a replacement for the conscience that doesn't exist.
Kids with Asperger's can be helped. When my parents found out when I was young that I had Asperger's my parents worked with me and gave me all the support I needed. It worked as I'm now able to interact normally with people socially and have reached the top of my class both in high school and college.
That is completely contrary to the advice from mental health experts. Children with Asperger's need to be surrounded by the educational process as well as the socail interaction at school. They need to participate in team sports, choir practice, Sunday School, visits to museums, summer camps (day camps), swimming lessons, music lessons and any other social acitivity the parents and child can handle. Certainly not all of these acitivities at once; but, stretch the child's ability as much as possible. If they are allowed to stay home and "hide from the world" they will quickly become house bound and very hard, if not impossible to change by junior high. At least that is the advice we were given. It certainly isn't easy; but, so far it works.
Don't judge everyone by your nephew. My grandson has Asperger's and he his a precious, loving, sensitive child. He can certainly be extremely difficult to handle; but, with the proper medication he behaves almost completely "normal". Luckily we caught his problem early. He is very bright but has trouble focusing and can be easily overwhelmed by noises or crowds. Social situations are akward for him. We are spending an enormous amount of time, patience, energy and money to see that he grows into a self supporting, productive citizen. Under no circustance is it reasonable to say that my grandson, or ALL people with Asperger's are the result of bad parenting or social permissiveness.
You should be ashamed of yourself. You sound like a Neanderthal, a pompous Neanderthal!!!!!
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