Posted on 01/21/2007 6:30:44 AM PST by raccoonradio
Asperger’s syndrome has been used as a defense with some success in cases of violence, experts say, suggesting it may arise when the fatal stabbing of a student at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School eventually goes to court.
During an arraignment Friday in the death of 15-year-old James F. Alenson, the attorney for 16-year-old John Odgren said his client has Asperger’s, a mild form of autism that has helped win acquittals for defendants in 22 U.S. criminal cases since 2002, according to the Autism Society of America.
The neurological disorder is characterized by average or above-average intelligence but difficulty developing social skills or responding to interpersonal cues. Teens with Asperger’s can be misunderstood and bullied, said Jamie Freed, a social worker with the Asperger’s Association of New England. “This is not a group prone to violence,” he said. “If anything, they’re often the targets of violence.”
In 2003, a Texas jury acquitted a man with Asperger’s in the killing of a neighbor. A year later, a Missouri appeals court overturned a first-degree murder conviction on the grounds that jurors weren’t allowed to hear of James Boyd III’s similar diagnosis. Boyd, who was serving a life sentence, this month entered a no-contest plea to second-degree murder and is scheduled to be sentenced in March.
Jeffrey Denner, a defense attorney, said a disorder like Asperger’s is more likely to result in a reduced sentence than an acquittal.
Odgren’s lawyer, Jonathan Shapiro, said Odgren has taken medications for years and has a “serious disability,” adding: “The defendant has a history of fairly serious psychological diagnoses and has suffered from hyperactivity dysfunction for many years.”
After the stabbing, Odgren allegedly blurted out, “I did it! I did it!” a prosecutor said. A police report said that he also said, “Is he OK? I don’t want him to die.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two to six children in 1,000 have one of the autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger’s. Scientists think genetic and environmental factors cause it.
Asperger’s is named after Dr. Hans Asperger, who wrote about the disease in 1944. But it was not officially classified as a psychiatric disorder until 50 years later.
I am so glad to hear that you are doing well. It gives me encouragement and comfort. Good luck to you and your parents. I'm sure you have a very bright future ahead of you.
"So, IOW, he had no trouble understanding that if you stab someone you just might kill him."
One trait of Asperger's is an inability to feel or express the normal range of human emotion. There is an inability to "read" emotions in others (lack of empathy), and the person with Asperger's attempts to express emotion may seem forced - or inappropriate to the situation.
Last year we had our son tested as he displayed some of the symptoms, but when it came to expressing emotion and judging emotion in others - he was able to do this, so Asperger's was ruled out.
"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."
Asperger's is very real.
Your limited adecdotal experience does not negate what is being learned about Asperger's.
There are many good parents who have Asperger's children.
More and more forms of mental retardation are being diagnosed as autism, I guess because there is less stigma attached to autism.
"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."
While my son was not diagnosed with Asperger's, he displays some Asperger-like social symptoms.
Your post rings true about not allowing this type of child to hide from the world.
One thing that has helped my son immensely is that we have a large family.
He is forced to socially interact with his siblings every day - they are his best therapy.
If he were an only child I don't think he'd be doing as well.
Have you heard of "Brainman" ??
I thought you'd like to read about this guy if you haven't already.
He gives a fascinating peek inside the brain of a person with Asperger's.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/26/60minutes/main2401846.shtml
I actually saw that segment of 60 Minutes when it aired. We watch anything we hear about on Autism or Asperger's. Every little bit of information we get helps.
We started reading alot about Asperger's this time last year when we were convinced our son had it.
Now it appears that he may have a "central auditory processing disorder" - which can lead to similar symptoms, but the cause of the problem is different.
Dr. Hans also coined the term autism a year before the American who usually gets the credit. His research kept a number of his patients out of the gas chambers. When the disability cops showed up, Hans explained that some folks were truly brilliant because they reallocated their cognative resources in such as way as to support their areas of giftedness while stinting other aspects of personal development. Despite their awkwardness and incompetence in some areas, these were still people of value.
Running across the term "Asperberger's Syndrome" a few years ago connected a number of dots for me. Such as -- why does life seem to be so full of invisible trip wires and picket lines? You open your mouth, and the room goes suddenly silent ...
And yes, such people are frequently the targets of bullies.
IMHO (speaking from the inside) they are more likely to be afraid of emotion, since their impulsiveness has so often led to painful consequences. The "flattening of affect" is a fear-driven clamping down upon one's emotional life.
Unless a conscience is infused into a child by age ten, he/she will NEVER have a conscience. In my anecdotal experience, the kid in question was diagnosed with Asperger's by a single obliging practitioner at fifteen, therefore the malady has replaced the missing conscience and he is absolved from every misdeed. As the diagnosis is purely subjective (no blood test), it seems to me that the little darling might just as easily be a classic sociopath than a true sufferer. I don't know about you, but the thought of a sociopath running around with a "get-out-of-jail-free-card" is extremely frightening to this particular Neanderthal.
They believe it's ok to kill "Monkeys and Dogs".
You omit the possibility of divine intervention through conversion. Even then, the "way of the cross" can take decades to humanize the disciple! Painful, but worthwhile.
I agree with most. My son has Asperger's and his reaction many time is to physically 'lash out'; followed immediatly by being very sorry and depressed over what he did (hitting, scratching, maybe bite.) He's 3 years old.
You do NOT plan out an attack if you have Aspergers.
That defense is total nonsense.
Watch it. I have Asperger’s too. And if were going to use that logic, why not lock up everybody preemptively? This is just lawyers using whatever they can to shield there client. Just because he has it doesn’t mean he can get away with killing people. He’s still in control of himself.
I think I was joking. It is of course no excuse. We can all muster up many excuses, but in the end they are all pretty lame.
Yet schools continue to “include” Asberger’s kids in classes. In my son’s former school which intergrated them, the 3 worst kids were all “Asberger’s” kids.
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