Autism and Aspergers =/= Violence or Misogyny

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Last Saturday I reflected on the tragedy of the Santa Barbara shootings. Within my entry, I have claimed that some sites are labeling Elliot Rodgers, the gunman behind the atrocity, as being written off as mentally ill. More specifically, Rodgers was supposedly suffering from Aspergers.

Aspergers is a high functioning form of Autism. It can often lead to awkward social interaction, repeat behavior, and clumsiness. These symptoms often start in the early normal language and cognitive development. Notice that nowhere in that definition is the word ‘violence’ included, but look at stories of Rodgers and you will notice that ‘Aspergers’ is splattered throughout the articles.

I find it sickening that the media would use such a scapegoat for something that they refuse to acknowledge. Instead of noting that what Rodgers did was out of hatred and misogyny, they choose to pinpoint it to a mental illness he doesn’t even have. While in other stories it was stated that Rodgers went to multiple therapists, we don’t know what exactly for. He could have possibly gone for the loneliness that he claimed he had, which was caused from his lack of friends and many rejections. However, his loneliness doesn’t connect to Aspergers, especially for the definition I just said. Plus wouldn’t the therapists have diagnosed him with Aspergers prior to the event, if not the first few visitations? And would the therapy and possible medication have stopped the shooting? We will never know.

Even some articles claim that Aspergers and violence have no connection whatsoever and they’re at the complete opposites of the spectrum. Instead, children who have Aspergers are often targets for violence as opposed to committing it. So rather than acknowledging misogyny and that it is incredibly wrong and flawed, the media chooses to use a mental disorder as a scapegoat. Not only does this make Rodgers and Lanza seem like tragic characters who were acting under the influence of an illness, but it gives a bad name to those who actually have this specific disorder. The media is damaging thousands of people who unfortunately have Aspergers, leading them to be attacked and discriminated against because of the “terrible things” their disorder can cause them to perform.

I’ve known people with Autism and Aspergers and to be honest, they’re no different from you and me. They’re just trying to get through life, if not with a little more difficulty. For them to be labeled as a part of a group where someone who couldn’t handle rejection well or felt like shooting up a school is just disgraceful. Those killers don’t belong in that group, especially Rodgers; who should be in a separate, acknowledged group of misogyny crime and not crime caused by a mental illness he didn’t even have.

Feel free to reblog, comment, and as always, feedback and followers are welcomed. So, what are your thoughts on Rodgers? Do you think he had Aspergers and why?