"On Monday morning, July 23, Joe Scarborough of MSNBC asserted that James Holmes is probably on the autism spectrum, and that autism would explain why he allegedly committed mass murder. These statements are ignorant and potentially damaging to people who already struggle against stigma and prejudice. There is absolutely no link between autism and criminal behavior; in fact, people on the autism spectrum are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators..."
Read Scarborough's comment below:
"As soon as I hear about this shooting, I knew who it was. I knew it was a young, white male, probably from an affluent neighborhood, disconnected from society -- it happens time and time again. Most of it has to do with mental health; you have these people that are somewhere, I believe, on the autism scale...I don't know if that's the case here, but it happens more often than not. People that can walk around in society, they can function on college campuses -- they can even excel on college campuses -- but are socially disconnected."
I have signed the petition and am sharing the web link as widely as possible-- here is my personal addendum to the petition letter:
"I am a concert level pianist, educator, mother of six, wife, worship leader, internationally published songwriter and recording artist, filmmaker/producer, author, blog publisher,
and I AM AUTISTIC.
MY AUTISM DOES NOT MAKE ME A MASS MURDERER!! Go to this webpage to view a video I recently produced about my piano concerto performance with a symphony orchestra--
http://livewithautism.blogspot.com/2012_06_03_archive.html AND, view my blog posts about Scarborough's egregious and ignorant statements at www.livewithautism.us
PLEASE MSNBC...FIRE HIS IGNORANT REAR-END AND I'LL BE GLAD TO TAKE OVER HIS POSITION!"
To read other journalistic commentary about how badly Scarborough has 'stepped in it' go to http://autismmediareport.blogspot.com/.
I will be posting an open letter to Scarborough later today.
The petition letter below was composed by autism advocate Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg who is affiliated with Change.org, as well as publishing her writings on www.journeyswithautism.com, www.autismandempathy.com and www.sojournerartist.com .
Retract your statements about autism and the Colorado shooting
Go to
http://www.change.org/petitions/joe-scarborough-msnbc-retract-your-statements-about-autism-and-the-colorado-shooting to join outraged autistic citizens and
supporters in sending a powerful message to MSNBC and Scarborough.
Retract your statements about autism and the Colorado shooting
Greetings,
I just signed the following petition addressed to: Joe
Scarborough, MSNBC.
----------------
Retract your statements about autism and the Colorado
shooting
On Monday morning, July 23, Joe Scarborough of MSNBC
asserted that James Holmes is probably on the autism spectrum, and that autism
would explain why he allegedly committed mass murder. These statements are
ignorant and potentially damaging to people who already struggle against stigma
and prejudice. There is absolutely no link between autism and criminal
behavior; in fact, people on the autism spectrum are far more likely to be the
victims of violence than the perpetrators. Study after study has proven these
facts. While people on the autism spectrum struggle with social cues and a
variety of neurological issues, autism is not a form of sociopathy. People on
the spectrum are fully capable of the full range of feelings, including
distress at the pain of other human beings.
Statements like Mr. Scarborough's have the potential to
cause prejudice and fear against innocent people who are trying to live their
lives in safety. I call upon Joe Scarborough and MSNBC to retract this
statement and issue an apology clarifying that people on the autism spectrum
are no more of a danger to others than anyone else.
The relevant part of Mr. Scarborough's statement is below:
"As soon as I hear about this shooting, I knew who it
was. I knew it was a young, white male, probably from an affluent neighborhood,
disconnected from society -- it happens time and time again. Most of it has to
do with mental health; you have these people that are somewhere, I believe, on
the autism scale...I don't know if that's the case here, but it happens more
often than not. People that can walk around in society, they can function on
college campuses -- they can even excel on college campuses -- but are socially
disconnected."
----------------
Sincerely,
[Your name]
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