Autism Does Not Sit On An Island

Last Monday, July 23, 2012, Joe Scarborough from MSNBC made the comment about how he believes that people on the Autism Spectrum are capable of murder.  In addition, Mr. Scarborough is quoted as saying, "most of it has to do with mental health; you have these people that are somewhere, I believe, on the autism scale" which leaves us all thinking that he is linking Autism with having a mental health challenge.  Although it saddens me on the stupidity of his statements, I am left in disbelief on how my Autism Community has responded.

Just like Autism, the vast majority of individuals with a mental health challenge are not criminals and are never violent.  Whenever a horrific serial killing event happens it is linked with a person having a Mental Illness.  It is these events that solidify people's opinion that those of us with a mental health diagnosis are capable of going on a mass shooting spree killing innocent people.  All of us in the Mental Health Community suffer from these unfair assumptions.  Seventy to eighty percent of individuals who are diagnosed with a mental health challenge lose custody of their children.  I could have been one of them because I sat in a court of law dazed and confused why my mental health was being used against me.  I was traumatized as the lawyer stood up and said that my mental health diagnosis was grounds for immediate loss of custodial rights because I could hurt or even kill my child.

The question will always be, "Why do people kill?"  What Mr. Scarborough was saying is that there is under funding for both individuals diagnosed with Autism and Mental Illness.  This is a true statement.  How many of us are fighting for services for our children?  How many of us can not tap into the mental health system because our children are part of the developmental disability system and nobody link the two together?

There are too many examples on how a tragedy happened because the individual didn't find help in time. Years ago there was a man that pushed a woman into the subway tracks in New York City.  This individual looked for services and was denied help.  If our society was more willing to help this troubled man, this woman could be alive today.  Another example of our society turning the other way was the woman who drowned her children.  There was no talk about Domestic Violence that left her feeling like she was going insane.  I don't believe that Mr. Scarborough was saying that all individuals with Autism have a Mental Illness.  He was stating his frustration that all of us feel for the lack of services that leave us feeling helpless.

I think about Sam and his issues with the Greece School District's bus.  My son works hard every day to survive his bus ride.  At his last counseling appointment he rolled himself into a fetal position crying saying that I am not doing enough to help him.  How many situations was an individual under severe duress while making the jump to being unable to make sane decisions.  I am working overtime to resolve this issue that leaves my son feeling like he cannot defend himself.

Today I am left thinking about all the comments left from my fellow advocates with tears streaming down my face feeling traumatized by my own Autism Community.

Maybe this conversation boils down to other people's experiences and points of view.  I personally think of the people that I hold in the highest regard who have let me down with their comments and helping to perpetuate the stigma that we live with on a daily basis.  It is my opinion that these people are no better than Joe Scarborough.

I am, first and foremost, an advocate and the protector of my son.  I will stay in the Autism Community and fight my hardest to teach people who Sam is and the wonderful things he is capable of doing.  It is my job as his Mother.  I am hopeful that people will be more supportive of all of us who are diagnosed with a mental health challenge.

I would like to end by saying Thank You to all of my friends in the Autism Community who support me and my son.  It is your support that gives me the strength to advocate for Sam.


Definition of Mental

1. a: of, relating to, or being intellectual as contrasted with overt physical activity.
2. a: of, relating to, or affected by a psychiatric disorder <mental patient>.
b: mentally disordered, mad, crazy.

I choose being an intellectual as my definition of being mental.

*The photo that I use for my background was taken by Sam.