Comments on: Bearing Witness: The Impact of Media Misrepresentation

By: Sheila

Sheila — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:25:02 +0000

Rachel, Thank you very much for your brave post.

I also wanted to tell you that I appreciate your new website format. I find it much easier to read and appreciate the effort you took to make your blog more accessible.

Sheila

By: Heather Clark

Heather Clark — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:24:55 +0000

Rachel, I just wanted to reach out and let you know that I am still thinking about you, the community, and also this awful second crime. I am healing myself because being new here, I just did not expect such a bold move of hate to be our new reality. I still canâ€™t believe it, and I canâ€™t believe the way others with power have made it acceptable by refusing to correct or challenge it in any way. I am working on healing myself, because I know I cannot go on fighting for my family and friends, wounded by the stigma the way I am right now. Drying my tears nowâ€¦Lots of love to you.

By: Makayla Serniotti

Makayla Serniotti — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:24:47 +0000

I first heard about this issue on Change.org when I was emailed a petition relating to this. After that, I looked up the footage from that newscast to see for myself exactly what he said. His ignorance is astounding to me, actuallyâ€¦ itâ€™s making me furious! I canâ€™t believe that he would just say a fancy version of â€œAutistic people are going to be mass murderers sometime in their lives.â€ And whatâ€™s worse, he wonâ€™t admit his mistake and retract his statement, even though the evidence doesnâ€™t support his claim!

Okay, now that I have that out of my system, I will say that this gives me another reason to fight for social acceptance. Itâ€™s these ignorant fools with a god-complex, as well as many uninformed people around the world making these generalizations about people on the Autism spectrum, not even taking into account how it makes us as a worldwide community feel, that are making this a losing struggle! I personally fight for neuro-diversity at my school and my community (Iâ€™m a Junior in high school) so that my other friends on the autism spectrum are better understood and not stigmatized. And itâ€™s been working, too. All of them, and many other people affected with different disorders, have made new friends who accept them for who they are.

On a personal note, this new development in the world of Autism doesnâ€™t scare me at all. It could be arrogance that comes with being a 16 year old, but hey, I stand for what I believe in, and Iâ€™m not afraid to be myself. Iâ€™d be happy to correct an ignorant person, even if my words fall on deaf ears.

~Makayla Serniotti
Portland, Oregon

By: Alicia

Alicia — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:24:39 +0000

Iâ€™m not surprised, this is hard to live with, I wish I was able to be fearless.
Normally I feel the weight of being considered a monster because Iâ€™m mentally ill, we are normally the first people to be blamed for such tragedies but now as autistic I feel this again, here we have less focus on autism so not many people know of this kind of comments against us but few think we are human.

By: Karen Weaver

Karen Weaver — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:24:27 +0000

I wrote a piece after the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida about fears for my own black boys, who walk around looking black, perhaps suspicious because of their odd behaviors, lack of eye contact, and anxiety. I fear that they may be picked out of a crowd and perhaps harassed by law enforcement simply because of the color of their skin, but not only that, how they may react to law enforcement. An issue like this only compounds the stigma. I never published the piece because I wanted to put it somewhere where it would get more traffic than on my blog. I think Iâ€™ll pull it out, polish it up and publish it. Thank you Rachel!

By: Autism: The Wrong Answer to the Question of Mass Murder. | Autism & Oughtisms

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:24:18 +0000

[…] wouldnâ€™t be heard or need to be dealt with here. But Iâ€™ve changed my mind after reading a pained post by a friend, about how the purported link between autism and mass murder is affecting her and her […]

By: Aspie Dad

Aspie Dad — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:24:05 +0000

Thank you for keeping the heat on Joe Scarborough, and MSNBC for their damaging failure to set the record straight on this issue. Autistic people are already victimized all too much from rejection and bullying by people who donâ€™t understand them.

Autism has never been connected with mass murder. However, Autistic people have been murdered simply for being Autistic, or even suspected of being Autistic in some cases. Joeâ€™s damaging comments have the potential for increasing the violence against Autistic people. His comments certainly donâ€™t help anything.

Joe Scarborough needs to work very hard to repair the damage that he has already done to the Autism Community. Unforgivably, he seems to be ignoring the pain and damage that he caused. He needs to step up and correct the record!

By: sanni

sanni — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:23:57 +0000

we autistik s deserve every right tu live abn we deserve equality as ppl -scaroborough needs tyu sapologise tu us an a sincere an tru apology fr his degrading an damaging comments as his werds wil caus ppl tu harm us even mor

By: Autism & Oughtisms

Autism & Oughtisms — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:23:20 +0000

I hadnâ€™t written a post on this disturbing topic because I was worried it would just bring more attention to the claim, particularly because the country I live in doesnâ€™t appear to be very aware of the comment at issue. However, after reading your post, I think I must. And if it means some people are thereby exposed to the claim when they otherwise were unaware of it, I take solace in the fact that they will be hearing about it in a way that immediately puts rubbish to it.

I know this was a hard post for you to write, but it was important that it gets heard, so thank you, on behalf of my son and myself.

By: Ben Stansfield

Ben Stansfield — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:23:12 +0000

I am continually surprised that knowing this stuff doesnâ€™t make me fearful, but fearless. Normally, hearing about this would have me, still, in the same space you started out in. Perhaps itâ€™s the years and years of exposure to this kind of thinking re: gays, and I am partially immune.
I do get a bit scared when I think of how many times Iâ€™ve posted bits about autism and my relationship to it on Facebook, and not one friend or family member who is not autistic has commented on it. Thatâ€™s when I start to think along the same lines as you, that I may be confronted by this ignorance and misunderstanding tomorrow, or one day after that. Of course, dwelling on this possibility does me no good, and fortunately, I am so easily distracted I donâ€™t think about it for long. I do hope I have your presence of mind to say something or do something meaningful or at least clever 🙂