Youth with AS vindicated

[Guest guest]

All,

You may remember when I mentioned, a few months ago, the 14-year old male high

school

student with AS that was accused of brutally sodomizing a small poodle, leading

to the

euthanizing of the pet. I was upset that the police, the district attorney, and

the media

had apparently decided that the boy was guilty. The evidence was spotty... only

a single

eyewitness that had not gotten a clear view of the perp's face, but the fact

that he had

AS meant to everyone that he HAD to be the one that did it. It just fit

everyone's

preconceived notions about what " those kind " of people would do. Had this been

a normal

14-year-old, it is doubtful that the media would have revealed the identity and

the

address of the accused; until this happened, I had thought it was illegal. I

learned that

it is legal, but the media have an " understanding " with the authorities that

they are not

to reveal juvenile's names or addresses. In this case, though, they chose to do

just

that, and it is obvious that they did so because of the special circumstance in

this

case... that is, that the boy is on the spectrum.

It is doubtful that the police would have arrested someone and stopped the

investigation

with such flimsy evidence. He had AS, though; that, apparently, was a handy

surrogate for

actual evidence. Being different automatically creates the presumtion in the

minds of the

masses that one is more likely to do all sorts of terrible things. This boy had

to endure

months with a transmitter strapped to his ankle, locked in his house... other

boys that

commit crimes are released on bail, but not someone this dangerous. He has AS;

he must be

a threat.

Now it has been revealed that the youth's lawyer proved in court that the boy

was in

school when the attack on the dog took place. The charges have been dismissed,

and the

youngster is free. Free in the sense of not being incarcerated, but certainly

not free of

the demons that will probably haunt him for a lifetime. He was treated like a

horrible

criminal and subjected to terrible treatment by the authorities and the media,

and it was

all because he was not normal. Certainly it was not the physical evidence;

there was

none. It was not the eyewitness testimony; no one clearly saw the face of the

person that

was allegedly in the area at the time, and no one saw anyone do it. He will

have to live

with the pain and humiliation of this forever.

I am glad that he was vindicated; most people on the spectrum seem to love

animals, so I

really had doubts that he did it. He maintained his innocence throughout, but

no one

believed him. He was, and is, abnormal; he must have done it. Only he didn't.

I have asked the reporter that interviewed me and wrote the article in which I

appeared to

write a follow-up piece. I am also going to write a letter to the editor. The

newspaper,

which was one that chose to reveal the boy's identity, is the Tucson Citizen, if

any of

you are interested in doing the same. Shame on them... shame on the police, and

shame on

the district attorney. Shame on neurotypical society for assuming that abnormal

means

criminal.