Ex-banker cheated; also happened to be Aspie

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http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM ... GYC0esraUA

I didn't see anything else about this case on here. This bothers me that they are using his AS as an excuse for why he did it.

Yes, AS might mean that the person doesn't know what is socially acceptable. But this is cheating on an exam--wouldn't someone with AS know that was wrong, not just socially unacceptable?

Also, if this man is a millionaire former banker, presumably he would have had to have quite a few social skills, as it seems like to be a big banker, one needs more than just high intelligence and math skills--I thought banking had a lot of social aspects--meeting with heads of huge companies who are wanting funding, deciding if someone is trustworthy, and so on. I would think someone with AS who had this type of career would be very high-functioning AS, almost NT in many ways. Wouldn't such a person know that cheating was wrong?

I'm not sure of the background on this and why he did it. He obviously was way more naive in his personal life than his business life, which I guess could be attributed to the AS. Did the guy threaten him, was it his boyfriend, did the guy give him a big sob story that he felt sorry for, or what? I'm thinking that even an NT might do something like this and then what would they blame it on?

It just the kind of thing though, that's liable to make people think that Aspies are unstrustworthy and unable to hold very responsible executive positions, when obviously he seemed to have held that position for awhile and this was actually something in his personal life.


(Note: I just edited the title of my post because I realized it was doing exactly what I was complaining about, making it appear his AS caused him to cheat!)

Last edited by Norah_W on 04 Mar 2008, 11:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I perform risk analysis software development, and data structuring for Bank of America, and I can tell you that I am very well compensated and I don't have to deal with many people. Dealing with a business meeting is one thing I have to do, but dealing with leads and golf and all that BS is just not at all in my skill set or responsibilities. You could call me a "banker" because I work for a bank and make a lot of money, but more accurate would be "a geek that works for a bank". I write sophisticated artificial intellegence software, I don't shake hands for a living. I would imagine he did the same.

And yes this guy is just being an asshat. He knew it was wrong (if you need a fake ID, signs point to "you knew it was wrong" or at least illegal), he is just using AS as a cop-out.

I absolutely agree with this Shaggydaddy. When you forge a student ID and you have worked as a banker with a 7 figure salary, don't tell me you don't have the intelligence to figure out that you were perpetrating a fraud.

I agree with ShaggyDaddy & Silver Meteor--the guy is being an asshat. He had to have known it was wrong. What I hate so much about this is people with little knowlege of AS are liable to think that AS predisposed people to cheat, or to not know right from wrong, based on this guy trying to get off easier because of his AS. Instead of thinking that the guy happened to have AS and be someone who thinks it's OK to cheat as well, like there are people who are NT and think it's OK to cheat.

And also somewhere in the case is the implication that cheating is a socical faux pas, and since Aspies often make social faux pas, of course Aspies might accidentally cheat and not know it was wrong. Even if they were brilliant, millionaire bankers.

I hope this isn't going to preclude that bank from hiring other brilliant Aspies.

I heard of this news.

I explained in the forum that I administer, as I quote:--

"Please note that Mr Drean pleaded guilty to charges of cheating in university exams, and did not offer a plea in defence. The fact that he "suffers" from Aspergers Syndrome may be a mitigating factor, but then it may not be. It was not a plea in defence."

Needless to say, I do not condone cheating in exams!

I'd be interested to know what job this banker actually did. I think investment banking would be utterly unsuitable for someone with AS, not because of the social aspect, but because of the constant need to make instant decisions while holding large amounts of information in your short-term memory.

Working on the software development side, like shaggydaddy, would seem far more suitable.

Another thing - it's a bit odd that someone earning about £1 million per year would risk a jail sentence for £20,000. I wonder if he was contemplating giving up his job and embarking on an actual career as an exam cheat.