Dylann Roof's lawyers appeal death sentence citing autism

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@TheRobotLives: "Autism Age" is a myth. You are as old as you are. Just as autism is not a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card, neither is it an excuse for anti-social behavior, because even if you do not choose to behave badly, you can choose to not behave badly. But if you are one of the rare people who cannot control his or her actions in the workplace, then maybe traditional workplaces are not for you.

I was diagnosed first with Asperger's Syndrome under DSM-IV. This was later amended to "PDD-NOS with PTSD comorbidity" under DSM-V. I have never been to jail, never been to prison, never been a defendant in criminal court, and never shot up a school. Nor am I about to.

Your assessment that people with PTSD are dangerous is a bigoted one, and I resent it.

As I understand it the autism age thing is based on maturity. That maturity has a developmental delay. But based on being around a lot of autistics throughout school, I can recollect that while some seemed less mature than their age, others seemed more mature. Some were like little adults.

Based on being around a lot of neurotypicals throughout school, I can recollect the same thing about them. Even now, some of my NT peers act like teenagers, while some already act like they're in retirement homes.

When a person's sample population for a certain trait is composed only of Ruritarians (for example), then they are likely to assume that only Ruritarians have that particular trait.

Thus, emotional immaturity is not exclusive to people with autism.

Was he legally insane at the time of the crime? Like he didn't realize or understand what he was doing at the time so it could be argued he was out of his mind?

I don't think so, if I recall he deliberately planned to commit the crime...so I don't think the autism should effect the judgement one way or another.

That is not an excuse to plan and carry out a mass shooting.

Exactly.

Maybe if he had been triggered and immediately lashed out physically at one of his tormentors, that may be excusable, but apparently he had been planning and preparing for his assault for months in advance -- thus the first-degree murder convictions.

I don't believe there is any cause and effect link between autism and criminality. Nor is there a clearcut one between terrible childhood trauma and criminality. If there was, then all of the survivor holocaust camp children would have become some of the worst criminals of all time. And I would probably be a mass murderer.

"Trolling"? Since when is asking questions and providing different points of view "trolling"?

Agreed. I was abused as a child, and yet my choices as an adult have not put me in prison. Our histories alone refute the idea that abuse and autism lead to criminal behavior. Besides, Bender brought up a good point: Is D.R. even on the spectrum?

Yes, so do I - we're just two of the many people here officially diagnosed with ASD and (C)PTSD. We aren't criminals, abusers or racist, yet we are all painted with this brush

Finding excuses for Roof's actions based on an imaginary diagnosis, speculation and the desperate actions of his lawyers does nothing but feed into the public ignorance and preconceptions about autism and PTSD.

Thank you.

Worth repeating: Childhood abuse has less effect on adult behavior than the choices adults make.

This about a spectrum of people.

Some can't/won't cope as well as you.

Are you still an abused child, or have you grown up and moved on?

Was D.R. a child undergoing abuse when he murdered those people, or was he an adult making his own decisions?

A lot of people don't cope well with abuse , very few of them become murderers . Depression is a far more likely outcome .

While most criminals were abused as children, most abused children do not grow up to be criminals; and while most autistics are diagnosed as children, most autistics do not grow up to be criminals, either.

It is the job of the deference to come up with mitigating factors, even if it is far fetched. It might be helpful to the autism community when it gets ruled against.