Aspies and school shootings. [*fiction*]

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Chimchar
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21 Mar 2008, 2:34 pm

I wanted to write my second book.

It's called Ashenvalle high. It's about a 14 year old boy diagnosed with Aspergers. He goes to a public school and is constantly teased. Any person with AS can relate to him :D , but he or she might change their mind when they find out at the end, he starts a shooting killing 39 people and himself :( .

I was really excited writing this story. Until, another aspie told me that if this book gets published, society will start to fear Aspies instead of understand them.

i thought I could write the story from the Aspies Point of view. Because he's constantly picked on and when he starts the shooting, reader will think, he this is what happens if bullying continues...

What do you guys think? Should I continue writing this.

Here's a sample of the story.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddgfj8tv_5d655jwpg&hl=en


I'm an Aspie, not an NT troll. I'm writing a book about an autistic boy, but since i have little knowledge of the disorder, I don't know if it would offend others with AS.



merrymadscientist
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21 Mar 2008, 3:08 pm

Yes you should write it. It may be controversial, but it is something I can see happening - there have been times myself when i have thought about wanting to just shoot the lot of them (although even if I did have a gun I am at least 99% sure I would never have done it). If you can present it so that the reader really empathises with the character and gets to the stage that they can understand why he does what he does at the end, then I think it could be really good. I always think that people do what they do for a reason, even in these extreme cases, and that if you were that person you would realise that they didnt have much of a way out. I think to get the the stage of shooting people though you would have to have a disociation from reality, something I have had when i have been very depressed, which stops him from acting morally.
It is true that it isnt a very positive message to give about AS, but perhaps it is something that could happen (and maybe has already, I dont know the details of the people that have done such a thing).
p.s. I didnt yet read your segment of the story. I will do so now.



Zsazsa
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21 Mar 2008, 3:08 pm

Why would you want to present Asperger's Syndrome in such a negative way? People already fear what they do not understand.



Chimchar
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21 Mar 2008, 3:11 pm

I didn't know it was protrayed in a negative way. But now I'm not sure if I should write it.



MrMark
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21 Mar 2008, 3:17 pm

Perhaps if it was one of a collection of short stories with AS protagonists demonstrating the diversity that exists within the AS community...


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darkstone100
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21 Mar 2008, 3:18 pm

Hmm, the small portion of story does sound interesting, but I've been teased most of my life and I've never had the urge to shoot up a school.



merrymadscientist
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21 Mar 2008, 3:22 pm

My urges to shoot people have come generally when I was trying to get to sleep and people were being noisy and calling me a freak when I told them to be quiet. I can get quite murderous when I want to sleep and I cant. But seriously, it wouldnt ever have happened.



Chimchar
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21 Mar 2008, 3:51 pm

i'd like to get to know you merry :)



theZenman
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21 Mar 2008, 3:55 pm

I don't believe it would be wise, necessarily, to publish such a story given that the protagonist is shown specifically to suffer from AS. For people who are not well informed on AS, this story would serve only to place a fear on them of people who may have AS or who they may suspect of having it. We cannot continue to encourage people's fears, even though I understand that this is not your intention, nor did u ever see this interpretation (both understandable). However, not everyone is understanding.

I agree with MrMark that this might be best as part of a collection of short stories with different individuals with AS with different perspectives and personalities.



markaudette
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21 Mar 2008, 3:57 pm

Mass murder is not as cool as getting even with everyone that ever did you wrong.

Write a peaceful book that millions adore. Then go to everyone who has ever done you wrong and give them a copy of the book.

The press would use a violent novel written from an Aspie's prespective to incite fear mongering against the Aspie world. And we don't need crap like that.

Take the high road.



Chimchar
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21 Mar 2008, 4:02 pm

Instead of a shooting, why not a suicide even though it may be cliche?
According to my research, 85% of Aspie teens commit suicide. (I cannot verify that it is true.)

I'm sorry guys, I thought a book like this would make a bestseller and make million of people read my book and understand both the disorder and bullying. I didn't think that it would lead to fear.

At VT shooting, I felt sympathetic of the killer for some reason.



TLPG
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21 Mar 2008, 4:18 pm

I think a book like this could work, just as long as those who bully are painted as the bad guys - and more importantly all other avenues to put a stop to it (including legal) are followed through.

Although I wouldn't actually go through with the shooting part. I think it would be more effective if the Aspie in your book committed suicide. Yes, that's a negative as well but at least you won't create the fear that a shooting would. Make sure that it's the bullying that is painted as causing it, and not the Aspergers.



The_Cucumber
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21 Mar 2008, 4:20 pm

There actually is a way to write a book with a similar premise without evoking as much controversy.

Rather then the character diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome being the shooter, why not make him a hero?

He is teased and ridiculed by his peers at school and when he overhears the shooter discussing his plans, no one believes him. However, when the shooting actually happens he finds himself hiding just a few feet behind the shooter and instead of freezing up he lunges for the shooter and wrestles him to the ground unarmed saving many lives. His peers who once teased and ridiculed him now consider him the greatest hero ever to have come to the school. Perhaps he is even awarded a local scholarship that normally goes to the star of the football team (who ironically happens to be the person who ridicules him the most).

Your original premise portrays Asperger's Syndrome in a negative light. If you really want to write a book that will help people with Asperger's Syndrome, something closer to my premises would work out much better.



Chimchar
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21 Mar 2008, 4:33 pm

TLPG wrote:
Make sure that it's the bullying that is painted as causing it, and not the Aspergers.


That's what I'm doing in the book.



Glencannon
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21 Mar 2008, 4:39 pm

I think you could write a book on this subject and not portray AS in a negative light. However you would have make the reader fall in love with the character and give absolutely no indication that the main character is going to commit a school shooting until the very end. You could even have a lady and the tiger type ending where you cut the story short just before the shooting leaving the reader to wonder whether or not you character went through with the plans, you would have to create some sort of inner conflict within the character before hand though so that the ending is truly ambiguous.



MrMark
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21 Mar 2008, 4:50 pm

Chimchar wrote:
According to my research, 85% of Aspie teens commit suicide. (I cannot verify that it is true.)

I feel pretty confident that's inaccurate. The suicide rate among AS is higher than the general population, but there's a lot of teens here and they're not dropping like flys.


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