Defence Lawyers using defence of ASD for offenders that commit serious crime.

I'm not sure how to feel about it. I think it's human nature for reporters and their readers / viewers to immediately look for - and latch onto - anything in the way of known differences that could potentially help to explain instances of shocking and abhorrent behaviour. So perhaps it's inevitable, because we'll never know the reason behind any given individual's motivation or behaviour until the case has been fully investigated (and sometimes not even then).

I'm not sure that the media are necessarily aiming for autism to be seen as an "excuse" or sole reason - perhaps it's more a case of them flagging one potential contributory or related factor.

That being said, many of us on the spectrum have comorbid mental health issues, and research has shown that we can be at greater risk of suicidal thoughts or actions. Is it so far fetched to think that certain conditions, such autism (including its traits like rigidity, black and white thinking, and the potential for losing control of our behaviour during meltdowns, for example) in combination with mental health issues, could also lead to extreme actions at the other end of the behavioural spectrum?

We can also be more naive than neurotypicals, which can make us more susceptible to being groomed and manipulated into doing things that we shouldn't.

This article is interesting. Whilst it suggests that some research points to autistic people being more likely to be victims rather than perpetrators of crimes, it also says this:

"On the other hand, some studies indicate that individuals with autism may have a higher propensity for certain types of offenses, such as arson (Hare, Gould, Mills et al., 1999; Mouridsen, Rich, Isager et al., 2008), sex offenses (Cheely et al., 2012; Kumagami & Matsuura, 2009), and assault and robbery (Cheely et al., 2012)."

From: https://i-am-autism.org.uk/autism-and-crime-is-there-a-dangerous-connection/

Just for info, there's a similar recent thread here (one of many, I know).

So, overall, I don't really know what to think or feel about it.

I'm not sure how to feel about it. I think it's human nature for reporters and their readers / viewers to immediately look for - and latch onto - anything in the way of known differences that could potentially help to explain instances of shocking and abhorrent behaviour. So perhaps it's inevitable, because we'll never know the reason behind any given individual's motivation or behaviour until the case has been fully investigated (and sometimes not even then).

I'm not sure that the media are necessarily aiming for autism to be seen as an "excuse" or sole reason - perhaps it's more a case of them flagging one potential contributory or related factor.

That being said, many of us on the spectrum have comorbid mental health issues, and research has shown that we can be at greater risk of suicidal thoughts or actions. Is it so far fetched to think that certain conditions, such autism (including its traits like rigidity, black and white thinking, and the potential for losing control of our behaviour during meltdowns, for example) in combination with mental health issues, could also lead to extreme actions at the other end of the behavioural spectrum?

We can also be more naive than neurotypicals, which can make us more susceptible to being groomed and manipulated into doing things that we shouldn't.

This article is interesting. Whilst it suggests that some research points to autistic people being more likely to be victims rather than perpetrators of crimes, it also says this:

"On the other hand, some studies indicate that individuals with autism may have a higher propensity for certain types of offenses, such as arson (Hare, Gould, Mills et al., 1999; Mouridsen, Rich, Isager et al., 2008), sex offenses (Cheely et al., 2012; Kumagami & Matsuura, 2009), and assault and robbery (Cheely et al., 2012)."

From: https://i-am-autism.org.uk/autism-and-crime-is-there-a-dangerous-connection/

Just for info, there's a similar recent thread here (one of many, I know).

So, overall, I don't really know what to think or feel about it.