… Then he talked about his son’s diagnosis: Asperger’s Syndrome, a developmental disorder on the autism spectrum. As a young child, Nick flapped his arms and jumped a lot. At three, he barely spoke. As an adult, he still cannot tie his shoes, making it all the more impressive that he has achieved so much.
Then the dad added one more item to his son’s resume: Nick is a convicted felon, a sex offender on the registry. He was found guilty of possession of child porn. Full Article
“The Alabama judge shrugged, saying, “You have autism? I’m bald. It’s just something we live with.””
Huh?
“The Alabama judge shrugged, saying, ‘You have autism? I’m bald. It’s just something we live with.'”
That judge is EVIL. He is pure scum who doesn’t belong on the bench. One day he will have to stand before God. He will. What a pile of garbage!
Meanwhile, the Judge is looking at getting hair plugs to treat his baldness while this poor gentleman has to live with a condition he cannot do anything about except to live with through treatment in hopes of a better life.
Never said the legal system would accept science…..
Be nice if someone found this particular AL judge, I cannot seem to find him, so a petition can be started to remove him from the bench or suspended without pay due to his discriminatory remarks…..Aspergers is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
As someone on the autism spectrum myself, I’m glad to see this being discussed, and kudos to Nick for having the courage to speak publicly about it. I don’t know if I’d be able to.
It’s hard enough having always been so “behind” my peers and unable to relate to them/be accepted by them/be understood by them, but being a registrant on top of it (something people are even less understanding of), I’ve been so very close to losing my will to live many times. Even now, a full decade after my release, I have far more dark days than not. AS is a condition that is still not well understood by the public at large, especially by the legal system, as evidenced in this article by Mr. “You have autism? I’m bald,” who I think should be removed from the bench. Dismissing something so out-of-hand that should’ve been given very serious consideration shows how ill-qualified he is to impartially decide peoples’ fates. I guess he has a degree in psychology and knows exactly of what he speaks, huh?
In my own case, which was federal (as I’m assuming Nick’s was), it took a doctor from a well-known university hired by my defense to sway the judge even an inch. There really isn’t much room in a one-size-fits-all, retributive legal system for careful consideration of defendants’ individual conditions which could be contributing factors that should be taken into account. That judge’s flippant attitude perfectly illustrates this.
Hello to the registrants who have disclosed they have AS.
There is a sub-committee forming to battle the injustices to AS people who were convicted across the US for sex offenses, some of whom were developmentally ages 12 or older.
The lead is a parent of a convicted AS young man.
He is seeking more AS people or their families for his project. His name is Brian Kelmar and his story is here:
http://blog.thearc.org/2016/04/06/mislabeled-sex-offender-kelmar-familys-fight-justice-2/
Although we are just in the early stages, our initial goals are to reach out to parents going through similar situations like Larry and his son for support and advice. Our end goal is to grow our group to be an effective national and state voice to make changes in the legislature and the judicial process for our sons who have gone through this and those who will. Just from anecdotal, what many of us thought ours was an isolated incident, is starting to be a rapidly growing problem for children with disabilities and involved in the criminal justice system.
I am reaching out to all of you for sharing ideas, reaching out to others in this situation, so that we can grow in numbers for people to hear our voice to make a difference and make a change.
Please pass on our information on to other parents going through this. I would be interested in discussing this further with you on how we can learn and or combine forces?
Brian Kelmar
I am a member of the above said subcommittee fighting the injustices to our children with IDD, Autism and Aspergers. My son has IDD and is completely reliant on his father and I to care for him and yet he is a registered sex offender. I also thought I was all alone. That something like this could never happen to any other family. Unfortunately, there many of us. Please join us and share your story so we can grow strong and make a change.