Someone spent time creating this page on Facebook… no one stopped them until countless people had seen it.
This page has now been removed. I post it here because the hatred, the sheer toxicity and venom that the person who created this page had to have felt to create this page is what so many of my friends and I have worried about and feared. This screen shot sums up so much.
I have spent several hours writing and deleting my thoughts on this. I have decided I cannot write anything more because I have no words. I have nothing to offer.
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Next legal move I think is get Autistics specified as a hate crime target that the law will notice and deal with on a harsher level. This screenshot is good reason.
Thanks, Ariane. I had no idea what to do when I came across the actual site.
Hate speech is not OK either.
I hate to say it Ariane but I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen people leaving comments mocking grieving parents who have lost children to cancer. The anonymity the internet provides has exposed a really disgusting kind of person. That’s why it was so satisfying when this creep was busted and lost his job:
http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the-biggest-troll-on-the-web
💧
And they say there is something “wrong” with me (us, autistic people)…I say there is something seriously wrong with the world! These people hide behind the internet, but they show their true colors, their truly disgusting nature.
So so disturbing!!
Ariane, you’re right….there just are no words. No words to express the horror of what happened, and no words to express the horror of this. I’m dumbfounded and speechless.
On another note, I’ll probably be giving you a call tomorrow if that’s ok. We go back to the geneticist this afternoon and I’ll be sure to let you know what we find out.
((((Ariane & Emma)))) from Angie & Risa
I’m with you. I’ve been silent on my own blog for the last week because I can’t even bring myself to enter this conversation. Everything I write is just full of invective toward the people doing things like that page in your screenshot, and I don’t want to put up posts that are full of invective. I was originally working on a post about the book Naked Lunch for this week, but I think I might just wait until after the holiday to post anything.
Disturbing, I think I’m lucky that I’m not American right now, others are not. Why people think we are dangerous and only people with different minds are dangerous when the world is full of things like this?
I’m worried about people’s lives and mental states, I’m sure many disabled people are depressed and in danger.
Some days I just hate people.
Also, am I the only one bothered by the reference to an autistic child as ‘it’? Not ‘hir’ or ‘ou’, not the singular ‘them’, not even as ‘he’, but ‘it’. And supposedly we’re the ones who don’t see others as being people. Gah.
I am glad that I wasn’t aware of this facebook page until after it was taken down. While I’ve seen enough comments made by people to bring me to tears and thinking what might happen the next time my son and I have to go out in public, I’ve been glad that he’s been ill the past few days and out of school since Friday. But now his fever is gone and he’ll have to go back to school and I’ll have to keep my promise to take him to visit Santa Claus and buy our little potted Christmas tree so he can decorate it. That requires us to take the bus, and taking the bus is going to expose him to the public and I don’t know what that public might be thinking about people with autism.
I have tried, in the past, to spread awareness, when people ask why he hums or rocks, I explain that he has autism and the sound of his humming or the motion of his rocking helps him process the extra sensory stuff that comes along with being in public and riding on the bus. It keeps him calm. Now, I’m not so sure it would be wise for me to divulge his autism. Anyone who knows anything about autism and its stereotypical behaviors, will be able to guess that my son is autistic by monitoring his behavior. He walks on his toes, he hums, he rocks, he does a lot of visual stimming and he does flap his hands, though not in the ‘usual’ manner.
People are outraged about this violence that occurred on Friday, understandably so, but why are thoughts and plans to commit even worse violence against a disabled person not as bad? And dehumanizing individuals with Asperger’s, the only purpose would be to make it all the easier to carry out their plan to set someone on fire. The Internet has created a very false sense of security in these individuals who believe as long as they post anonymously, they are protected, and if they were found out, we’d probably learn they really aren’t anywhere near capable of doing the things they talk about doing on the Internet. The problem is, while they, personally, might not be able to, there is going to be someone else out there who is capable and will get their inspiration to do so from something someone else on the Internet said. I fear for my son, I fear for all people everywhere with an ASD. And I am really angered at the media for bringing this all about and then claiming innocence because they didn’t say anything was certain and they couldn’t possibly know that people would react in the manner that they have. People, unfortunately when it comes to things like this, allow their feelings to overwhelm their common sense and when that happens, conclusions are drawn that have nothing to do with reality and certain words that are said in a statement such as ‘It has not been confirmed’ or several people we spoke to who knew the gunman understood that he had Asperger’s’ are mishear or misinterpreted as it has been confirmed or we know now that the gunman has Asperger’s because that’s what several friends have said, even though they aren’t medical specialists we’re going to report what they’ve said because they must know, being so close to the family and all. This is the second time the media has been irresponsible in linking ASD to a mas shooting in less then 12 months, and neither times has either sources has apologized nor taken the steps they should be taking to undo the damage their words have caused. At this point, I’m not sure their is anything they can do, or say to take away the damage. Maybe they meant to cause this tension as a means to spark their next big story. I don’t know, but I feel rather cynical today toward the media, and I’ve never had that much of a love for them to begin with. News media, and commercials, are the reason we don’t watch TV, and haven’t for nearly 7 years in our family.
I am less worried about this it seems than everyone else. There will always be extreme cases and people on the extreme who hate everyone like neo-nazis, klu klux klan. What I am more afraid of, is unspoken when the mainstream society on an unconscious level looks at us differently. The people who posted this were just looking for a reason to post it and already had hate in their hearts. After 9/11 it was the “sensible people” who became cautious and watched Arab people on the bus or boarding a plane, subconsciously thinking they were all terrorists, and when paranoia reaches this level I will be afraid. I am more afraid of what is unsaid than what can ever be said by people filled by hate like they did on facebook.
Wow, that is disgusting.
I saw this as I was writing my post, and it fueled me. Fueled me to write, fueled me to keep putting positive energy into the world. Fueled me not to become a person who is motivated by hate. So it is with love that I write you. It is with love that I say Emma is as a princess. And it is with love that I say we will overcome.
I have to ask this, am I the only parent of an autistic child having nightmares about violence being done to their child to prevent their child doing violence to others?
Okay, and now for some positive news: As a mother with no experience of autism, the current after-Newtown explosion of news articles on autism and Aspergers led me to an amazing blog, “Ido in Autismland”, and to many many amazing autistic individuals and their family, friends and supporters. I’m awed, amazed and inspired by all of you! So, it’s not all bad! (And I’m sure there are many people like me out there but we tend not to speak up.) (btw, after reading all of this i think there is NO connection between the killer’s alleged Aspergers and his violence)
🙂 Thanks. And I love the shapes on your page. 🙂
That desert island is looking better and better all the time…
I swear that is one of the most heart wrenching things I have ever laid eyes on. This is just sickening.
You’re right, there are no words.
And how is the person who posted that on Facebook different from the Sandy Hook killer? Here’s the difference: you don’t need to supply him with assault weapons, just give him a match.
What that posting proves is that hatred is rampant among the so-called NTs, and if I have to choose where to stand, I prefer to stand with the autistics any day.
(((Granma Paula))) ❤
How horrible, Ariana. I agree with Granma Paula. Evil comes not in just acts of violence but in words as well. Those who threaten to kill should be receive some kind of punishment before then end up acting on their words.