If James Holmes has Asperger's, the rest of us are DOOMED.

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Yes, in a court of law we are all innocent until proven guilty (or we're supposed to be at least), but the court of public opinion doesn't quite work that way. There, people hear a talking head say something like that idiot said and the public frequently believes it to be gospel truth. Yes, this could cause a huge, fearful backlash towards our community.

Because we live in a society filled with idiots who will immediately villainize anything the media even remotely suggest. I have Korean family and friends who were scrutinized and discriminated against after the Virginia Tech Shooting because the one shooter was Korean. That's how dumbed down people can get when shootings and especially their shooters become a media obsession.

Let's not forget that a good handful of things that the media originally reported on the Columbine shooters were proven false years later.

I despise these killers who give all other introverted people a bad name. I also despise the reporters who feel the need to point out that they "lived alone and kept to himself". A man can't stay in his room for a weekend these days without being labeled a "serial killer".

Heh, my neighbors see little more of me anymore other than a car that's sometimes there and sometimes not! I haven't had a conversation with them in over a year, so I'm not sure what they think!

Being paranoid isn't giving AS people a good name either.

they already see us as empathy-less, violent sociopaths that see people as "no more an object than a blender" :^(

The whole thing is ridiculous.

I mean, people with aspergers can be rude sometimes without realizing it or cross boundaries, but mass murder? No, that is not aspergers.

This guy had very dark thoughts as evidenced by his letter sent to his psychiatrist. I want to think that he wanted help. But aspergers is not why he committed murder. There is more going on.

What I been reading and seeing on TV about this guy, a lot of people say he did not start acting strange until about 6 months ago. Something happened to trigger him. If he had AS, behavior showing AS traits would have been displayed his whole life. He does not have AS.

It's quite possible that he had a brain tumor, if he started behaving strangely six months prior. It is not unheard of; there have been mass shootings where, during the autopsy, a tumor was found pressing against some part of the brain or another and caused it to produce too little or too much of some hormone or another.

Thank you. Now let's just hope that the NT mainstream figures that out too.

I think you're worrying about nothing. We're definitely not doomed at all, even if Holmes has AS.

I have been wondering this as well, espically since the traits of the shooters started becoming more known, its bad enough many NTs label us as "creeps" and whatnot, this is just gonna make things worse.

Also, IIRC, the Virginia Tech shooter was a bit autistic from what I remember.

LOL!! !! ! I was cracking up in real life when I read this.

I doubt it, maybe his differences in communicaiton and such could be attributed to the fact he was an exchange student from korea(different language, accent, cultural norms) if I remember right. I don't see what evidence they had that he was 'autistic' I think that's just another example of the media spreading BS.

Rather than speculate if this person is or isn't an Aspie, I think we all know that the government needs to step in and ban something, and I think we all know what that is.

Orange hair dye.

When orange hair dye is illegal, only criminals will have orange hair. Then we can lock up all these faux Gingers and throw away the key.

now that was funny.

People don't say he's got AS because of his latest behaviour (there aren't that many people who believe so anyways) but because of his general behaviour or the type of person he is (since childhood): socially off/inept (but wanting social contact nonetheless), bad at eye contact, introverted, shy, good at natural science,...etc. It's suspected because of his apparent inability to connect with people which may have led to social isolation of some sorts. That's why some believe he's got AS or other mental conditions (e.g. schizoid PD) which can lead to being socially off/inept and isolated.
What he did afterwards, the deed and his strange behaviour in the last months, is mostly attributed to either sociopathy or paranoid schizophrenia (among other things like circumstance and environmental factors).

I also don't think that this specualtion ("he's got AS") is that common. If anything, socially isolated people will get strange looks and remarks.
I remember one time, I got fired and my ex-boss told me that he hopes I won't come back tomorrow and go on a shooting spree. It was a joke and it happened at a time of media coverage of another killing rampage (I don't remember which). However he probably thought that I fitted the behavioural profile of whoever did that and thought it was funny.