Recently there has been a lot of discussion regarding Gary McKinnon and his UFO obsession which led him to hack into NASA's computers. As a result he is in deep, deep ****. And once again Asperger's is center stage. His mother and his supporters claim that he is too fragile to face the consequences of his actions and that this should be taken into account when deciding what to do with him.
Now I know that there are a lot of people who will disagree with me but it seems that on one hand we are demanding that we should be allowed to be full members of society with all the rights and responsibilities that go with that but on the other hand we are demanding special treatment because of our condition. That we should not have to face the same consequences as someone who is "normal". That there should be mitigating circumstances. I'm afraid it does not work that way.
We have come a long way since I was young. It is no longer routine to lock up those who are cognitively impaired as it was in my youth. People with cognitive impairments are now routinely mainstreamed instead and it is all too often sink or swim. I don't want to go back to the old days but I do think that if we want society to accept us and allow us to live independent lives we have to do our part and show that we are capable of living up to what that means.
Apparently Gary McKinnon's mother knew he was spending long hours on the computer without knowing exactly what he was doing, and for that I think she should share some of the responsibility for what happened. It is obvious in retrospect that maybe this person should not have been allowed to spend long hours on the computer unsupervised. I think a fitting punishment might be to forbid him access to computers or at least forbid unsupervised access. Because he was not ready for the responsibility of unsupervised access. He didn't have the self-control or the maturity to understand what he was doing was seriously wrong. Now, as I said, he is in deep, deep, deep do-do. And his supporters are crying that he ought to be given a break. Does that mean that I am not unsympathetic to this young man's plight? I am sure that he must be terrified. But this is the real world. This is not make-believe. In some respects he is very lucky that it was NASA's computers he broke into and not, say, North Korea's or Iran's or some other country's where they don't have the same ideas about rights and freedom, where they would not bother with a trial or give a damn about his Aspergers, where he would disappear and maybe, if he was lucky, Amnesty International would hear of his case. I am saying this is how the world works. If you are going to play these kinds of games then you need to understand the stakes. This is not fairy land. People can and do play rough. Apparently he was never told these things or it didn't sink in. Well, he has plenty of time for it to sink in now.
The other day I was watching an old movie, "Benny and Joon" about a brother who is taking care of his mentally ill sister. She thinks he is overbearing and wants her independence. And in the end she does get it. But--here's the thing. Joon wants her independence but she does not want to do anything to demonstrate her readiness for independence. She forgets to take her medicine. Worse yet, she has a charming little habit of setting fire to things when she is stressed (and when she forgets her medicine she is stressed a LOT.) There is one scene where Joon is serenely sitting before a blowing fan dropping tissues onto a lighted candle and watching them fly. Now let's fast-forward to the ending Hollywood left out. She is now in her new apartment with her boyfriend (who has mental issues of his own). What happens when she forgets her medicine and they start fighting? Does her landlord, who is Benny's girlfriend, know that Joon likes to set things on fire? Did Benny tell her? What about the other tenants in that house? Would YOU want to live in the same building with someone like Joon? If I were Benny I would say, look, if you want to live on your own then you must show that you are ready to live on your own and starting today you might remember to take your medicine every day without fail and you must quit the burning **** once and for all. And if you can go at least six months without messing up then we will talk about you getting a place of your own. But if I find out you've been burning stuff, the deal is off. You are too dangerous to yourself and others and you need to be in a place where you can be supervised.
Yesterday I wrote about a man who was abandoned by the public transportation system in my city. The bus company's response was that a man who was so cognitively disabled that he could not remember the name of his apartment complex should not be traveling alone. They do have a point. I do not know how this man came to be living alone but it is clear that he really shouldn't be living alone. He was lucky last night that the people at the therapy clinic were caring people. He may not be so lucky the next time. He might be one of those sad cases you hear about on the news.
Maybe I sound judgmental, but I have seen a lot in my life. And when I read about cases like Gary McKinnon's it is not only "but for the grace of God go I", but for the grace to have had people in my life who cared enough about me to tell the truth about life and its consequences. Who were not afraid to intervene when necessary to prevent me from going down destructive paths. This is what saddens me so much about the Gary McKinnon case. They just let him be in his own little world oblivious to what he was up to and now--much, much too late--they express concern. Meanwhile the world looks at this and hears Aspergers and says, see? Why should the world change its views about us? Why should they let us become full members of society?
If McKinnon is to get off easier because he has Asperger's then he should not get off scot-free and go back to life as usual. He needs to understand that while society might be willing to grant him some leniency due to his condition--leniency that they would not grant to someone else--he still has to face some kind of consequences. And it has to be meaningful and relevant. He misused computers? Then as I said he should not be granted access to computers. Maybe that sounds harsh. But I really don't think his supporters understand the enormity of what he did. What if his hacking had led to missiles being launched? Does anyone really think that China, India, Iran, North Korea, to name a few aren't aware of this incident and aren't watching the outcome? You think they aren't concerned?
Maybe I am overreacting but you are talking to a person who spent most of her life growing up in the shadow of the Cold War, who remembers the Cuban Missile Crisis and how very very very close we came to WWIII then. And that wasn't an autistic kid playing around on computers that triggered that. So the Gary McKinnon case does cause me a great deal of concern. Because it is not just him I am concerned about, it is ALL of us.
Now I know that there are a lot of people who will disagree with me but it seems that on one hand we are demanding that we should be allowed to be full members of society with all the rights and responsibilities that go with that but on the other hand we are demanding special treatment because of our condition. That we should not have to face the same consequences as someone who is "normal". That there should be mitigating circumstances. I'm afraid it does not work that way.
We have come a long way since I was young. It is no longer routine to lock up those who are cognitively impaired as it was in my youth. People with cognitive impairments are now routinely mainstreamed instead and it is all too often sink or swim. I don't want to go back to the old days but I do think that if we want society to accept us and allow us to live independent lives we have to do our part and show that we are capable of living up to what that means.
Apparently Gary McKinnon's mother knew he was spending long hours on the computer without knowing exactly what he was doing, and for that I think she should share some of the responsibility for what happened. It is obvious in retrospect that maybe this person should not have been allowed to spend long hours on the computer unsupervised. I think a fitting punishment might be to forbid him access to computers or at least forbid unsupervised access. Because he was not ready for the responsibility of unsupervised access. He didn't have the self-control or the maturity to understand what he was doing was seriously wrong. Now, as I said, he is in deep, deep, deep do-do. And his supporters are crying that he ought to be given a break. Does that mean that I am not unsympathetic to this young man's plight? I am sure that he must be terrified. But this is the real world. This is not make-believe. In some respects he is very lucky that it was NASA's computers he broke into and not, say, North Korea's or Iran's or some other country's where they don't have the same ideas about rights and freedom, where they would not bother with a trial or give a damn about his Aspergers, where he would disappear and maybe, if he was lucky, Amnesty International would hear of his case. I am saying this is how the world works. If you are going to play these kinds of games then you need to understand the stakes. This is not fairy land. People can and do play rough. Apparently he was never told these things or it didn't sink in. Well, he has plenty of time for it to sink in now.
The other day I was watching an old movie, "Benny and Joon" about a brother who is taking care of his mentally ill sister. She thinks he is overbearing and wants her independence. And in the end she does get it. But--here's the thing. Joon wants her independence but she does not want to do anything to demonstrate her readiness for independence. She forgets to take her medicine. Worse yet, she has a charming little habit of setting fire to things when she is stressed (and when she forgets her medicine she is stressed a LOT.) There is one scene where Joon is serenely sitting before a blowing fan dropping tissues onto a lighted candle and watching them fly. Now let's fast-forward to the ending Hollywood left out. She is now in her new apartment with her boyfriend (who has mental issues of his own). What happens when she forgets her medicine and they start fighting? Does her landlord, who is Benny's girlfriend, know that Joon likes to set things on fire? Did Benny tell her? What about the other tenants in that house? Would YOU want to live in the same building with someone like Joon? If I were Benny I would say, look, if you want to live on your own then you must show that you are ready to live on your own and starting today you might remember to take your medicine every day without fail and you must quit the burning **** once and for all. And if you can go at least six months without messing up then we will talk about you getting a place of your own. But if I find out you've been burning stuff, the deal is off. You are too dangerous to yourself and others and you need to be in a place where you can be supervised.
Yesterday I wrote about a man who was abandoned by the public transportation system in my city. The bus company's response was that a man who was so cognitively disabled that he could not remember the name of his apartment complex should not be traveling alone. They do have a point. I do not know how this man came to be living alone but it is clear that he really shouldn't be living alone. He was lucky last night that the people at the therapy clinic were caring people. He may not be so lucky the next time. He might be one of those sad cases you hear about on the news.
Maybe I sound judgmental, but I have seen a lot in my life. And when I read about cases like Gary McKinnon's it is not only "but for the grace of God go I", but for the grace to have had people in my life who cared enough about me to tell the truth about life and its consequences. Who were not afraid to intervene when necessary to prevent me from going down destructive paths. This is what saddens me so much about the Gary McKinnon case. They just let him be in his own little world oblivious to what he was up to and now--much, much too late--they express concern. Meanwhile the world looks at this and hears Aspergers and says, see? Why should the world change its views about us? Why should they let us become full members of society?
If McKinnon is to get off easier because he has Asperger's then he should not get off scot-free and go back to life as usual. He needs to understand that while society might be willing to grant him some leniency due to his condition--leniency that they would not grant to someone else--he still has to face some kind of consequences. And it has to be meaningful and relevant. He misused computers? Then as I said he should not be granted access to computers. Maybe that sounds harsh. But I really don't think his supporters understand the enormity of what he did. What if his hacking had led to missiles being launched? Does anyone really think that China, India, Iran, North Korea, to name a few aren't aware of this incident and aren't watching the outcome? You think they aren't concerned?
Maybe I am overreacting but you are talking to a person who spent most of her life growing up in the shadow of the Cold War, who remembers the Cuban Missile Crisis and how very very very close we came to WWIII then. And that wasn't an autistic kid playing around on computers that triggered that. So the Gary McKinnon case does cause me a great deal of concern. Because it is not just him I am concerned about, it is ALL of us.
