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Don Burke uses Aspergers as excuse for claims against him

pax

pax

Well-Known Member
Head of Autism Awareness Australia blasts Don Burke's 'appalling' Asperger's excuse

Don Burke's claim of undiagnosed Asperger's a 'slap in the face'

I find this really unsettling. Don was a notoriously difficult person to work with, and it was well known that he was a megalomaniac that would verbally abuse and bully staff. For a show with a G rating in prime time, he also made some pretty inappropriate "jokes " on air.

I don't think he has Aspergers. I think hes been talking to Kevin Spacey, and he needs to shut up.
 
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I think this is disgusting and normal practice @Fitzo

A clever Barrister can create confusion by using a misunderstood condition and end up with 'reasonable doubt' or suggest this guy didn't know what he was doing.

There appears to be no definitive single cause for Autism and it's range of affect at the moment.

In my humblest of opinions it's the perfect solution to fog the facts with a jury.
 
Doesn't really bother me. There is no logical excuse for predatory behaviour. Claiming that he engages in such behaviour because he has autism is a cop out.

Stopping yourself from engaging in coersive/forceful behaviour depends on two things: The ability to detect whether or not the other party is a willing participant and respecting someone else's right to choose.

He claims he is unable to do the first due to autism. When a girl pushes you away, or stops you from kissing her, or tells you to stop, there is no ambiguity in her intent. Someone does not push you away when they want you closer. When someone smiles at you in a sad way, or seems frustrated but acts like they're okay. That's when it's hard to tell. His misunderstanding of how this works in autistic people shows very clearly that he's neurotypical.

So his problem must be in the later category. He does not accept their rejection. Now I wonder why a lonely old man finds that so difficult...(not really..)
 
I watched the interview and I am disgusted when he tried to use Aspergers as a excuse for his predatory behaviour,in the past I was taken advantage of by predatory guys like him and the fact that I can be naive made me a target for these predators,while I’m no doctor so I cannot say if don is or isn’t on the spectrum he should not use it as a excuse for his disgusting behaviour towards women.
 
Gracey said:
I think this is disgusting and normal practice @Fitzo

A clever Barrister can create confusion by using a misunderstood condition and end up with 'reasonable doubt' or suggest this guy didn't know what he was doing.

There appears to be no definitive single cause for Autism and it's range of affect at the moment.

In my humblest of opinions it's the perfect solution to fog the facts with a jury.
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Sadly I think you're right.
Someone must have suggested this as a defense because I doubt he'll avoid appearing in court.
 
Not the first time someone's tried to wiggle out of the truth that they're just a horrible person with an excuse like this. Just a shame because obviously it makes autistics look bad. But you know what? The vast majority of people look through these lame excuses anyway.
 
Yeah. No telling how many defense attorneys would consider arguing a similar defense just to get their client off the hook.

But as they say, "sh*t happens". :(
 
I'm sorry, but Don Burke makes me "sick", even if he did have Asperger Syndrome (which is extremely unlikely) it wouldn't be an excuse for everything he's "allegedly" done. I sincerely hope no-one falls for this b***s**t, because even suggesting it is very insulting to people like many of us who really are on the autistic spectrum and wouldn't dream of doing anything he's "allegedly" done. I use the word "allegedly" until everything is officially proven, but trying to use autism as an excuse in this instance certainly shows guilt.

What worries me is it is sometimes possible for NTs to pretend that they are autistic quite effectively and even get officially diagnosed. I had an old "friend" who often used to lie telling us far out stories, for instance apparently he was a chief fire officer when he worked as a firefighter and apparently he was also in the Royal Marines, but he said all this when he was only 21 years old and at the time had been unemployed for a good while with a criminal past (he was on probation for a while), so being a chief fire officer on it's own would have been impossible because of his age alone, yet he would go on and on telling us detailed stories about his experiences while working in both professions. I moved and lost contact with him for a good few years, but later found out that he was now claiming he was autistic, but worse his entire background story was mimicking mine and he'd even stolen many of the true stories I'd told him about my own childhood which he was telling everyone else happened to him with exactly the same details. From knowing him there is absolutely no way he is on the autistic spectrum (he did have mental health issues however), I could go into lots of details why if necessary, but in short he had absolutely no autistic traits and in fact in many ways was the complete opposite, yet when I saw him again he was suddenly totally different and was fully acting the autism part with lots of traits he never showed before that I knew he didn't truly have and he even tried to convince me that he was autistic. But worse still he was successfully claiming higher welfare benefits because of his apparent autism that I knew 100% was totally fake, but he is very clever at playing a specific role and if he had been older his stories of being a chief fire officer and being in the Royal Marines would have been very convincing too.

The above story about my old "friend" is obviously very relevant as it shows that it could also be possible for Don Burke to fake that he has Asperger Syndrome and then wrongfully end up being treated leniently while also giving everyone who truly has Asperger Syndrome and autism a very bad name. Also if he manages to do this so could many others and it could become a worrying trend, especially since it's a high profile story covered by all the media and some people will suspect that he is faking it believing that they could do the same to their advantage. This kind of thing makes people who are truly on the autistic spectrum like many of us more likely targets for prejudice against us, plus it wastes precious resources, taking them away from genuine people who truly need it and it could make it even more difficult for truly autistic people to get the right support and welfare benefits, already many genuine people who truly need extra support are getting thrown off higher welfare benefits in the UK as they're not being believed and/or the government is trying to save money and there's never been so many appeals. It all makes me very angry.
 
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I just now found out about this scandal. Yes, using Asperger's as an excuse for making unwanted sexual advances is abhorrent. Burke said in the interview that he misses women's "body language" and "subtle signs." Is he really an Aspie, or is he faking it to try to get away with his lascivious behavior? We may never know. Either way, his so-called excuse is inexcusable. If those signals are too subtle for you to know for sure, Don Burke, then don't proceed with your groping. Simple as that, you lecherous creep.

My concern, @pjcnet, is the opposite of yours (although your concern is quite valid, too): Apparently, many people (or should I say NTs?) are no longer "allowing" us to self diagnose. Apparently, thanks to this predator, self-diagnosis is no longer credible. That's a real problem, especially for us older Aspies who have learned our lessons so well about how to act like a neurotypical that we probably would never be able to obtain an official diagnosis, even if we wanted one (which I don't). Are we destined to be stuck in some sort of identity limbo -- not "normal enough" to be an NT, but not "diagnosed enough" to be on the spectrum?
 
pjcnet said:
It all makes me very angry.
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Sounds like a pathological liar to me. You shouldn't get so angry about people gaming the system though. No matter what the system is like, there will be people who try to take advantage of it. Our entire frontal cortex developed on the concepts of risks and rewards. Everyone makes their own risk/reward assessment. Getting benefits for autism is pretty low on the scale of reward. Also pretty low on the scale of risk (social pariah if people find out, no real financial consequences either way. Misdiagnosis is always blamed on the medical professional) I mean, he's a leech and I'm sure that does plenty damage to his self-esteem if he's not a narcissist. And it's a good thing it's an "old" friend. But people will always game the system.

Risk of this rant: Being considered pedantic. Reward: Not having illusions about human morality.

I like to avoid inherently selfish behaviour outside of self-preservation. But that doesn't make me any less capable. In fact, on occasion I find myself having been too explicit about my opinion and others adapting to that against my will. The intent is not selfish, the result is.
 
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