Please read below Norman Green's, National Autistic Society (NAS) responses
to myself and Adrian Whyatt on this issue:-
Colin - thank you for expressing your concern. The news reports of which
you speak are, I suspect, a direct feed from an external agency that
provides a synopsis of news stories from national and local press reports
over which the NAS has no control. Of course the NAS could either decide
not to provide this service at all, or only provide it to members rather
than on a global website,
or it could censor those reports before the incoming feed goes anywhere
else.
Censorship would worry some, and it seems wrong in principle. The issue is
certainly not a simple one, and needs some thought. I also for instance
have been increasingly concerned about recent reports, but not for the
reason you put forward. My reason is that I believe (without having any
evidence) that a number of non-autistic miscreants, or their legal teams,
are making use of
"autism" and "Asperger syndrome" as a defence to all sorts of activities
occasioned by nothing other than criminality, a point that we raised of
course during our criminal justice campaign. I shall raise your concerns
with the Director Communications in order to gather his thoughts and those
of his team and get back to you in due time - please though do not expect an
immediate response - this needs thought, at a time when lots of other things
need thought!
Regards.
Norman.... Norman's reply to Adrian included below...
Adrian
With respect, I do not see that any of your suggested comments could
properly be appended to press reports. Where is the evidence that any of
your statements is true - they may well be, and I would like to think they
are, but if we were to put them forward without being able to justify them,
we would be no better than those who sensationalise stories in order to sell
newspapers.
However, I don't think I have seen many "sensational" reports relating to
autism - they tend to be factual. Where an event is factual - for example,
autism is in a current murder case being put forward as at least a partial
defence - and that fact is reported, we cannot justifiably append any of
your four comments.
Colin's point, as I understand it, is that we should suppress such reports,
or at least not be party to promulgating them more widely than they
otherwise would be. That is a valid concern, and one that needs thought -
an immediate response may be entirely the wrong one.
Regards.
Norman
Adrian
With respect, I do not see that any of your suggested comments could
properly be
appended to press reports. Where is the evidence that any of your
statements is
true - they may well be, and I would like to think they are, but if we were
to
put them forward without being able to justify them, we would be no better
than
those who sensationalise stories in order to sell newspapers.
However, I don't think I have seen many "sensational" reports relating to
autism - they tend to be factual. Where an event is factual - for example,
autism is in a current murder case being put forward as at least a partial
defence - and that fact is reported, we cannot justifiably append any of
your four comments.
Colin's point, as I understand it, is that we should suppress such reports,
or at least not be party to promulgating them more widely than they
otherwise would be. That is a valid concern, and one that needs thought -
an immediate response may be entirely the wrong one.
Regards.
Norman
Adrian
With respect, I do not see that any of your suggested comments could
properly be
appended to press reports. Where is the evidence that any of your
statements is
true - they may well be, and I would like to think they are, but if we were
to
put them forward without being able to justify them, we would be no better
than
those who sensationalise stories in order to sell newspapers.
However, I don't think I have seen many "sensational" reports relating to
autism - they tend to be factual. Where an event is factual - for example,
autism is in a current murder case being put forward as at least a partial
defence - and that fact is reported, we cannot justifiably append any of
your four comments.
Colin's point, as I understand it, is that we should suppress such reports,
or at least not be party to promulgating them more widely than they
otherwise would be. That is a valid concern, and one that needs thought -
an immediate response may be entirely the wrong one.
Regards.
Norman
Adrian
With respect, I do not see that any of your suggested comments could
properly be
appended to press reports. Where is the evidence that any of your
statements is
true - they may well be, and I would like to think they are, but if we were
to
put them forward without being able to justify them, we would be no better
than
those who sensationalise stories in order to sell newspapers.
However, I don't think I have seen many "sensational" reports relating to
autism - they tend to be factual. Where an event is factual - for example,
autism is in a current murder case being put forward as at least a partial
defence - and that fact is reported, we cannot justifiably append any of
your four comments.
Colin's point, as I understand it, is that we should suppress such reports,
or at least not be party to promulgating them more widely than they
otherwise would be. That is a valid concern, and one that needs thought -
an immediate response may be entirely the wrong one.
Regards.
Norman
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