In 2021 Jake Davison, a bearded, over-weight, autistic, white male, shot and killed 6 people with a licensed shotgun. The tragedy is unfathomable to any of us who have not experienced such horrors and when I heard that the father and daughter he shot were buried in the same coffin, I found myself crying - even now I can’t think about it without choking up.
In response to this terrible crime the police firearms unit were heavily criticised and in typical populist media fashion Sky news and many other media rags asked - How could the police issue an autistic person a shotgun licence? - as though autism was the reason. As though we are retarded; unfit to be included in things that neurotypicals are so trustworthy with, because no non-autistic person has even gone on a killing rampage.
It was reported that he had mental health problems - he was autistic. THOSE ARE NOT THE SAME THING! And the Home Office - who demand that their sub contractors include neurodiverse employees in many of their outsourced contracts - should know that.
It would have been just as factual and relevant to say "How could the police issue a person with a beard a shotgun licence?" or fat people, or white men?
I was inviolate with rage at such sensationalist and vile propaganda against autistics. I thought society understood us better now. The discrimination I felt was like being sent back to Victorian times. How long before we’re all dragged off to the sanatorium or burned as witches for being different?
But at the time I was more sad about the good people who lost their lives, so I said nothing about the attack on autistics, the perpetuation of this negative stereotype and the ignorant suggestion that autistics are dangerous mentally disabled people.
I said nothing more about the government's complicit support of this discrimination by its silence and the total lack of response from the medical profession, in the face of legislation and research that refuted all such claims and gave us a measure of protection from such knee jerk, witch-hunting persecution: The autism act 2009 and the equality act 2010 are just two such acts.
But not content with sitting back whilst autism was blamed for the murders, and ignoring the reams of research data that speaks totally against this accusations and such vile stereotypes, the UK government recently decided they’d better be seen to do something about us crazy, gun wielding, autistics. So they issued a survey (https://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/firearms-licensing/) to decide how they should modify the licensing of fire arms to stop this kind of atrocity happening again.
It starts off with some general questions that ask for opinions on more communication with, and accountability from, the medical profession - and much of this is a good idea. I am surprised it is not already in place...but then we come to question 13:
"13. Do you consider that neurodevelopmental disorders should be added to the list of relevant medical conditions in the Statutory Guidance (and application form)?"
So essentially: do you think those with, what we define as neuro-developmental disorders, should be seen as a risk to gun ownership?
Did you know that autism is categorised as a neuro-developmental disorder? The Home Office do. It’s not a very accurate categorisation because it was created by neurotypicals, who are, to say the least, unconsciously biased on the matter. They consider any neurological difference a ‘disorder’, even if autistics are calmer, smarter, more law abiding, etc. It would be much like Microsoft categorising an Apple Mac computer as a technological disorder when compared to a Windows PC: it’s biased, self-serving and misleading.
This is a thinly veiled attempt to exclude and scapegoat autistics again, based on nothing more than ignorance, assumption and discrimination. In the face of all the biased, false, sensationalised misinformation by the media, and with no balanced response from the government or the medical profession, they are asking the public if autistics should even be allowed to apply for shotgun licences. Can anyone say witch hunt, ignorance or populist scapegoating?
Autistic people are more likely to be rational, follow rules and be law abiding than neurotypicals. We love rules. There is lots of published, credible research that shows no link between autism and aggression and no research that shows the opposite. We are vastly more likely to be the victims of violence. There’s lots of data to support that.
I'm deeply saddened that despite all the talk and law around equality, the research, the facts, the science, it was still fine that discrimination screamed off the page and the news channels that "Autistic people are crazy, unhinged, gun wielding maniacs" because they're autistic.
Jake Davison is to blame. Personally. Not because he is autistic, male, white, bearded or over weight. He had clear mental health issues that the medical profession should have been monitoring, interceding on and reporting to the police that had nothing to do with his autism. The police should have taken Jake's mother's concerns more seriously and the firearms unit should be better funded and managed - these are just some of the complex, inter-dependent facts and root causes of his actions, but autism was no more the cause than his beard.
So let’s not start an autism witch hunt. Let’s not enshrine discrimination against autistics in law and start to undo all the progress that’s been made. The shotgun licensing change is just the thin end of the wedge - what will you blame on autism next - without the need for proof - in fact in the face of data to the contrary?
I’m not a fan of discrimination in any shape (that’s another autistic trait) and today, though autistics are a protected group, I do not feel protected. I feel vulnerable, misunderstood and discriminated against, again. I’m wondering why the government said nothing. I’m wondering why they’re writing acts that protect our right to equality and then writing acts that recommend our discrimination, based on false assumptions, data to the opposite and nothing more than easy discrimination.
If you’re having trouble empathising with the outrage from the autistic community about this one, then try this: imagine this was not an autistic person. Imagine it was a different recognised group who also have legislation protecting them from discrimination and granting them equality. Women, or people of colour for example. Imagine if the media had asked why the police had granted a woman or a black man a shotgun licence.
There you go, now you’re feeling the outrage and maybe now you’re also feeling how autism is still treated like a legitimate discrimination because autistics, you know, they won’t make a fuss and it’s an invisible difference.
The Home Office should look at the law on this - their law - before beginning the reintroduction of discrimination against autistics simply to be seen to be doing something. Otherwise they’ll make things worse, not better because they won’t be addressing the reasons Jake Davison went on a killing spree, they’ll just be blaming autistics and this will happen again.
If not, then maybe we should start a class action against the UK government before they think we’re easy targets like so many others do; because we’re passive, because we follow rules, because we tend not to speak up, because we’re good people and it’s easy to take advantage of good people.
#autism #actuallyautistic #discrimination