Why autism advocates denounce van attacker’s defence
Experts call claims that disorder caused violence ‘wholly unsubstantiated’
Autism activists are denouncing defence arguments made in Alek Minassian’s murder trial as speculative and demeaning, saying they could spread inaccuracies about a disorder that is not associated with violence.
It is “egregious” to say Minassian’s “autistic way of thinking was severely distorted in a way similar to psychosis” when he ran down pedestrians in a van in April 2018, said Autism Canada, the country’s leading autism awareness organization in a statement Tuesday, quoting an opinion presented by a forensic psychiatrist retained by Minassian’s defence. Autism Canada added that psychosis and antisocial behaviour are not part of autism spectrum disorder.
“These claims are wholly unsubstantiated, merely speculative and made carelessly without any published evidence proving autism, on its own, is a risk factor for becoming violent against other people,” the statement said.
In a statement also released Tuesday Autism Ontario stressed that autism is “not characterized by violence or lack of a moral compass … Much too often when a person is diagnosed as autistic, their actions are examined exclusively through that lens without considering the broader picture of other influencing factors on the whole person. This is demeaning to everyone.”
Minassian, 28, has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of first-degga mitted that he planned the attack and killed or intended to kill all 26 people on April 23,
18. Nevertheless, he is arguing that he is not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder — a defence that if successful would mean he would be sent to a hospital for treatment rather than to prison for life.
Minassian’s lawyer, Boris Bytensky, has said autism spectrum disorder is the sole diagnosis being relied on by the defence and that Minassian has not been diagnosed with any other disorders.
In the trial, which began Nov. 10, Bytensky is arguing Minassian is not criminally responsible because he only understood the wrongfulness of his actions at the “intellectual level,” and not in a way that he could make rational decisions. This is despite Minassian telling the psychiatrists who assessed him “some variation of words that amount to the acknowledgment that he understood what he did was wrong,” Bytensky said.
The Crown has sought to establish that Minassian knew murder is morally wrong, and that he has demonstrated the capacity to make decisions on his own.
As the trial has unfolded, a growing chorus of autism activists expressed worry that the defence arguments promote stigmas about people on the autism spectrum.
“The idea that we are incapable of telling right from wrong, or that we are incapable of empathy, is one of the most offensive, inaccurate and dangerous things I’ve ever heard said about my community,” said Alex Echakowitz, an autistic person and an advocate who helped develop Ontario’s updated autism program.
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder and is different from a psychological disorder or a mental illness, experts say. Autistic people can display a wide array of symptoms, such as communication difficulties, fixation tendencies and seizure-like physical meltdowns, but it differs case by case.
“When you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,” said Jessica Bethel, a director with Autism Ontario, adding it’s hard to make generalizations about people’s experiences on the autism spectrum.
Bethel said it is extremely rare for an autism diagnosis to be the sole defence in a murder
ial. In previous cases, an autism diagnosis would be combined with the existence of an additional mental health condition if it were to be used as a defence, she said.
Bethel added the defence arguments for Minassian are “surprising and disheartening to the entire autism community.”
People on the autism spectrum are in fact much more likely to be victims of violence, especially physical and sexual abuse, Bethel said — a point that was echoed by Minassian’s lawyer in his opening overview.
Echakowitz said there is little linking violence to autism spectrum disorder. Meltdowns can sometimes be physically violent, but those can be described as a bodily loss of control — not premeditated actions — and can be dealt with, mitigated and avoided with help and different types of therapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy and play-based therapies.
In testimony at the trial, Minassian’s father, Vahe Minassian, told the court his son did not have anger issues and was never violent except for throwing tantrums as a child. Vahe added his son had challenges with social interactions, was prone to becoming hyper-focused and struggled with school
gnments that required analysis or the summarizing of arguments.
Shortly after his arrest, Minassian explained to police in an interview that he’d been rejected by women multiple times and become part of a misogynist online community known as “incels” or “involuntary celibates” that glorifies and encourages violence against women.
Vahe Minassian testified that he believes his son’s police interview may have partially echoed the manifesto of American mass-murderer Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and injured 14 others in a May 2014 shooting and stabbing spree near the University of Santa Barbara campus in Isla Vista, Calif.
In his police interview, Alek Minassian claimed to have been in contact with Rodger, who is venerated in the incel movement.
Echakowitz said it’s common for some people on the autism spectrum to repeat phrases in documents they’ve read. It’s called scripting, Echakowitz said, and “it indicates nothing about a person’s mental capacity, about their state of mind, their intellectual ability.”
“It’s just a means of communicating,” Echakowitz said, adding that people on the autism spectrum may choose different methods, like sign language or spelling on a letter board.
Minassian’s fixation with incel culture, Echakowitz said, likely has more with alienation, social isolation and ableism.
“People who are isolated and who are ostracized and rejected look for a place of belonging.”
“The idea that we are incapable of telling right from wrong … is one of the most offensive, inaccurate and dangerous things I’ve ever heard said about my community.”
ALEX ECHAKOWITZ ADVOCATE WITH AUTISM