Exeter Bomber

[Enid]

Have just heard on the news tonight that the man, who has been described as vulnerable, has Aspergers, he was apparantly befriended and radicalised by his new "friends" and was the one who took the bombs on the bus from Plymouth to Exeter. Oh God how that makes me scared for the future, When my ds started y7 at his local secondary school, he told me that the "big boys" were really nice to him and all he had to do was stand and look out for teachers when they were smoking . Enid

[soraya]

I know just how you feel, Nick is so easily led, it really makes you worry for the future

[Suze]

I,m always uncomfortable when news like this comes out.I have,nt heard these reports myself but my concern would be that the deeper circumstances of what has happened are not investigated , and society tars all autistics with the same brush...........ie potential bombers,

 

 

.......................the other side of this is those with aspergers who like to follow rules and would never consider breaking the law in any way shape or form.My son lives by following rules etc..........and is very aware of what breaking the law would entail.I hope those in charge of this investigation are thorough enough to get to the root cause IYKWIM.

[Suze]

I thought I,d look up on the net about the news reports as I had,nt heard any of these reports.The story seems very worrying and sad.As a young man who it is reported had been sectioned at one time , I wonder how much input he was having from proffessionals........we all know how hard it is to get intervention of any sort.He does seem to have been a vulnerable adult, but it seems his intention was to kill himself and others(it was a family restaruant ), I hope they get to the bottom of who devised this plan

[pearl]

This is like a counterpoint to the "autism & genius" thread.

Its always worrying when someone vulnerable gets sucked in to extremism or whatever, but I reckon his AS would only be one factor in that.

 

Just as the "genius factor" is probably a rarity amongst autistic peeps, so is the probability that they will also get involved in unlawful actions. A tiny percentage at either end. But those tiny percentages are the ones that get all the positive & negative publicity, the rest in the middle just getting on with it aren't newsworthy.

 

Bottom line, raising an AS child isn't that different from raising an NT child - you do your best, you teach them your values, you find what outside help you can, and you keep your fingers crossed.

 

And thats my deep thinking done for the weekend.

[Thompsons]

I know how you feel.. L will also believe anything people tell him and it does get him into trouble sometimes

 

I think things like this are preventable. I also wonder if he was having any support from professionals. I see so many stories like this where crimes/tragedies could have been prevented if people were doing their job a little better

[Bard]

I think things like this are preventable. I also wonder if he was having any support from professionals. I see so many stories like this where crimes/tragedies could have been prevented if people were doing their job a little better

 

But could they be prevented?

And which people are you meaning that should be doing their jobs a little better?

Teachers, Social Workers, the police, Psychologists...their families?

 

In order to ensure that the vulnerable are never exploited or mislead, are you proposing 24/7 monitoring by professionals? What happens to free will and empowering people with disabilities to live an independent life?

To never be allowed to make decisions that adults take for granted are theirs to make.

This was a dreadful incident, but sometimes the answer is a lot more complicated than and the consequences of proper safeguards can have a real negative impact.

[JsMum]

But could they be prevented?

And which people are you meaning that should be doing their jobs a little better?

Teachers, Social Workers, the police, Psychologists...their families?

 

In order to ensure that the vulnerable are never exploited or mislead, are you proposing 24/7 monitoring by professionals?

 

 

Well for the fore seeable future inside prison he will have access to all you mentioned plus 24-7, my J is very vulnerable, and I do watch his 24-7 because If I didnt he would be either dead or get into serious situations that over a very short period of time, where it may mean 24-7 in a specialist secure unit, my son does need monitoring all the time, every second even, because when I take my eye off him thats when he does something dangerous or led into something.

 

I think that society can do a lot more to prevent, provide support and resources early when its far cheaper, but no we wait until the person needs maximum security with the best assessments money can buy.

 

JsMum

[Thompsons]

But could they be prevented?

And which people are you meaning that should be doing their jobs a little better?

Teachers, Social Workers, the police, Psychologists...their families?

 

Js Mum pretty much summed up what I feel about this subject..

 

I guess we could say that anything is preventable after it's happened, by which time it's too late anyway.

 

But I suppose that I was just wondering, how someone who was apparently such a danger to the community was able to do that without anyone (regardless of who it is) keeping an eye on him or noticing.

 

I wasn't meaning to make it sound as if people with disabilities shouldn't have free will. I just think that people with disabilities should be cared for and kept an eye on for their safety as well as others.

Edited May 25, 2008 by Thompsons

[Canopus]

The fact the security services were watching this bomber and did nothing absolutely stinks. The British security services are amongst the best in the world when it comes to domestic terrorism because of decades of experience dealing with the IRA, so I expect better of them next time. Even worse is that the terrorist gang leaders behind the whole operation will probably get away scot free. This bomber is only a small cog in a big machine.

[sesley]

i hadn't read or heard what sort of mental disability this man all i found myself was defending his vunerablilty to ignorant sods,who want a scapegoat to blame for their fears, and my thinking is still the same to them don't be angry athe vunerable man but the evil intent that used him to deliver evil, that he didn't fully understand the implications, my feeling on Friday like you is for my innocent son who is trusting and innocent,who wants to be everyones friend and be excepted as a friend, last year on holiday, he quite innocently went into another caravan and sat with other kiddies watching the tv, not really caring they were strangers and that he might not be welcome, luckily the adults wer decent enough to understand he got confused trying to find our caravan

Edited May 25, 2008 by sesley

[Tally]

Recently there were some suicide bombs set of in Baghdad and the bombers were some young women with Down's Syndrome. People will always take advantage of people with learning disabilities if they are given the opportunity.

 

It is worrying that people might think that all autistic people are likely to do the same thing. Everyone here is talking about it because we are so close to Exeter. It makes it more and more difficult to tell people that I have AS in case they think I am like this man.

[sesley]

unfortunately people will tar everyone with the same brush, i was concerned for the boy 2 years ago charged with murder of a little girl, but but then,everyone of us is human, and as different to each other, i don't believe all ,muslims are cold blooded murderers or all christians are stiff goody goody's during the Irish troubles, totally innocent Irish people put up with negative attitudes,i think general people do understand that its a minority to be worried about and not the majority,the ones with the problems are problems anyway with daft ideas.