Autism - Peace

I don't like how it came out once I merged the layers; the circle looked much better before the merge...
The entire thing is supposed to be in a "peace sign"; I thought that would be interesting coupled with the rest of the message.
Anyway:

"There's no 'V' in 'ASD'"...

Pretty much, it means "There's no Violence in Autism Spectrum Disorders".

There are a lot of scary things on the news, such as criminal activity. In huge incidents, there's at least one person that says "oh, the guilty person has Asperger's", as if that explains violent behavior.
It DOESN'T.
This is where misconceptions occur, and misinformation is leaked. The next thing that happens is that ignorant people and uninformed people listen to the media and instantly think that Asperger's, High Functioning Autism, Autism, etc...
...means that mentally, those that have it will be criminals.

There is NO criteria for diagnosis that includes violent behavior.

If a parent of an ASD kid notices violent behavior (or counselor, or someone else), it's probably because:
A) The ASD person doesn't know how to properly express their frustrations
B) There's something else going on in that person's mind (or environmental factors) besides ASD
C) Both A and B
D) It's not an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and was misdiagnosed

Another big issue is that some of these criminals are diagnosed after death, or it's an "oh, by the way" to try and explain the behavior. It DOESN'T. It's sometimes mentioned before all the facts are given, or because someone says "oh, such-and-such was a social recluse".

Being a social recluse does NOT mean someone is autistic!

Autism is mostly a social developmental disorder, yes...
...but there are a lot more criteria that needs to be evaluated before a diagnosis. I'm not a psychologist, but I have Asperger's Syndrome; I'm very much aware of all of this.

Relating to peers, inability to read body language and express oneself in the same way that neurotypicals do...and (non-violent, innocent) behaviors that actually interfere with daily living or work.

In short, I'm sick of hearing all sorts of mental disorders spouted out as the "reason" why some criminal committed a heinous act (because it's mostly misinformation), and the top one that seems to come up is the one that has the smallest percentage of influencing violent/criminal behavior:
Asperger's Syndrome.


Wanna know something?
-I never use the word "hate" unless I'm joking around.
-I forgive very easily, and don't hold any kind of grudge.
-I would never even THINK about hurting an animal, let alone another HUMAN BEING.
-I dislike wars and fighting.
-Yelling and getting into trouble scares me to the point where I withdraw from the world; why would I want to instigate either of them by committing a crime?
-I've never broken a law; not even gotten a speeding ticket.


Everyone else I've spoken to that has Asperger's, or some form of autism, is the same in those regards.
I want people to know that we're not dangerous, and we're not violent.
Having an Autism Spectrum Disorder doesn't mean we're predispositioned to violence, or will commit an act of violence.
It just means that we're probably more afraid of YOU than you are of US.

Please help spread Autism Awareness; help people to learn truth and understanding instead of fiction and fear.

If you like this artwork and wish to help support me in doing them, please take a look at my patreon page at www.patreon.com/mdchan