Aspies For Freedom

To me, this article below sounds as if it is promoting the idea of eugenics for all autistics the message being that we should all commit suicide for our own good and avoid the "ravages" to our brains.

I for one think that this was a shoddy piece of  journalism meant to sway people into believing that autistics have no place in the world and that infuriates me to no end.  Perhaps instead of autism, poor Nikki was more depressed about how the world  (including Mr Bacharach and Ms. Dickinson) treated her....as if she had no worth and nothing to contribute to the world.

I cannot believe that these parents would let such a spokesperson make such a loaded statement as this.  It makes me think that there was more to this story than what's actually being said and so they wish to blame autism for Nikki's lifetime that must have been devoid of acceptance and respect of the unique individual she was.

I would suppose she left a note giving her reasons for her suicide but I'm sure the letter would have been dismissed as the ramblings of a ravaged mind.  [/i]

****************

Quote:

Bacharach, Dickinson say daughter commits suicide in California
Associated Press[i]
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Nikki Bacharach, daughter of songwriter Burt Bacharach and actress Angie Dickinson, committed suicide, Bacharach and Dickinson said in a statement Friday.
Nikki Bacharach, 40, suffered from Asperger's Disorder, a form of autism. She killed herself Thursday night at her condo in Thousand Oaks, said Linda Dozoretz, a spokeswoman for the family.
"She quietly and peacefully committed suicide to escape the ravages to her brain brought on by Asperger's," the statement said.
Nikki Bacharach died of suffocation using a plastic bag and helium, said Mike Feiler of the Ventura County coroner's office.
Born prematurely in 1966, Lea Nikki Bacharach studied geology at Cal Lutheran University, but could not pursue a career in the field because of poor eyesight.
"She loved kitties, and earthquakes, glacial calving, meteor showers, science, blue skies and sunsets, and Tahiti," the statement said.
Nikki Bacharach was the only child of Burt Bacharach, 77, and Dickinson, 75, who were married from 1965 to 1981.
It was the second marriage for both Bacharach, the Oscar-winning composer of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," and "What the World Needs Now is Love," and Dickinson, star of the film "Dress to Kill" and the TV show "Police Woman."
Bacharach has three children from other marriages.
Autism is a developmental disorder. Asperger's Disorder, also known as Asperger's syndrome, is sometimes called high-functioning autism.

Http://www dot mercurynews dot com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/16394264.h

"Ravaged Mind"...

Wow.

AS does not "ravage" anybody's mind. Depression does. Depression was probably what this woman was suffering from; and no wonder, since her eyesight prevented her from doing what she loved.

And they blamed it on Asperger's. How absolutely false!!

This is dreadful.

It says a lot about the parents....no wonder she killed herself.

This forum needs the strikeout code. So I can strike out the bullshit. I'll bold it instead. The article included a lot more information about her than bullshit, though.

Nikki Bacharach, 40, suffered from Asperger's Disorder, a form of autism. She killed herself Thursday night at her condo in Thousand Oaks, said Linda Dozoretz, a spokeswoman for the family.
"She quietly and peacefully committed suicide to escape the ravages to her brain brought on by Asperger's," the statement said.
Nikki Bacharach died of suffocation using a plastic bag and helium, said Mike Feiler of the Ventura County coroner's office.
[Born prematurely in 1966,] (Irrelevant) Lea Nikki Bacharach studied geology at Cal Lutheran University, but could not pursue a career in the field because of poor eyesight.
"She loved kitties, and earthquakes, glacial calving, meteor showers, science, blue skies and sunsets, and Tahiti," the statement said.
Nikki Bacharach was the only child of Burt Bacharach, 77, and Dickinson, 75, who were married from 1965 to 1981.
It was the second marriage for both Bacharach, the Oscar-winning composer of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," and "What the World Needs Now is Love," and Dickinson, star of the film "Dress to Kill" and the TV show "Police Woman."
Bacharach has three children from other marriages.
Autism is a developmental disorder. Asperger's Disorder, also known as Asperger's syndrome, is sometimes called high-functioning autism.

Yes. I think "Asperger's Disorder" is a bullshit name. I get mad at people for using it.

Used Google. Some people use "Asperger's Disease", too. That's an even more bullshit name.

Yeah, I agree. We don't have a "disorder" - we have a "difference".

It's also possible that this lady was starting to enter menopause and it is well known that depression is common due to hormonal changes.

tenaciouscj Wrote:

I think I'd feel the exact opposite if I were entering menopause. I think I'd jump for joy.

Seriously. I feel like I want to kill someone. More than usual.

How could they say that! AS isn't something to commit suicide over. Depression was probably the cause, yet the ignorant masses are going to see this and think AS must be terrible, then give their money to CAN or whatever. If the statement was about a homosexual who commited suicide, I don't think such statements would be allowed. And what about any severly depressed aspies reading that? I hope it doesn't give them ideas.

The world needs aspies... other aspies need them... they shouldn't commit suicide, even more so than NTs.

Is it not possible that this obviously intelligent woman's real problem was the apparent lack of career opportunities for visually disabled people in the area of geology, possibly leading to clinical depression? It is is anything but clear how how AS is the cause of this tragedy. Obviously the woman's parents had a very negative attitude towards AS, so it's reasonable to guess that they regarded their offspring as a second-class citizen, or as the object of pity (an emotion that does no one any good). I think it was the stupid attitudes of the parents and the general "community" that caused this death.

Unknowledgeable people reading this crap article would get the impression that AS causes blindness, which we all know is nonsense.

I wonder... couldn't she have worked on theory instead of fieldwork? Surely she could have gotten herself first an assistant (via disability assistance in college), and then a random grad student or intern? You don't need good eyesight to study geology, unless you work with the actual rocks. So much of geology is interpreting data that surely she could have found her niche... I suppose nobody ever told her she could do it; and maybe she believed them. It is really quite sad.

This quote from the article; "could not pursue a career in the field because of poor eyesight." could just be bulldust. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the reason why she couldn't pursue a career was in fact anti-aspie discrimination in the uni or by potential employers, or a fatal combination (collusion) of both types of discrimination.

I myself have seen the situation in which a person who puts into practice a negative predudicial attitude towards an aspie does not like it when other people who they are in contact with do not practice the same prejudice. It's no wonder that many aspies seem to be paranoid about others and conspiracies.

Discrimination in employment plain and simple. I stated on another thread that software is available to blow up the text on a computer screen so someone with low vision can work more easily. I have a friend who uses it. It is not an expensive accomodation to provide. She might have needed some other accomodations as well.

All I hear from employers is that they are spending such big bucks to provide accessibility for wheelchairs: ramps, elevators, washrooms equipped for wheelchairs, specially designed workstations etc but they totally want to ignore anyone with any non-visible disability or other disabilities. They make themselves sound like martyrs for doing it. But then they actually use psychological screening tests to screen out applicants with learning disabilities and neurological differences and brag about it. That is the tragedy.

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