Erased from his own murder

A letter dated March 17 on the San Jose Mercury News website is signed by two presidents of the Autism Society of America. And nowhere in their letter do they mention by name, George Hodgins, a man with autism who was killed by his mother in a murder-suicide.


“The tragic story of Elizabeth Hodgins, who last week took her own life and that of her 22-year-old son with autism, leaves us truly devastated,” state Scott Badesch, president and COO of the Autism Society of America; and Marcia Eichelberger, president of the Autism Society of California, wrote in their letter. “While this incident is an anomaly, it shows that high stress on parents is very common in the autism community. We fear that stories such as these will continue if families still feel hopeless in their struggles.”

My thanks to Landon Bryce (thAutcast) whom I follow on Twitter and Facebook, for alerting me to this erasing of George Hodgins from the story of his own murder.

Do we need more services for adults on the autism spectrum? Absolutely, we do!

As an adult who found out as an adult that I am on the autism spectrum, I am aware of few, if any, resources that are available to me. I agree that people ought to be concerned when these two presidents state: “Like most states, California provides little or no appropriate support to individuals with developmental disabilities once they turn 22. In addition, California has cut $1 billion in developmental disabilities services during the past three years, and the Department of Developmental Services will cut another $200 million within the next year.”

But to compose a letter reserving your sympathy exclusively for Hodgins’ killer and to not even mention him by name? This is completely unacceptable! It is inexcusable that in the name of promoting the genuine need for services for adults with autism, these people — who head an agency that allegedly speaks on my behalf — would erase a man from his own murder.

Bryce attended a Friday vigil for Hodgins that was hosted by people on the autism spectrum. I particularly appreciate this comment that is part of his blog: “One thing I said at George’s vigil last night is that I am not just sad about him — I am sad that Elizabeth is gone, too. But she killed him, and then herself.  She made that choice. He did not. Our first sympathy must be with him.”

Bryce also shared this observation by Zoe Gross, who organized Friday’s vigil: “When disabled people are murdered by their families, this is the story people want to hear ... The story goes like this: It is understandable that someone would kill their disabled relative if they don’t get help to care for them.”

As a women on the autism spectrum, I reject this narrative.

I rejected this narrative when Autism Speaks promoted hateful, degrading stereotypes with “I Am Autism” and “Autism Every Day.” And I am rejecting it now.

A person’s autism does not make harming them more “understandable” or justified but that is the message that these two presidents are sending.

I am putting Badesch and Eichelberge on notice: you do not speak for me.

To read the San Jose Mercury News account of the Hodgins murder-suicide, visit http://www.mercurynews.com/sunnyvale/ci_20120851/sunnyvale-police-mother-killed-22-year-old-son?source=pkg. To read Bryce’s account from the Friday vigil, visit http://thautcast.com/drupal5/content/why-i-no-longer-support-autism-society-america.