"Your Dad Arrested Me Last Night!"

Here's a quick SlateV interview with Shauna Peck, a (presumably NT) daughter of an Aspie. As she described him, he - like many Aspies - tends to see the world in black-and-white terms. He was a state trooper - and he issued many more tickets than the average trooper.

The average NT trooper would presumably have let many incidents go due to extenuating circumstances or a simple desire not to make trouble for someone who obviously (to the NT trooper, that is) wasn't a hardened criminal. For that matter, if I were a state trooper or a similar official, I could see myself ticketing or arresting many people whom others would let go.

In my case, the way I was treated by some of my classmates and even a few teachers has left me with a burning desire to see wrongdoers punished. Fairly treated and given all the due process possible, to be sure - but if found guilty, punished. Now, would my history have made them feel better about it if they felt I should have overlooked their peccadillos?

Law enforcement work may appeal to some Aspies, who like the structure and the legal and enforcement parts of it. It may also give them a feeling of power, which may have become precious to them after years of bullying by other children - not to mention people in authority too.

Getting back to Ms. Peck: while she was in high school, occasionally she would run into a classmate whom her father had recently arrested, and she found it humiliating.

The Aspie was also an abusive husband and father (to the point that the neighbors knew about it), and Ms. Peck hated him...until she was able to write him a Father's Day letter forgiving him. He received the letter, but they never really discussed it - he may not have been able to grasp many of the emotional implications. But their relationship improved for her after that.

This man was darned lucky not to lose his job or his family.

Here's a cautionary tale. If you're an Aspie and you have responsible work and/or a family, you're ahead of the game already. Do whatever you can to make sure your weaknesses don't alienate the people you depend on for your daily bread, respectability, companionship and other important things. Don't mistake your rice bowl for a chamberpot, in other words.




(The video starts with a brief ad and then goes to the interview itself. The entire video is completely SFW. Disclaimer: Emily works part-time for one of the component parts of the conglomerate that includes Slate, but she has nothing to do with this or any other SlateV video.)

What do you think?