Autistic Teen Speaks Out for Those with Asperger's

After reports that the “bad guy” in the Connecticut shooting may have had Asperger’s Syndrome, Timmy Aquilino, a teenager with autism in Edgewater, went to his bedroom and closed the door.

He didn’t come out for two hours, his mother said.

Timmy suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. When he returned from his  bedroom, he asked his mother Polly Aquilino to share his message on Facebook. So, that’s what she did.

Four shares, 28 "likes" and 27 comments later, Timmy’s message to the world—specifically about people with Asperger’s—warmed the hearts of people throughout Anne Arundel County.

“Maybe these words are his way of responding to this tragedy or just maybe he is absolutely correct … Either way I love my son and am proud of his words,” Polly Aquilino posted on Facebook along with her son’s letter.

Media outlets throughout the country featured pundits and columnists who debated any possible connection between autism and violence. However in his the letter, Timmy pleads with people to not lump himself or others with autism into the same category as Adam Lanza—the 20-year-old man who killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary last week.

The local teen graduates from Kenney Krieger High in Baltimore in June 2014, and hopes to attend Anne Arundel Community College, pursuing a career in music, Aquilino told Patch.

“More than anything, he really wants to spread the word that peple with Asperger’s are wonderful, fantastic people and the worlds needs to know that,” she added.

Read our transcribed version of Timmy’s letter to the community. No edits were made to the message, and the original letter can be seen posted in our photos to the right.

It is said that people with Aspberger’s Syndrome do not have emotions or any soul, and that people who have this disorder are considered dangerous. However, this is completely false.

My name is Timothy, and I have autism. One thing I have to say is that people with autism and Aspberger’s are not violent and a threat to other people. Instead, these people can be very loving, and they can feel anger, sadness, and happiness. Having said this, it is not fair to say this is to anybody with these disorders.

I heard that a 20-year-old man shot about 20 elementary school children, in which he had Aspberger’s Syndrome, but not all people with Asperger’s are like that.

Kids with this disability are very kind, and they are not numb to everything. They have very good hearts, and those children are very thoughtful.

I think that it is terrible that the man who killed all of the innocent children in the school where this recent incident took place doesn’t know how to treat people nicely, but just remember that even though some people in the world have autism and/or Asperger’s Syndrome, they can be just as nice as people who don’t have these two handicaps. 

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