As an individual with Asperger's Syndrome myself, I wish to state that Chris's behaviors are beyond what is characteristic for those with this illness. I have reached out to him in the past several times in support as I truly sympathize with him. However, even when one is in his corner, he chooses to ignore what support others may try to offer, outright set in his own mindset even when the evidence is presented before him and laid out in even the simplest manner. I was diagnosed in my teens (later in life compared to his diagnosis during his elementary school years) andsome of the behaviors he has exibited just don't add up entirely.
For example, he refuses to believe that his form of autism and Asperger's Syndrome are the same thing, much less even remotely similar in any way, shape or form. The years of the internet trolling/cyber-bullying certainly have not helped his mental state, no doubt, but he still maintains enough awareness to use his disability as not only a crutch, particularly in the event he doesn't get his way, but as justification for the things he does. His upbringing certainly seems to have been detrimental as his parents enabled a lot of the things he has done (running up high debts due to outlandishly frivolus spending, bailing him out of nearly every incident he has been involved in, enabling his lack of structure and motivation to move forward in life, etc). He has been taught that he can do what he desires and face no consequence, that he need not do anything for himself (hence his sole dependence of disability funds and donations from those who truly hope to help) and that his "special-ness" puts him above all others.
By comparison, I maintain a job in addition to receiving governmental assistance (with the goal of becoming fully independent and secure in the future so I need not rely on said assistance), participate in several different social events to help overcome the social awkkardness that I suffer from as a result of my disability, and work hard at just being a functioning member of society as a whole. Now, I have some quirks of my own which I have to cope with, particularly my gaming and cosplaying hobbies of which are not cheap endeavors and have to resist the urge to splurge upon. I have to fight the impulsive nature I have to buy a lot of the games I wish to play (both domestic and import) because it feasibly is not a habit I can just lavishly throw money toward. I always try to plan out which things I'd like to buy first by level,of excitement and strategize to allot myself x number of games only so often in a certain span of time as I have to not only worry about paying rent, but have three pets to take care of, set aside money for savings, and pay bills/utilities.
I wholeheartedly sympathize with Chris but a lot of what he has done cannot be tributed to simply his illness or the result of the cyber-bullying. For instance, the situation years ago regarding an argument he had with an African-American Yu-Gi-Oh player at The Game Place in which he threatened to hit the individual only to cower immediately when said individual stood (showing he was significantly bigger) seems to show that he understood the gravity of his words and that he would likely get pummeled, a sign he was aware that he faced a consequence for his actions.
I suppose my point is that while Chris certainly has a high-functioning form of autism, there are clearly other underlying issues that need to be addressed to help him improve in life and he is not totally blameless in a lot of what has occured. The egotistical attitude, the enabling of his parents, the inability (or blatant refusal) to understand what he has done wrong, the lack of respect for rules other than his own... These will lead down a dangerous path for him sooner or later. While I hope things can turn in his favor and a lot of the trolling he has had to deal with (some of which he has instigated) comes to an end, we must be able to see from all the angles and analyze that which lay before us as the situation is certainly not as black and white as many have made it out to be.
