Culture

Don Burke Blaming Autism For His Behaviour Is “Disgusting” And “Pathetic”, Advocates Say

"What kind of human sinks this low?"

by Sam Langford  28 November 2017
don burke

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People with autism are slamming Don Burke’s attempts to blame his alleged predatory behaviour on self-diagnosed Asperger syndrome, saying his attempt to associate autism with sexual harassment is “deeply offensive” and “appalling”.

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Burke has been accused by dozens of women of predatory behaviour, assault and harassment across his long career. He has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

In an interview on A Current Affair last night, Burke said he believes he is “an Asperger’s person”, though he has never been diagnosed, and claimed he has difficulty with eye contact and reading body language that makes it difficult for him to read consent.

“I missed the body language and the subtle signs that people give you. I don’t see that,” he said.

Autism advocacy organisations have slammed Burke’s comments on social media. Autism Awareness Australia said it was “sickened tonight by Don Burke’s excuse of undiagnosed Aspergers as a reason for his appalling behaviour.”

“What kind of human sinks this low?”, the organisation tweeted.

In a statement to Junkee, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Australia & New Zealand said that it is “outraged that someone would claim to self diagnose Asperger’s as a way of deflecting the history of predatory and misogynistic behaviour,” highlighting the profoundly negative impact Burke’s claims are having on people with autism.

“In particular males who are autistic are deeply distressed by this as they spend a great deal of time trying to navigate social and romantic relationships. The idea that they would be associated with the kind of behaviour that Don Burke is accused of is deeply offensive,” a spokesperson said.

“The Autistic Self Advocacy Network expresses disgust at Don Burke’s attempt to minimise the seriousness of his alleged ongoing sexual assault of women. ASAN does not condone sexual assault under any circumstances.”

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“Autistic people, including those who identify as people with Asperger Syndrome, are more likely to be victims of assault than they are perpetrators. The manner in which Mr Burke’s revealed his ‘self-diagnosis’, which has no validity, indicates a last minute attempt to evade the consequences of his actions.”

Autism Awareness Australia CEO Nicole Rogerson also told Junkee she was appalled by Burke’s comments, pointing out that “he had an opportunity to apologise to those women, and instead tried to use autism as a get out of jail free card. It’s just pathetic.”

Many other people have taken to social media to express their disgust with Burke’s comments. Among them was comedian Hannah Gadsby, who tweeted “I have Asperger’s. I can assure you that I don’t need to make eye contact with #donburke to know he is bad humanity.”

You can read more about the allegations against Burke here, and you can learn more about Autism Awareness Australia and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network on their websites.