I'm sure many of the kids caught up in Zero Tolerance suspensions/expulsions didn't have any criminal intent either, but were still prosecuted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_tolerance_(schools)
, obviously not all result in criminal charges, but many do.
http://rutherford.org/articles_db/press_release.asp?article_id=561
Seumas you have no idea how much I agree with you on this one.
Last time a similar story was posted (couldn't find the link), somebody brought up that autism/aspergers as being the new "chic" diagnosis....it has everything a parents wants, an excuse to justify their child's behavioral issues as a manifestation of a disability which allows them to absolve themselves of any parenting failures with a label that's associated with high intelligence.
To the GP, as the parent of a severely autistic child this isn't at all reprehensible, providing autistic individuals with any kind of vocational/technical training is doing them, and their family/caregiver, a huge service. We just hope that Rachel will have an opportunity like this some day.
Neutrinos have bad breadth.