Cripes, this threat has taken a funny old turn since I last posted.
There are a lot of views here that are based on personal experience and opinion. (Sorry I am generalising here because a number of posters DO have a clue about autism. Have an understanding of its symptoms and the effect this has on their immediate families and those around them).
However, while I appreciate there is some reason to be outraged (based on the limited information provided in the OP link) there is equally reason to stand back and consider the implications of what some people are posting.
The over-reactors who say 'lock him up', 'deport', punish or whatever are really out of touch with reality. An individual with profound or severe autism would not understand the concept of punishment.
The moral implications of this are staggering. Remember what happened in natzi Germany - the experiments etc? If you agree with those sentiments you are morally no better. Someone said, the judge of a society is how they treat the weakest. People with autism, despite the potential (or actual) harm they cause do not understand what they have done (in general terms).
Autism as a disability hinges on the idea that those with autism are socially blind. They are unaware of the intentions of other people and social conventions. That's not very exact - if you want more detail check out Simon Baron-Cohen. His book "Mindblindness: An Essays on Autism" defines possible reasons why an individual with autism does not understand the social world around him. Essentially it is postulated that someone with autism has a malfunctioning theory of mind. They don't understand your view of the world is different to their own. this might not be a major problem to high-functioning autistics, while the more profoundly autistic don't understand you think differently to them or even you have thoughts of your own. There is a well established model that describes how someone with autism experiences the world.
Other theories that try to describe the phenomena of autism include the "triad of impairments" and '"extreme male brain" theory. Check em out if you can be bothered.
For those who are interested in why someone with autism might behave in peculiar ways: as humans we crave social interaction. It gives us a kick, sociologists call it stroking. When you and I exchange pleasantries we 'stroke' each other verbally. we say "I'm here and I recognise you" to be very inexact. For those with autism the signals just don't get through. Instead they find other ways to make themselves feel 'good'.
When you are profoundly autistic communication is a big area of difficulty. For many of the reasons I've suggested above. Communication difficulties are the root of most challenging behaviour an autistic person exhibits. For the young adult in the OP article, he obviously felt very strongly about the noise (or something) the infant was doing bothered him. He was doing what he could to make that stop.
I would like you all to think about something that has irritated you recently, physically or mentally. Doesn't matter what. Consider how you dealt with it?
In the first instance you would probably try to resolve whatever issue it was was bothering you. Loud neighbours? Go round there and ask them to turn it down. Headphones perhaps? Or perhaps it was that person who cut you up in the queue of traffic. What did you do about that? Or something we all can appreciate, a toothache or headache.
Think about something that you can't do something about. And it doesn't stop and as far as you are concerned, FOREVER as you have no concept of time and cannot predict the future. Then what would you do.
In the original OP the baby probably was crying, but it might not have been - you sometimes can never know with autistic people. ( I think people with autism view the rest of us as moving objects, that make funny noises and make no sense. ) Anyway, if you have communication difficulties you can't say stop that it's annoying me, or that exact noise is going to make my head explode. Imagine what it's like when you are helpless. Then you might react in a way that might be similar.
In fact, it's worse than I've described for a person with autism, life is a maelstrom of things happening. Objects and people leap out of nowhere at you. None of it makes sense.
As I've given you a crash course on the world from an autistic point of view (more reading would be Roz Blackburn or Temple Grandin). Try having some sympathy.
It was wrong fro an autistic person to hurt someone else - a two year old, or whoever. But I bet he didn't understand. He was trying to stop something that was driving him crazy.
In my experience when something like this happens, steps are taken to ensure it does not happen again. this brings me back to those who think locking up is the solution.
Firstly it would not solve anything. It would not cure the person with autism. it would overload an already overstretched prison and mental health service further.
If you think it is justified because that person is a danger to society, well you are wrong. (It is a different matter if you are a murderer for example and convicted as such) but the autistic person really doesn't understand. So someone is a danger to society. So is everyone when they get behind the wheel of a car. Had a prang ever? Doubly, triply so.
I think that's enough. I've had a long experience of teaching students with autism, usually the most profound and severe cases. There is a wealth of information and study on autism and its causes - more than one person can skim over in a post such as this. The one thing I always try to remind myself about is, most people don't understand or have any experience of autism. It's a fascinating and rewarding area to work in.
) I pay taxes, don't steal things or punch random people in the street, why should my taxes be used to pay for TV's and gyms for criminals and other time wasters?
just 
.
. Apologies for thread hijack there.
