I'm angry that people will associate Lanza with autism

[Anonymous]

I am going to start off saying something which will probably infuriate people. I question whether Lanza was ever diagnosed with Aspergers. Has Lanza's physician verified it? I wonder if mom self-diagnosed, or said "Asperger's" because her friends would find that less concerning. Even if he did get an official dx, there were mublings of a personality disorder and I suspect that dx is much more likely to account for some of this. Nobody specifies what personality disorder it was yet Asperger's is thrown around EVERY time I read or hear about report.I know this mother dedicated her life to her son and I know she had many admirable qualities and I am a terrible person to speculate. Nobody deserves to deal with all she faced. But, I had to get that out.

I have a child with HFA who is the most gentle and kind person you could meet. I know every kid is different, but I also know children with autism who have violent tendencies only show these tendencies when highly stressed and it's an impulsive reaction not something planned. Also, they are more prone to self injury if aggressive.

Here is an article that I thought was good and I see I am not alone in feeling like this is going to set back the public perception of ASD decades.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/17/health/connecticut-shooting-autism/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[Anonymous]

HI OP. Good point and I am in same situation. Lots of Aspies around me. There are several pre-existing threads going on right now on this site about this issue. All I know is the neighbor interviewed on 60 minutes last night said the mom said "Aspergers" (But, really, if you had a kid who was Bipolar or was schizophrenic and you were homeschooling them would you blurt that out to a neighbor? OK, depends on your neighbor, but it might not be something the mom wanted to make concrete - especially to an indiscreet neighbor would would later get interviewed on TV about it).

Check out the other threads. Don't jump to conclusions. The media have botched the reporting on this from day one. I read one report from the Hartford Courant saying they had a motive but I don't believe anything I am reading anymore.

But a lot could have gone on between age 18 and 20. Someone on another thread said Aspergers/HSA/on the spectrum can evolve into schizophrenia. Honestly, that's the first time I've ever heard of this and the Aspies I know could not be more gentle. Quite the opposite. But I not a psychiatrist. Check out the other threads. One is under something like "Why isn't anyone saying schizophrenia?". My guess is that he had untreated schizophrenia or was bipolar and fell out of the system as the author "I am Adam Lanza's Mother" described. Fortunately, I've not encountered any violence with aspergers, but, as I said, am not an expert. Perhaps the medical records in time will tell us.

What I can tell you is that this execution was extremely well-planned out and the Aspies I know (my own, so I can say it), can't organize their way out of a paper bag. They could never have planned something like this horror. Every day is an organizational struggle for them. Just my thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Dear parent,

It is not about you or how you want to project your child on society.

This is about a parent who had mental problems of her own and had no help. She was sick. Her child was sick. Her husband left them. She was an NRA nut with a child she let have access to guns.

Truth be told we are all to blame since we allow guns to penetrate our society so easily.


Sad parent.

[Anonymous]

Most people who are bipolar or schizophrenic would never hurt a fly either. Even most people with personality disorders don't ever murder so I don't think there is any association that is any better than another.

[Anonymous]

OP here-thanks.

Re: I did see the other threads and posted a bit. It's not that ASD can become schizophrenia. It's just that sometimes people later diagnosed with Schizophrenia were wrongly dxed with ASD just like some kids with bipolar may have received an ADHD diagnosis originally. Clinicians do the best job they can and symptoms can overlap for various disorders.

It looks like even CNN admits, nobody has verified this diagnosis. I would not say Aspie in EVERY article because Auntie or Uncle said it.

I hear you about planning. Mine has atrocious executive functioning. He can tell you more than you ever wanted to know about presidents, geography, computers and math=bore you to tears in fact, but without an IEP which allows him support for organization he's be lost. I know I should not be joking perhaps, but I am so flabbergasted that this is thrown around without verification that humor helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people who are bipolar or schizophrenic would never hurt a fly either. Even most people with personality disorders don't ever murder so I don't think there is any association that is any better than another.

This is true. There are plenty of people with PDs and Schizophrenia functioning well in society with the proper supports. However, it is more likely this young man was caught up in some delusion or had extreme paranoia or was antisocial to the point of being a psychopath than that he had symptoms of ASD. You can find some of these symptoms in milder forms with some of the other disorders. With ASD you may have what look like antisocial characteristics due to extreme social anxiety, but not hatred of others. OCD features are common with ASD, but paranoia not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear parent,

It is not about you or how you want to project your child on society.

This is about a parent who had mental problems of her own and had no help. She was sick. Her child was sick. Her husband left them. She was an NRA nut with a child she let have access to guns.

Truth be told we are all to blame since we allow guns to penetrate our society so easily.


Sad parent.

Oh please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear parent,

It is not about you or how you want to project your child on society.

This is about a parent who had mental problems of her own and had no help. She was sick. Her child was sick. Her husband left them. She was an NRA nut with a child she let have access to guns.

Truth be told we are all to blame since we allow guns to penetrate our society so easily.


Sad parent.


How do you know she had no supports? She claimed she was getting him help. She had more money than most people dealing with severe mental illness in the family.

Nobody is saying it's about us. It's about our kids and prejudices and misconceptions.

I'm all for gun control. I also know the problems won't all go away with gun control. This is about mental health and accessing proper care and properly understanding disorders. Our country has work to do in many areas to help prevent this type of violence.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree. I just posted this on another thread where people were trying to link autism to the mass violence of Newtown and Columbine:

This is actually not true. The whole myth of the Columbine killers being socially isolated, ostracized and bullied is BS. Look into it.

The Columbine killers had friends, friends who bought them guns for the whole previous year in fact. They were themselves bullies, hanging out at the local shopping center, picking on kids. One kid they bullied for being black, then they shot him. One boy they threatened to the point the mom called the police. They were not POPULAR or jocks and resented that.

They had been acting out for a YEAR before Columbine, there was even a search warrant to look for weapons that was never executed. They had extensive journals and had planned the shooting for a year, getting jobs and saving money to buy weapons and bomb materials. They planned to kill thousands but their homemade bombs did not go off.

I'm not sure what an "autistic-type kid" -- nor am I sure you do, so let's not diagnose someone we HAVE no clue about.

Stop trying to connect these horrendous crimes with autism. You obviously have no idea what your are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people who are bipolar or schizophrenic would never hurt a fly either. Even most people with personality disorders don't ever murder so I don't think there is any association that is any better than another.

This is true. There are plenty of people with PDs and Schizophrenia functioning well in society with the proper supports. However, it is more likely this young man was caught up in some delusion or had extreme paranoia or was antisocial to the point of being a psychopath than that he had symptoms of ASD. You can find some of these symptoms in milder forms with some of the other disorders. With ASD you may have what look like antisocial characteristics due to extreme social anxiety, but not hatred of others. OCD features are common with ASD, but paranoia not so much.

Or he could have those mental health issues and ASD. They are not exclusive of each other. Many people have dual diagnoses, with both a developmental disorder and a mental illness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people who are bipolar or schizophrenic would never hurt a fly either. Even most people with personality disorders don't ever murder so I don't think there is any association that is any better than another.

This is true. There are plenty of people with PDs and Schizophrenia functioning well in society with the proper supports. However, it is more likely this young man was caught up in some delusion or had extreme paranoia or was antisocial to the point of being a psychopath than that he had symptoms of ASD. You can find some of these symptoms in milder forms with some of the other disorders. With ASD you may have what look like antisocial characteristics due to extreme social anxiety, but not hatred of others. OCD features are common with ASD, but paranoia not so much.

Or he could have those mental health issues and ASD. They are not exclusive of each other. Many people have dual diagnoses, with both a developmental disorder and a mental illness.

The point is those are not symptoms of Aspergers. The media is making him the poster child and the underlying message is Asperger's played a roll. I have not seen 1 other comorbid dx mentioned other than occasional talk of an un-named personality disorder. Heck maybe he had diabetes, chronic constipation and a host of other issues. If the media paired diabetes and psychokiller enough in the same article plenty of idiots will equate the 2.

[Anonymous]

Some even have mutliple comordities. lovely term. I bet I misspelled it too. I've got two triple comordities. OP, I hear you about disorganization. I'm 21:31. My home is a Superfund site.

BTW, just to be clear, I said "untreated" schizophrenia or bipolarism. But I am not a shrink so really don't know what I'm talking about. I hope the press just settles down until we know. The data on the hard drives, insurance submissions, emails, divorce records, divorce depositions, IEP, homeschool records, facebook pages and work records, if any, will tell us.

Interestingly the dad has not said anything about diagnosis. Properly coached by a lawyer as someone suggested, I imagine. Isn't one of the current operating theories about autism being researched = older daddy's sperm? (I'm not making fun - this is a real operating theory).

[Anonymous]

I'm so old that when I worked with the severely autistic, the researchers were just then working out of blaming the mom ("the frigid mother" theory) and beginning research on the un-myelinated sheath theory (http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt62067.html). So far as I know, next autism/aspergers was caused by exhaust emissions. Now it's the quality of the father's (read older) sperm. Or so I've read. Anyone know?

[Anonymous]

All I have to say is Sanjay Gupta is the only reporter I have come across with integrity when it comes to this whole Lanza-autism thing. He is the only one who seems to be smart enough to report responsibly. Most of the media is highly irresponsible using Aspergers in every article with out a confirmed medical diagnosis rather than a relative's claim.

Seriously there are people stupid enough to beat up kids with autism because they assume they could be mass murderers. Think of all the people after 9-11 who ran around assaulting innocent muslims.

And I though our press could not sink any lower...

[Anonymous]

It can't. We're at a Brit-level of tabloid journalism. I have all screens off until this is all sorted out. I feel so awful for the families, the police (can you imagine what they saw?), the first-responders, the coroners, even the funeral directors (yeah, even one of them posted - everyone has to have their 15 minutes of fame - but I still feel sorry for him). This is an all time low for american journalism - both factually and in prematurely trying to assign blame or an association. That isn't their job.