UCSD Shooting Suspect had autism -just what we need

[Anonymous]

I just want to scream hearing all these stories of killers on the spectrum because there is so much ignorance out there that people will start to associate the two even if the article says the two aren't related. Let's make things fair and every time a killer is "neurotypical" state it in the article.

[Anonymous]

I don't think autism means violent, but I think that he may have faced rejection due to poor social skills and then misunderstood the appropriate reactions to rejection. In particular, the entitlement and lack of empathy he expressed I see among many of the students with ASD that I teach. Social skills groups and individual therapy are key to navigating adolescence, but many Aspies drop those supports after middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think autism means violent, but I think that he may have faced rejection due to poor social skills and then misunderstood the appropriate reactions to rejection. In particular, the entitlement and lack of empathy he expressed I see among many of the students with ASD that I teach. Social skills groups and individual therapy are key to navigating adolescence, but many Aspies drop those supports after middle school.

Once again, more bias. You have got to me kidding me that you see more entitlement among children with HFA than you do among those who are NT. Have you thought about about hom many NT you know who lack empathy? If anything my child with HFA has so much empathy he is in pain for every child he knows who cries or has a bad day. You are stereotyping. Do kids with HFA have poor social skills? Yes they do much more so than NT kids and yes, I agree many need to keep up the supports in highschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think autism means violent, but I think that he may have faced rejection due to poor social skills and then misunderstood the appropriate reactions to rejection. In particular, the entitlement and lack of empathy he expressed I see among many of the students with ASD that I teach. Social skills groups and individual therapy are key to navigating adolescence, but many Aspies drop those supports after middle school.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Whether he was autistic or not, is irrelevant. The vast majority of autistic people are not violent.

I know many people have called the kid out as being "mentally ill," but I think that's a load of BS. Just the same, the vast majority of people with mental illness are also not violent.

The more you delve into his videos and online rants, this brat was a misogynistic "men's rights" asshole that felt women owed him something - attention, sex, company, whatever. He viewed women as objects, abhorred feminism, and ranted when he saw blonde, white women with someone of another race.

His misogyny and entitlement are not ingrained, genetic traits - they are learned behaviors and attitudes. This killer needs to be called out and condemned not just for killing people, but for the possessive, anti-women attitudes that he held as an individual person - not because of autism, and not because of mental illness.

Jezebel recently published more of his awful comments and writings: http://jezebel.com/elliot-rodgers-final-videos-racist-postings-leaked-1581163115

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think autism means violent, but I think that he may have faced rejection due to poor social skills and then misunderstood the appropriate reactions to rejection. In particular, the entitlement and lack of empathy he expressed I see among many of the students with ASD that I teach. Social skills groups and individual therapy are key to navigating adolescence, but many Aspies drop those supports after middle school.

Once again, more bias.You have got to me kidding me that you see more entitlement among children with HFA than you do among those who are NT. Have you thought about about hom many NT you know who lack empathy? If anything my child with HFA has so much empathy he is in pain for every child he knows who cries or has a bad day. You are stereotyping. Do kids with HFA have poor social skills? Yes they do much more so than NT kids and yes, I agree many need to keep up the supports in highschool.

The emphasis here is on Autism and not NT. The PP stated that she sees entitlement and lack of empathy among many of her ASD students which is a separate population from NT students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whether he was autistic or not, is irrelevant. The vast majority of autistic people are not violent.

I know many people have called the kid out as being "mentally ill," but I think that's a load of BS. Just the same, the vast majority of people with mental illness are also not violent.

The more you delve into his videos and online rants, this brat was a misogynistic "men's rights" asshole that felt women owed him something - attention, sex, company, whatever. He viewed women as objects, abhorred feminism, and ranted when he saw blonde, white women with someone of another race.

His misogyny and entitlement are not ingrained, genetic traits - they are learned behaviors and attitudes. This killer needs to be called out and condemned not just for killing people, but for the possessive, anti-women attitudes that he held as an individual person - not because of autism, and not because of mental illness.

Jezebel recently published more of his awful comments and writings: http://jezebel.com/elliot-rodgers-final-videos-racist-postings-leaked-1581163115

I didn't realize he also was a regular contributor on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

When we hear statements like this young man made from NT kids, we say they are mentally ill or evil. I don't think he was either. I think his HFA impaired his ability to interact with NT peers. The vast majority of people in the spectrum wouldn't react with this extremity but the blogosphere probably amplified his sense that he was being mistreated (are there any affluent white males who aren't being mistreated these days?)
How can we address this disconnect between internal expectations and realistic prospects in our care for the social-emotional needs of teens and young adults with HFA?

[Anonymous]

You mean UCSB, right? Santa Barbara, not San Diego?

[Anonymous]

Hey OP it was Santa Barbara not san diego

[Anonymous]

A couple months ago, I had a conversation with the mother of one of my students with ASD. She said that her daughter with HFA was being ostracized by the NT girls in class. I promised to discretely observe. I found that the other students WERE reluctant to work with the girl. It seemed in large part because of her approach to group tasks. She was rigid in her thinking and not open to, let alone appreciative of the ideas contributed by others. This is not how most NT girls approach group work.

This same rigidity of thinking complicates social life for Aspies. Don't want to always talk about a certain anime series, you must not like me. There's an awkward pause after I make a joke, you're bullying me.

I feel for the parents and therapist of this young man. Sounds like they were working hard to help him.

[Anonymous]

Who is reporting that he had an ASD?

I watched his video. It doesn't clearly indicate any of the vocal mannerisms or physical mannerisms that I would associate with an ASD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who is reporting that he had an ASD?

I watched his video. It doesn't clearly indicate any of the vocal mannerisms or physical mannerisms that I would associate with an ASD.

Never mind. I just saw that his family says that he has ASD.

[Anonymous]

This is not autism. He may have had an ASD, but he clearly ALSO had another psychiatric illness. You can have both.

[Anonymous]

The take away should not be people with ASD are violent. The take aways should be that people with violent fantasies and a sense of victimization need urgent, intensive therapy and if your child has ASD, you shouldn't think he or she is immune to developing a mental illness of this type. I thought we learned that after Adam Lanza, but no luck yet.