The boy in NJ who shot and killed mom, dad, sister and family friend was autistic

[Anonymous]

Every time there is a story like this I sense it makes things worse for our kids with autism. My child is already different and socially challenged and I fear this sort of story will just make classmates afraid. I can't blame the news. They are simply reporting a fact about the child.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t seen that reported yet but what a tragedy for the family and their friends and loved ones.

[Anonymous]

The news articles I read said he was high functioning which makes me wonder if it is aspergers.

[Anonymous]

Why are guns accessible and who taught him to shoot? I hate this country's gun laws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Every time there is a story like this I sense it makes things worse for our kids with autism. My child is already different and socially challenged and I fear this sort of story will just make classmates afraid. I can't blame the news. They are simply reporting a fact about the child.

I understand your concern but I didn't even notice the autistic part when reading the story. I was too focused on the horror of it all. I'm guessing that most people will not zero in on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Every time there is a story like this I sense it makes things worse for our kids with autism. My child is already different and socially challenged and I fear this sort of story will just make classmates afraid. I can't blame the news. They are simply reporting a fact about the child.

This is very unlikely for a child with autism. There are probably other co-morbid factors in play.

[Anonymous]

I would say that the fact that the young man was male with access to guns, is a greater factor than his high functioning autism.

[Anonymous]

http://www.app.com/story/news/crime/jersey-mayhem/2018/01/01/out-blue-family-friends-disbelief-over-quadruple-homicide-said-hands-teen/994599001/

[Anonymous]

It sounds like there was more going on in the family. The mom's twitter tweets sound depressed(?), although it isn't clear why she's upset.

RIP. In an instant a large family of 6.....so sad.

[Anonymous]

Meet stigma head-on. People on the spectrum are much more likely to be the targets of harassment and violence than the other way around.

Or to put it another way, if everyone with ASD was a gun-crazed murderer there would be nobody left on the planet.

This is truly a tragedy on multiple levels for this family and their community.

But it is not proof of some kind of link between ASD or mental health challenges and the rates of gun deaths in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are guns accessible and who taught him to shoot? I hate this country's gun laws.

It was an automatic weapon. A family living on New Jersey’s shore needs automatic weapons for what??
You can’t help some people you just can’t.
We should have better gun laws to protect the rest of us from these kinds of reckless idiots.

[Anonymous]

The Sandy Hook shooter was also on the spectrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like there was more going on in the family. The mom's twitter tweets sound depressed(?), although it isn't clear why she's upset.

RIP. In an instant a large family of 6.....so sad.

I agree the twitter account sends off alarm bells of depression. A 2009 bankruptcy filing and the dad working multiple jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meet stigma head-on. People on the spectrum are much more likely to be the targets of harassment and violence than the other way around.

Or to put it another way, if everyone with ASD was a gun-crazed murderer there would be nobody left on the planet.

This is truly a tragedy on multiple levels for this family and their community.

But it is not proof of some kind of link between ASD or mental health challenges and the rates of gun deaths in the US.

Every single kid who does a mass shooting is also medicated for things like anxiety, depression, etc.

I think the issue is the pharmaceutical drugs and side effects on young men in particular, that are being glossed over that are the true cause of these mass shootings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meet stigma head-on. People on the spectrum are much more likely to be the targets of harassment and violence than the other way around.

Or to put it another way, if everyone with ASD was a gun-crazed murderer there would be nobody left on the planet.

This is truly a tragedy on multiple levels for this family and their community.

But it is not proof of some kind of link between ASD or mental health challenges and the rates of gun deaths in the US.

Every single kid who does a mass shooting is also medicated for things like anxiety, depression, etc.

I think the issue is the pharmaceutical drugs and side effects on young men in particular, that are being glossed over that are the true cause of these mass shootings.

I can't even believe I'm saying this because I'm not at all a conspiracy theorist and I know that these drugs help many people-- but I do wonder if there are more harmful side effects than we are made aware of and that people who take them need much closer monitoring.