Connecticut school district on lockdown after shooting report at a Newtown elemen #5

[CJMAJORGIRL24]

My 11 year old has Asperger's and he summed it up pretty well, "Great. Now people have another reason not to like me. Please don't tell anyone else I have Asperger's."

How very sad....!! Please tell him, that he is LOVED, by many that he has/will never meet!! :heartbeat:

 

[Footwarrior]

I agree. He is a mass killer who happened to have Asperger's and whatever else going on.

My take is that the shooter was misdiagnosed as having Aspergers. His actual problem was far more serious.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

If it was in the news that AL was completely healthy and sane we wouldn't think that all the sane people are going to commit mass murder.

People with diagnoses are always individuals, just as sane people are.

Great post!!!!!!

 

[4Jacy]

Why did they have to publish the name of the school where the children will be re-located? It would get out eventually, but I think they made it public too soon.

 

[21merc7]

My take is that the shooter was misdiagnosed as having Aspergers. His actual problem was far more serious.

I completely agree.

 

[gramcracker]

wondering who the first responders are, in that area. I know I haven't seen all the footage but from what I did see it looked like the first responders were in uniform?

the first responders here are trained civilian volunteers who "come as they are." they arrive in whatever they are wearing at work or at home when they are paged

DD/SIL were first responders for many years, she was a daycare provider (before earning her RN degree) and he's a welder

I've been haunted by what the SH first responders found when they entered the scene. one horrendous thing I can't stop thinking about is, do you suppose some IDs had to be made on something besides facial features? because in some cases the faces were destroyed?

I comfort myself by knowing that those fine folks will receive any/all counseling they need

 

[Kimster]

My take is that the shooter was misdiagnosed as having Aspergers. His actual problem was far more serious.

You know, you might be right. I can't remember ever hearing about an Aspie being able to plan a crime. They are usually very spontaneous. But, I was help to teach my son how to plan in advance for things so it's not impossible. It's not second nature to any Aspies that I've known.

Interesting that you brought this up and now I'm pondering.

 

[Ricki]

Why did they have to publish the name of the school where the children will be re-located to? It would get out eventually, but I think they made it public too soon.

I don't know but the talk has been around here of the school all weekend. Like you said it would of been known soon anyway.

 

[21merc7]

wondering who the first responders are, in that area. I know I haven't seen all the footage but from what I did see it looked like the first responders were in uniform?

the first responders here are trained civilian volunteers who "come as they are." they arrive in whatever they are wearing at work or at home when they are paged

DD/SIL were first responders for many years, she was a daycare provider (before earning her RN degree) and he's a welder

I've been haunted by what the SH first responders found when they entered the scene. one horrendous thing I can't stop thinking about is, do you suppose some IDs had to be made on something besides facial features? because in some cases the faces were destroyed?

I comfort myself by knowing that those fine folks will receive any/all counseling they need

gram;

It was either in the ME presser or one of the pressers this weekend that some i.d. had to be done via dental records. (Don't know who or how many.)

ETA: Of course I may have misheard or misremember, and it was only mom and AL. I do remember the ME didn't want all the parents to have to physically identify some, that he had good photographers for that.

 

[tlcya]

Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior – outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting – than the general population, he said.

"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.

"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...e-adam-lanza--newtown-shooting_n_2312545.html

My 11 year old has Asperger's and he summed it up pretty well, "Great. Now people have another reason not to like me. Please don't tell anyone else I have Asperger's."

Aw, hugs to your 11 yr old. Remind him: People can find any reason not to like someone if they try hard enough. Even folks who don't face the challenges that come along with Asperger's have to deal with jerks. hang in there bud.

I have read almost every single post of these last five threads about this horrific experience. My heart is heavy...I cannot begin to imagine what these parents and families are going through.
I have mentioned in other threads that I have two children on the spectrum...my daughter has Asperger's, my son PDD-NOS. One thing I have learned, and it's a trite phrase, but it is very true....if you meet one child w/ autism, you have met one child w/ autism. The actions of the shooter are his and his alone....I do not believe, if he did in fact have Asperger's, that it contributed to this attack. It's still a very confusing situation, and it's hard to know what to believe. If he was hyposensitive to pain or injury, that could be an indication of severe sensory processing issues. A lot of our kids do have sensory issues, but even those can vary from child to child.
My main concern in discussing issues related to autism/Asperger's, is that we be careful that generalizations not be made. I want there to be an open dialogue on understanding and reaching out to our kids, but I have the fear as a parent that a person will hear their diagnosis and reach conclusions that don't apply to my child at all. Our kids are as individualized as 'neurotypical' children...we just have to look for the best way to reach them. My personal opinion, and that is all it is, is that AL had other mental health issues that led to this tragedy. :moo:

I think once the facts come out they will show that AL had both Asperger's AND a serious mental health problem.

Either that or he was misdiagnosed with Asperger's and truly suffered from some other problem all along.

 

[MyBelle]

You know, you might be right. I can't remember ever hearing about an Aspie being able to plan a crime. They are usually very spontaneous. But, I was help to teach my son how to plan in advance for things so it's not impossible. It's not second nature to any Aspies that I've known.

Interesting that you brought this up and now I'm pondering.

Have police announced that Adam acted alone?

What happened is the exact opposite reaction one would expect. Adam had a history of "flight" according to some of the school workers from his younger school days. His act Friday of creating total chaos and throwing himself into the fire doesn't fit with his history. There is definitely something else in play in this case.

JMO

 

[Donjeta]

There are entrepreneurs and professionals with Asperger's syndrome. Pretty sure they have to have some ability to plan things.

Not saying that any of them are planning mass murder but I don't like blanket statements that Aspergers are unable to plan things because it is not categorically true about everyone.

 

[gxm]

My take is that the shooter was misdiagnosed as having Aspergers. His actual problem was far more serious.

Thank you for so concisely putting into words what's being bouncing around in my head for days. IMO, there was definitely something else going on with the killer.

 

[QueenD]

wondering who the first responders are, in that area. I know I haven't seen all the footage but from what I did see it looked like the first responders were in uniform?

the first responders here are trained civilian volunteers who "come as they are." they arrive in whatever they are wearing at work or at home when they are paged

DD/SIL were first responders for many years, she was a daycare provider (before earning her RN degree) and he's a welder

I've been haunted by what the SH first responders found when they entered the scene. one horrendous thing I can't stop thinking about is, do you suppose some IDs had to be made on something besides facial features? because in some cases the faces were destroyed?

I comfort myself by knowing that those fine folks will receive any/all counseling they need

And also wonder what effect it will have on these first responders now and later down the road. I dont care how tuff you are, it would have to be horrible to go to a scene like this one.

I wasnt there, but I still wake up with the picture in my mind of what it was probable like, what horror these babies went through in their last seconds of their lives and the adults.

 

[ami]

You know, you might be right. I can't remember ever hearing about an Aspie being able to plan a crime. They are usually very spontaneous. But, I was help to teach my son how to plan in advance for things so it's not impossible. It's not second nature to any Aspies that I've known.

Interesting that you brought this up and now I'm pondering.

I hate to say this, but my husband's neighbor from childhood grew to be a very smart man with Aspergers, a scientist, and he preplanned his own suicide to the last detail. Without going into detail he used chemicals ordered from a lab supply company and even left the MSDS's taped to his body so the police and coroner would know how to handle his remains safely. It was scary-level planned. People with aspergers can be incredibly attached to method and planning.

 

[Donjeta]

Thank you for so concisely putting into words what's being bouncing around in my head for days. IMO, there was definitely something else going on with the killer.

I don't think there is a DSM-IV category for it but I have been thinking that you have to be in the throes of a certain kind of evil if you're able to look at six-year-old scared little darlings and pull a trigger over and over again.

 

[Kimster]

There are entrepreneurs and professionals with Asperger's syndrome. Pretty sure they have to have some ability to plan things.

Not saying that any of them are planning mass murder but I don't like blanket statements that Aspergers are unable to plan things because it is not categorically true about everyone.

Good point. The Aspies I've dealt with in the past have been children, who are still learning to plan anyway, and I haven't seen this listed as an issue in the spectrum either. Sounds like I was being spontaneous in my previous post. :angel:

 

[MsFacetious]

I don't think that meds had anything to do with this. The problem seems obvious to me: this young man, who had Asperger's syndrome, should not have had access to guns. <modsnip>

If this was a guy with a violent mental illness, I could understand this.
Asperger's is NOT something that causes you to be a violent adult.
There is NO reason to say people with Asperger's cannot have guns.

Diagnostic criteria here:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/hcp-dsm.html

There are many famous people who likely had Asperger's, none of whom were violent.

Many of our nation's genius scientists and inventors would certainly have been diagnosed with Asperger's if they were alive.

Alan Turing
Albert Einstein
Alexander Graham Bell
Benjamin Franklin
Isaac Newton
Jane Austen
Thomas Edison
Beethoven and Mozart

http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_2086.shtml

This is a kid who for whatever reason became angry and lashed out.
Could that have been partly because he was angry that he was different? Certainly.
However, many people with Asperger's are not angry. They don't mind being different.

I think this kid probably had a major psychiatric disorder that we haven't heard about, or that simply wasn't diagnosed at all.
If he was diagnosed with Asperger's as child and then he became worse as an adult, people may not think to get re-diagnosed.

He certainly did not go shoot up a school because he had Asperger's and no other issues. That just isn't how it works. :twocents:

 

[Darkman00]

Adam Lanza’s hidden life reveals affluent family, mother who introduced him to guns to teach him ‘responsibility’

Adam Geller, Associated Press | Dec 17, 2012 12:46 PM ET

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/1...uced-him-to-guns-to-teach-him-responsibility/

 

[Darkman00]

Dr. Harold Koplewicz
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist; President, Child Mind Institute

Speculating About Adam Lanza's Mental State

Posted: 12/17/2012 1:20 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-harold-koplewicz/adam-lanza-mental-_b_2311778.html