Connecticut school district on lockdown after shooting report at a Newtown elemen #9

[Darkman00]

Educators urge review of violent video games

Eileen FitzGerald

Published 8:03 am, Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Violent video games will be high on a long list of topics getting renewed attention in the wake of the Newtown massacre, local educators say.

"I think that we all for a long time have been uneasy about them,'' said Margie Blandsfield, a school social worker in Danbury. "We don't need government to legislate this, we need parents to legislate this in their own homes.''

Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/loc...rge-review-of-violent-video-games-4146106.php

 

[Darkman00]

Possible Asperger's connection to shooting sparks fear, outrage

Published 1:51 pm, Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Read more: http://www.norwalkcitizenonline.com...r-s-connection-to-shooting-sparks-4146675.php

 

[bourne]

In all the years I've studied Asperger's and sat in on IEP meetings and met with professionals, I've NEVER EVER heard that AS "morphs" with anything. Can a person have Asperger's and an additional condition? Yes. But "morphing" into something else is pure science fiction, IMO.

I totally agree. That's why I said I agreed with everything except the morphing.

I don't know what AL's diagnosis/condition(s) were, but he might have had one illness co-morbid (having concurrently) with the other.

 

[bourne]

Yes, the "everything should be taken with a grain of salt" thing is what I was disagreeing with.

No argument that much of media stumbled out of the gate in their initial Newtown coverage, but viewing information in the New York Times and the Washington Post as being somehow equal in value to that in the New York Post and New York Daily News, or that information contained in the Guardian and the Telegraph somehow has the same value as that contained in the Mirror or the Sun is counter-productive to understanding an issue.

I agree, some news sources are more credible and engage in fact-checking before publishing. Others, on the other hand, do not, and run with the rumors.

 

[Kimster]

I totally agree. That's why I said I agreed with everything except the morphing.

I don't know what AL's diagnosis/condition(s) were, but he might have had one illness co-morbid (having concurrently) with the other.

There was a seminar I attended quite a few years back that listed some conditions that are commonly co-morbid with AS, but they weren't anything that we consider dangerous. I know Tourette's and OCD were very common with the kids represented because those were the two that the parents brought up the most often. And I remember being thankful my son has AS alone. It's been much easier for him to have a social life.

 

[wfgodot]

Conversely, if this crime had have happened in NYC, I'd give more ear than I do now to the Post and Daily News. Crime coverage has historically been a major feature of the tabloids, and thus their reporters would quite possibly have better sources in LE.

As it's a Connecticut crime, reporting in the Hartford Courant and New Haven Register (neither are tabloids) is quite important just on a geographical basis.

 

[bourne]

Perhaps it is as simple as Peter Lanza being a generous provider. A compelling question though.

I don't think we know enough about the dad to say definitively why he gave more than half his salary to his wife. Maybe it's as simple as he is generous, or the mother just got a great divorce lawyer. I tend to think though, that it does reflect how he might have given much of the parenting (fathering and mothering) duties to his ex-wife, NL, as far as AL was concerned. The fact that he had little to no contact with his son AL says a lot.

I have a hard time with parents and siblings not communicating with each other. To me, that is antithetical to what a "family" is, and unhealthy, particularly for the lonely family member who is isolated or ostracized.

I think in AL's case, the isolation fostered the unhealthy rage in him. He likely had those negative feelings festering inside for years, and perhaps when his mom began pushing him more and more to be independent and learn to mingle with rest of society, the pressure was too much for him. Maybe he felt that when his mom and he moved to Washington -- or wherever the "school or center" was -- that she wouldn't be living with him under the same roof and that scared the heck out of him. To him, he might have felt as if she were abandoning him, as the rest of the family seemed to have done.

From AL's perspective, even though he might have pushed away his dad and brother, he might have still felt they should have done more and lived geographically closer to him. I think a lot of times, it's a person's perception of reality that matters, not the actual reality itself.

 

[jjenny]

There was a seminar I attended quite a few years back that listed some conditions that are commonly co-morbid with AS, but they weren't anything that we consider dangerous. I know Tourette's and OCD were very common with the kids represented because those were the two that the parents brought up the most often. And I remember being thankful my son has AS alone. It's been much easier for him to have a social life.

Since one teacher described AL cleaning his desk with purell as a child, then he probably had OCD as well. But OCD patients aren't known for violence either.

 

[atthelake]

To expect the father and brother to be truthtellers whose tales will be gospel is rather to expect human beings to be perfect.

Ya mean like Cindy and George told the truth?:jail:

 

[jjenny]

It doesn't matter if the basement looked like the Taj Mahal, when you spend 90% of your time there and never interact with other people the other 10%, who would know if he was hallucinating?

Who would know if he wasn't?

 

[wfgodot]

Ya mean like Cindy and George told the truth?:jail:

Well, not to put them in that league. It's just that truth is such a subjective thing; as Oscar Wilde said, the truth is rarely pure and never simple.

 

[newlyminted]

Who says she had to create "in depth social" network? She went out, she had friends, she went on vacations. She wasn't the one sitting in her basement all day.

Most people who are deemed normal create friendships. These "normal" people generally have friendships that are deep and meaningful. From what we know NL had superficial friendships, at best. People she ran into at the bar, women she played a game with every so often. From what is being reported NL had pretty basic, shallow friendships with people in town. She knew them on an acquaintance level, but nothing more than that. Since NL had been living in Newtown for many years at the time of her death you'd anticipate she would have developed a few, deep, meaningful friendships with women in town. It didn't happen. I'm curious as to WHY. Was Adam that disturbed that she couldn't let people in her home? was there something that she didn't want people to see? Why don't people know more about Adam if they had been friends with NL?

Look, there are people I run into at the bar each week, too. We chat, we are on a first name basis, but these are not my FRIENDS. They are people I know. Our conversations don't go past more than idle chitchat. NL, from the sounds of it, was a very private woman. She didn't talk much about AL, she didn't let people in her home, she ran into a bar a few times a week for a drink and to pick up salads. She wasn't exactly the most social creature the world has ever seen, obviously.

 

[Foxfire]

Faulty link.

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/school-shooter/

The School Shooter:
A THREAT ASSESSMENT PERSPECTIVE

Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG)
National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC)
FBI Academy
Quantico, Virginia 22135

 

[jjenny]

Most people who are deemed normal create friendships. These "normal" people generally have friendships that are deep and meaningful. From what we know NL had superficial friendships, at best. People she ran into at the bar, women she played a game with every so often. From what is being reported NL had pretty basic, shallow friendships with people in town. She knew them on an acquaintance level, but nothing more than that. Since NL had been living in Newtown for many years at the time of her death you'd anticipate she would have developed a few, deep, meaningful friendships with women in town. It didn't happen. I'm curious as to WHY. Was Adam that disturbed that she couldn't let people in her home? was there something that she didn't want people to see? Why don't people know more about Adam if they had been friends with NL?

Look, there are people I run into at the bar each week, too. We chat, we are on a first name basis, but these are not my FRIENDS. They are people I know. Our conversations don't go past more than idle chitchat. NL, from the sounds of it, was a very private woman. She didn't talk much about AL, she didn't let people in her home, she ran into a bar a few times a week for a drink and to pick up salads. She wasn't exactly the most social creature the world has ever seen, obviously.

Well, if we used that as a "normal" criteria, then lots of people aren't normal.

 

[Foxfire]

Most people who are deemed normal create friendships. These "normal" people generally have friendships that are deep and meaningful. From what we know NL had superficial friendships, at best. People she ran into at the bar, women she played a game with every so often. From what is being reported NL had pretty basic, shallow friendships with people in town. She knew them on an acquaintance level, but nothing more than that. Since NL had been living in Newtown for many years at the time of her death you'd anticipate she would have developed a few, deep, meaningful friendships with women in town. It didn't happen. I'm curious as to WHY. Was Adam that disturbed that she couldn't let people in her home? was there something that she didn't want people to see? Why don't people know more about Adam if they had been friends with NL?

Look, there are people I run into at the bar each week, too. We chat, we are on a first name basis, but these are not my FRIENDS. They are people I know. Our conversations don't go past more than idle chitchat. NL, from the sounds of it, was a very private woman. She didn't talk much about AL, she didn't let people in her home, she ran into a bar a few times a week for a drink and to pick up salads. She wasn't exactly the most social creature the world has ever seen, obviously.

Actually the FBI BSU/BAU was originally housed in the dimly lighted basement at Quantico, VA, 60' underground, and was referred too by the other FBI agents as the witches unit according to retired FBI profiler John Douglas. They all turned out OK...
Many folks live in basements, in the forests, under bridges, or other unorthodox places, breaking with convention or tradition. Also There are some very good people that like k9s and other animals better than they do most people, but they don't go around murdering little children or other innocent victims.

 

[Donjeta]

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-010-0958-2?LI=true#page-1
Download PDF (283 KB) View Article
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
September 2010, Volume 40, Issue 9, pp 1080-1093
Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders Associated with Asperger Syndrome/High-functioning Autism: A Community- and Clinic-based Study
Marja-Leena Mattila, Tuula Hurtig, Helena Haapsamo, Katja Jussila, Sanna Kuusikko-Gauffin, Marko Kielinen, Sirkka-Liisa Linna, Hanna Ebeling, Risto Bloigu, Leena Joskitt, … show all 12
Download PDF (283 KB) View Article
Abstract
The present study identifies the prevalence and types of comorbid psychiatric disorders associated with Asperger syndrome (AS)/high-functioning autism (HFA) in a combined community- and clinic-based sample of fifty 9- to 16-year-old subjects using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Present and Lifetime Version. The level of functioning was estimated using the Children’s Global Assessment Scale. The results support common (prevalence 74%) and often multiple comorbid psychiatric disorders in AS/HFA; behavioral disorders were shown in 44%, anxiety disorders in 42% and tic disorders in 26%. Oppositional defiant disorder, major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders as comorbid conditions indicated significantly lower levels of functioning. To target interventions, routine evaluation of psychiatric comorbidity in subjects with AS/HFA is emphasized.

this article goes into something called " comorbity" combinations overlapping of disorders that do present together and change over time. IMO The pdf is really interesting and had statistics for youth - 20's inclinations to comorbity...examples violence etc...

In the light of AL being so thin, it's interesting they say that ASD is overrepresented in anorexia sufferers.

 

[atthelake]

I think his problems were beyond that, though. I don't understand why she couldn't see that (even allowing for some denial as a mother).

I cannot imagine him EVER being able to handle anything more than a part-time job in a very sheltered environment (meaning no clients or customers to encounter) and a very few co-workers, and that's on the optimistic end of the spectrum.

My neighbors son has autism. He loves to read atlases, and does so when he joins us for trivia what the adults go out for such. He is our secret weapon and we win oftern just due to his inteligence. He does not interact at all and we don't even know he is there until a question is asked and he knows the answer,, he will grab the pencil and paper and write the answer and many ties will want to walk up the answer. Is parents got him into a program in Cbicago that is especially for post high scholol level...and begins mainstreaming with living arrangements and placements for employment. Last year he was an intern at "the" map/atlas company we alll know...and this year, he was offered a full time job.


A great fit for this young man, and above the job skills needed for basic work such as I see in grocery stores where they target hire folks with downs as baggers.

FWIW

 

[callyn]

Most people who are deemed normal create friendships. These "normal" people generally have friendships that are deep and meaningful. From what we know NL had superficial friendships, at best. People she ran into at the bar, women she played a game with every so often. From what is being reported NL had pretty basic, shallow friendships with people in town. She knew them on an acquaintance level, but nothing more than that. Since NL had been living in Newtown for many years at the time of her death you'd anticipate she would have developed a few, deep, meaningful friendships with women in town. It didn't happen. I'm curious as to WHY. Was Adam that disturbed that she couldn't let people in her home? was there something that she didn't want people to see? Why don't people know more about Adam if they had been friends with NL?

Look, there are people I run into at the bar each week, too. We chat, we are on a first name basis, but these are not my FRIENDS. They are people I know. Our conversations don't go past more than idle chitchat. NL, from the sounds of it, was a very private woman. She didn't talk much about AL, she didn't let people in her home, she ran into a bar a few times a week for a drink and to pick up salads. She wasn't exactly the most social creature the world has ever seen, obviously.

BBM
Perhaps she had close friends and they are keeping their mouths SHUT.

 

[i.b.nora]

BBM
Perhaps she had close friends and they are keeping their mouths SHUT.

I agree and I also think that "normal" people often have friendships that manifest themselves differently from one person to the next.

 

[newlyminted]

Well, if we used that as a "normal" criteria, then lots of people aren't normal.

Sorry, some of us rely on this weird thing called science. Humans are social creatures, the very basis of human survival relies on other individuals.... human beings who don't feel the "need" to create friendships and relationships with others simply are not normal.. according to SCIENCE.