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

[katydid23]

probably because her adult son who lived there also had difficulty with socializing, people who do not understand this would be uncomfortable around him. It sounds to me that she was a social person, but with her sons difficulties in the social department, it prevented her from having friends over. JMO

My mom avoided having guests into her home when my brother lived there because it upset him. And upsetting someone who has serious mental health issues is a big hassle for all involved. It was much easier to avoid the hassle.

 

[cluciano63]

My mom avoided having guests into her home when my brother lived there because it upset him. And upsetting someone who has serious mental health issues is a big hassle for all involved. It was much easier to avoid the hassle.

Same with my mom. She was very protective of my brother and wanted to do whatever she could to make his life easier. I spent a lot of time visiting my mom during her final years and always took a room at the local motel. She did not insist on it, but was greatly relieved.

 

[Xavier]

It may be someone's very authentic experience of living with the symptoms of whatever disorder they have but I wouldn't read that text as a medical reference to find out what autism, Asperger and schizophrenia are like.

It's from experts, so it's pretty qualified...your comments are kind of confusing

 

[Donjeta]

It's from experts, so it's pretty qualified...your comments are kind of confusing

It is apparently not written by a medical professional but is credited to an

Autistic author, artist, fashion designer, CosPlayer, dollmaker, rooster & feral cat rescuer, P&G boycotter, Faerie folklorist, and alien contactee.

JMO, there are some pretty bold assertions in the article that you wouldn't typically hear from Asperger/autism/schizophrenia experts.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Maybe now that the economy is so bad, but for the bulk of my dating life, a guy who still lived at home, even in the basement, was really unattractive to me, surpassed only by not having a job or a car. If I was living on my own, working and paying for a vehicle I expected anyone I dated to be doing the same.

Sometimes real life hits and its not about dating.

I know several people who have went back home to live with parents.
And we don't have basements but I think it's rather common in areas that do, to have nice living areas in basements.

A lot of people have rec rooms in their basements.

So him playing games down there or sleeping down there does not sound uncommon or strange to me at all.

JMO

 

[jjenny]

He was 20 years old, he apparently had no job and didn't go to any school. I certainly don't think that him sitting in a basement playing video games was normal behavior. Sounds like his mother knew it too, as she was apparently planning to put him into some school or center.

 

[bourne]

I do believe NEWLYMINTED has a point on friendships.
I know not everyone has talked to the media, I understand.
BUT IMO, NL seemed alittle aloof to best friends.
Allot of people knew of her, several knew her but I didn't see
any best buddies crying or talking about their grief yet.
Like AL was a secret boy in the basement???
Was NL even close to her other son? mother? brother?

Friendships mean different things to different people. To paint a broad brush on how everyone's friendships should be is unfair. It prevents individuals from exercising their right to choose the type of friendships they want.

I think it's an exaggeration to call Al a "secret boy in the basement". He was NL's son. Everyone NL knew, friends, casual acquaintances -- whatever you call them -- they knew that. He just happened to play videogames in the basement so much that he might have slept in the same room. There were some descriptions in news reports that the basement is actually a converted bedroom or something like that. So I don't see anything wrong with using the basement as a bedroom, per se. I think what went wrong is AL's lack of socialization with the rest of the world. He became obsessed and consumed with video games -- to his own detriment. He did not learn to interact with the world. Therein lies his reality gone wrong. He lived and breathe the videogames. He had Aspergers, and with the outside world not understanding it or him, and his own lack of capacity to reach out in a healthy manner to the world, his social isolation intensified. Through the years, since he was homeschooled by NL alone with no other students, he became further withdrawn and retreated into himself. That is the sad truth.

When a person has no other reality but that within his own mind, and his only communication is with one other person, his caregiver who in this case is his mother, AL had no external feedback or sounding board to help him face reality. Whatever he was feeling -- anger, frustration, hurt, etc. -- he likely lashed out at his mom, and she cope with it all on her own. She took on a big burden, not realizing that in sheltering and overprotecting him, she was also enabling him to become the mess he became.

 

[bourne]

He was 20 years old, he apparently had no job and didn't go to any school. I certainly don't think that him sitting in a basement playing video games was normal behavior. Sounds like his mother knew it too, as she was apparently planning to put him into some school or center.

Aspies, like autistic children, need a lot of structure and routine. The mom pushing him to do things outside of his comfort zone and routine, e.g., moving to another state and living outside the home in a "school or center", likely brought him extreme panic and fear. I think he was lashing out because of his intense anxiety and fear over the tremendous change in routine. He did not welcome it, did not desire it, and was angry, frustrated and helpless as he could not control what he likely felt his mom was "doing to him." I don't think he understood that she was looking out for his best interest, and was making the move and doing things FOR him, not TO him.

 

[mck16]

Sometimes real life hits and its not about dating.

I know several people who have went back home to live with parents.
And we don't have basements but I think it's rather common in areas that do, to have nice living areas in basements.

A lot of people have rec rooms in their basements.

So him playing games down there or sleeping down there does not sound uncommon or strange to me at all.

JMO

I agree with you especially when we don't really know the internal workings of their household. All this is based on assumptions as far as I am concerned. jmo

 

[bourne]

I can imagine how hard this was KATY

I can relate to your experiences with your brother

Our brother had similar ramblings of fantastical experiences or thoughts

We also had to have 911/LE intervene about 50 times in 30 years of dealing with our brother's delusional episodes

Hang in there is all anyone can say and support, love your brother, be kind, be patient. I know exactly what your family is going through

I wonder if AL had similar fantastical ramblings. I would presume since only his mom had contact with him, she was the only one who'd know. Maybe she confided in a friend or two and we'll be able to find out via the investigation and news. Then again, maybe she didn't because she seemed a very private person.

 

[bourne]

Since I know a little bit about schizophrenia than autism or Aspergers, I thought this would help explain the differences:

Schizophrenia is a mental illness (a chemical imbalance in the brain - in other words a disease) and as such will respond to medication, with the symptoms lessening or vanishing all together while the person takes their medication. As with all other mental illnesses schizophrenia is a disease that you can get, but you are never born with it. .

Asperger's/Autism is NOT a disease. It is a birth defect (a brain that did not develop properly before birth) - it is not a disease - you can not contract it later on in life - you are born with it[/B]. The symptoms will not lessen or go away with medication, because there is no disease there to medicate.

The difference between Autism and Asperger's is that Autism shows symptoms with in the first 2 - 3 years of life, while Asperger's does not usually start showing symptoms until the pre-teen, teen or young adult years.

Autism is rarely mistaken for schizophrenia. Asperger's is nearly always first diagnosed as "childhood schizophrenia" (by doctors who have not kept up to date and are still unaware of the fact that this disease is nothing more than an urban myth and slang name for Asperger's).

Information attributed to :
http://voices.yahoo.com/living-autism-autism-aspergers-vs-schizophrenia-5774426.html

I'm very curious about the author's statement that "Asperger's is nearly always first diagnosed as "childhood schizophrenia". Is this true? Can someone find a medical or scientific reference to this? TIA

 

[Donjeta]

I'm very curious about the author's statement that "Asperger's is nearly always first diagnosed as "childhood schizophrenia". Is this true? Can someone find a medical or scientific reference to this? TIA

There is some overlap in the symptoms of autistic spectrum disorders and childhood schizophrenia and the younger the child is the more difficult it may be to interpret the symptoms correctly as they may be unable to verbally describe eg. hallucinations and delusional thoughts. No doubt there are challenges and false diagnoses occasionally. But "nearly always" is stretching it imo.

She also states that

Your age is the determining factor that will tell wither you are Autistic or Schizophrenic. Your age here, is very, very, important. Why? Because there is NO DOCUMENTED CASE of schizophrenia having an onset for any one under 25 years of age.

(in the second paragraph)

This right there tells us that this blogger is not a reliable source of medical information. MOO.

When does schizophrenia start and who gets it?
Schizophrenia affects men and women equally. It occurs at similar rates in all ethnic groups around the world. Symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions usually start between ages 16 and 30. Men tend to experience symptoms a little earlier than women. Most of the time, people do not get schizophrenia after age 45. Schizophrenia rarely occurs in children, but awareness of childhood-onset schizophrenia is increasing.

It can be difficult to diagnose schizophrenia in teens. This is because the first signs can include a change of friends, a drop in grades, sleep problems, and irritability—behaviors that are common among teens. A combination of factors can predict schizophrenia in up to 80 percent of youth who are at high risk of developing the illness. These factors include isolating oneself and withdrawing from others, an increase in unusual thoughts and suspicions, and a family history of psychosis. In young people who develop the disease, this stage of the disorder is called the "prodromal" period.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publ...oes-schizophrenia-start-and-who-gets-it.shtml

 

[iSleuth]

Not that we know if the Kid - Killer was taking medication.
The following is a link to a chart that connects medications and diagnoses to incidents of violence and school shootings.
JMO it's like a train wreck- you can't look away.
:-(

http://ssristories.com/index.php?p=school

 

[FrayedKnot]

opinions are normally backed by something concrete though - where do you draw the line, and what exactly is "a person like that"

I know this wasn't directed at me, but.....Well, if it turns out to be true that ALs mother was afraid to let him use the KITCHEN because he might hurt himself, then I would have to say that's a pretty good sign that keeping a cache of firearms right next to him in the basement wasn't such a good idea.

Maybe that would be a good place to begin on evaluating who should be allowed to own firearms.

I mean the kid couldn't speak, make eye contact or care for himself in some pretty basic ways, but letting him have a gun or 5 is nooooo problem.

Gee, what's the worst that could happen? Ugh.

 

[Noniegrace]

Not that we know if the Kid - Killer was taking medication.
The following is a link to a chart that connects medications and diagnoses to incidents of violence and school shootings.
JMO it's like a train wreck- you can't look away.
:-(

http://ssristories.com/index.php?p=school

Thank you for that link, that terrified me to my very soul. Very important information. Whoa.

 

[FragileSugar]

School Shooter's DNA to Be Studied

Bursztajn also cautions there are other risks to this kind of study: that other warning signs could be ignored.

"It's too risky from the stand point of unduly stigmatizing people, but also from distracting us from real red flags to prevent violence from occurring," Bursztajn said. "The last thing we need when people are in the midst of grief is offering people quick fixes which may help our anxiety, but can be counterproductive to our long term safety and ethics."

Bursztajn is also the president of the American Unit of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Bioethics Chair and in that role he teaches health care professionals about responsible genetic education including the history of eugenics in this country in the 1920s and Nazi Germany. He cautions against the slippery slope that the kind of research that could be involved in the University of Connecticut's study could lead to.
....
"The problem is there might be a genetic component, but we don't have enough of a sample size," Tissenbaum said. "I think it's much more than a simple genetic answer, but an interplay between genetics and environment."

"One sample, what's that going to tell you," Tissenbaum said, referring to Lanza's DNA. "You never do an experiment with one, you can't conclude anything… The question is what are they comparing his DNA against? Are they going to control to random people? Matching for age or society? We just don't have enough (of a sample)."

Tissenbaum says the rush to study his DNA may simply be because "people are hurting so much they would like to find a quick answer."

"Even identical twins are different and they have identical DNA," Tissenbaum noted.
...

 

[Isabelle]

Gun Debate Rages Near Store Where Nancy Lanza Bought AR-15 Used in Newtown Shooting

Published: Wednesday, December 26, 2012

By Sadie Gurman
Special to the New Haven Register

Customers at the Sky Diner in East Windsor on Friday didn't know much about the neighboring gun store that was raided by federal agents the night before. But they did know where they stood on gun control: Like the rest of the nation, very far apart...

Read more: http://www.countytimes.com/articles/2012/12/26/news/doc50d70cfb035be165548821.txt

Do we know with certainty that NL bought the Bushmaster from a store? Am wondering, considering that her vehicle was not registered to her but to someone else with quite a background. If NL did buy the Bushmaster used from the store, should be able to find out who the original owner was.

 

[Tennlyn]

NL's close friends have not spoken out....does that mean they did not exist. PL and RL have not spoken either, but yes they do exist. Do you really think they would print this phrase in her obit: She had many lifelong friends locally and around the world. I believe family and friends who were close to NL are remaining quiet, instead of being interviewed by the media and their words being attacked by the public.

NL was the mother of an adult child with very specific needs. Most mothers with special needs mothers have limited time for a social life, it does not mean they do not have best friends. So she didn't have a revolving front door where friends were always coming and going....she did have an adult child in the house who had difficulty "socializing", therefore, it is easier not to have people over. For all we know, perhaps she went out to do the visiting at others houses. AL was in the basement, his comfort zone, free of people who he did not have to socialize with.

I'm the sort of person who only has one or two really close friends. My "BFF" is someone I've known for over 30 years and has lived overseas for 20 years. We know each other inside out, and I guarantee you, she'd never talk to the press about me if something like this happened. My closest circle, my inner circle, are folks that I trust completely to maintain my privacy.

Really...would you want your best friend talking all about every detail of your life after you die? Don't you pick your best friends more carefully than that?! :moo:

 

[Donjeta]

Do we know with certainty that NL bought the Bushmaster from a store? Am wondering, considering that her vehicle was not registered to her but to someone else with quite a background. If NL did buy the Bushmaster used from the store, should be able to find out who the original owner was.

That's what was reported anyway.

The assault rifle used in the Newtown massacre was bought at the same shop that sold a weapon to Connecticut’s last mass murderer, it was revealed yesterday.

Omar Thornton bought Glock and Walther handguns at Riverview Gun Sales in East Windsor before fatally shooting eight people in 2010 at the beer distributor that fired him.

Nancy Lanza went to that store to buy the .223-caliber Bushmaster assault rifle used on Dec. 14 by her son Adam to kill 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School, according to the Hartford Courant.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/slay_store_repeat_KutF4NfsFWmfJZhIrm8smO

The television behind the counter flashed with news of funerals and the debate about the reasons why Adam Lanza chose to kill 20 children and six faculty members at Sandy Hook Elementary School with the AR-15 rifle police say his mother, Nancy Lanza, bought at Riverview Gun Sales in the same sprawling shopping plaza.

http://www.countytimes.com/articles/2012/12/26/news/doc50d70cfb035be165548821.txt?viewmode=default

EAST WINDSOR — — The guns used in the last two mass murders in Connecticut were purchased at same East Windsor gun shop.

Records show that Omar Thornton, who killed eight people and himself at Hartford Distributors Inc. in 2010, purchased both the Glock and Walthers pistols he used at the Riverview Gun Sales shop on Prospect Hill Road.

Sources investigating the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown have said that the Bushmaster rifle used by the gunman Adam Lanza was purchased at that same shop by his mother Nancy Lanza.

All three guns were purchased legally, according to police reports from the HDI shooting and sources investigating the Newtown case.

http://articles.courant.com/2012-12...-shop-1221-20121220_1_gun-shop-atf-bushmaster

 

[human]

Something to think about when talking about keeping family secrets . There is a lot on ths topic and I believe it to be at the root of many issues as do many mental health experts.

http://www.imaginehopecounseling.com/wmblog/?p=1091

It is all about shame based thiinking