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

[newlyminted]

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

That statement is ridiculous and completely untrue. Childhood schizophrenia is rarely, rarely diagnosed, period, because most people, professionals included, don't think it exists (there are some who very much believe it can and does happen). To suggest professionals are running around misdiagnosing Asperger's as Childhood Schizophrenia, is just really insane. I wouldn't believe a word that is written in that blog post. It is misinformed and speckled with ridiculous claims.

 

[Elley Mae]

http://www.courant.com/news/connect...ting/hc-lanza-gunjam-20121222,0,3580899.story

On Friday, detectives obtained and began examining records related to psychiatric care Lanza had received in an attempt to determine a motive.

bbm

It is possible that Lanza, who reloaded the rifle frequently, mishandled or dropped a magazine and unfired bullets fell to the floor, they said.

But it also is possible, they said, that the mechanism that fed bullets into the rifle jammed, causing Lanza to remove the magazine and clear the weapon. Unfired bullets could have fallen to the classroom floor during that process as well, law enforcement officials said.

The authorities have learned generally from the children who ran away that something may have happened to Lanza's rifle that caused him to stop firing.

 

[LadyBlaise]

I thought she didn't want him in the kitchen because he didn't feel pain like normal people so she was scared he would harm himself and not realize it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Bipolar Express]

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

(in the second paragraph)

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




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

Omg....yeah. Totally doesn't know what she's talking about. There ARE documented cases of childhood onset schizophrenia!!! Look up a story about a little girl named "jani" short for "January". I'm sure Janis's parents would be aghast at that claim. I have a masters in psychology and I can assure you childhood onset of Schizophrenia DOES exist AND often befalls people in their LATE teens. Where do some of these people get off? Sheesh.

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

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 the link, iSleuth. The linked stories are a perfect example as to why medical professionals and the world should seriously consider in-patient monitoring for anyone starting these medications or when increasing/decreasing dosages.

However, this is highly cost prohibitive. This will never fly as insurance companies and government run programs will fight it tooth and nail. These are not placebos patients are ingesting. I wish there was a way to make in-patient monitoring the norm.

 

[Bipolar Express]

Omg....yeah. Totally doesn't know what she's talking about. There ARE documented cases of childhood onset schizophrenia!!! Look up a story about a little girl named "jani" short for "January". I'm sure Janis's parents would be aghast at that claim. I have a masters in psychology and I can assure you childhood onset of Schizophrenia DOES exist AND often befalls people in their LATE teens. Where do some of these people get off? Sheesh.

Bouncing off my own post....I must add though that childhood Onset is extremely rare!!! However saying that it doesn't happen prior to age 25 is ridiculous.

 

[Bipolar Express]

I meant in my first post that childhood onset is rare and schizophrenia often happens in late teens not that the childhood onset happens in late teens...that wouldn't make sense. Just to clarify.

 

[Hickory Born]

http://www.courant.com/news/connect...ting/hc-lanza-gunjam-20121222,0,3580899.story

On Friday, detectives obtained and began examining records related to psychiatric care Lanza had received in an attempt to determine a motive.

bbm

It is possible that Lanza, who reloaded the rifle frequently, mishandled or dropped a magazine and unfired bullets fell to the floor, they said.

But it also is possible, they said, that the mechanism that fed bullets into the rifle jammed, causing Lanza to remove the magazine and clear the weapon. Unfired bullets could have fallen to the classroom floor during that process as well, law enforcement officials said.

The authorities have learned generally from the children who ran away that something may have happened to Lanza's rifle that caused him to stop firing.

I think this is where we will get our questions answered.

 

[Donjeta]

Omg....yeah. Totally doesn't know what she's talking about. There ARE documented cases of childhood onset schizophrenia!!! Look up a story about a little girl named "jani" short for "January". I'm sure Janis's parents would be aghast at that claim. I have a masters in psychology and I can assure you childhood onset of Schizophrenia DOES exist AND often befalls people in their LATE teens. Where do some of these people get off? Sheesh.

The author of the blog piece seems to have a lot of issues of her own.

If anyone here read the rest of her writings I think that in the interests of accuracy of information it should be pointed out that being unable to distinguish whether the people you are talking to and the things that you are seeing really exist or not is not considered to be a typical Asperger symptom.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

I think this is where we will get our questions answered.

Yes. So far, we've really only speculated that he wasn't seen much or getting proper care, etc. At least if we've seen it from a reliable source, I have missed that.

I do think it will be interesting to see how NL had handled AL, and what she had or hadn't done. That's why I've really stayed neutral about her, as I haven't read enough factual info to know what she did or did not do. Other than take him to shooting ranges at some point in the past, and she had weapons on her property, but unsure where and how they were stored.

Looking forward to learning more to try to fit some of the pieces together.
Not that I necessarily think that we'll ever understand why he did what he did.


JMO

 

[Bipolar Express]

Wow this thread has really slowed down. Did we ever find out where the story about the guy in the woods by the school came from?

 

[Elley Mae]

Wow this thread has really slowed down. Did we ever find out where the story about the guy in the woods by the school came from?

Yes.. it was a parent. all is clear

 

[FragileSugar]

http://www.courant.com/news/connect...ting/hc-lanza-gunjam-20121222,0,3580899.story

On Friday, detectives obtained and began examining records related to psychiatric care Lanza had received in an attempt to determine a motive.

bbm

It is possible that Lanza, who reloaded the rifle frequently, mishandled or dropped a magazine and unfired bullets fell to the floor, they said.

But it also is possible, they said, that the mechanism that fed bullets into the rifle jammed, causing Lanza to remove the magazine and clear the weapon. Unfired bullets could have fallen to the classroom floor during that process as well, law enforcement officials said.

The authorities have learned generally from the children who ran away that something may have happened to Lanza's rifle that caused him to stop firing.

Maybe that is the real reason why AL shot himself too. Who knows what he would have done if the rifle did not have some sort of malfunction. He might have taken out the first responders.

 

[FragileSugar]

Wow this thread has really slowed down. Did we ever find out where the story about the guy in the woods by the school came from?

I still want to know what became of the courageous custodian. I am surprised that the media has been unable to track him down.

 

[costalpilot]

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.

yes, free to play in his "virtual kill human target" reality world, hour after hour after hour. I dont know that this happened, but I have seen supposedly normal young men his age come home from college and do exactly that. immerse themselves in a virtual kill stranger reality world for hours on end.

but, they are only games. ever seen one? you should b4 you let your kids immerse themselves in that "world".

im sure the gaming industry has plenty of psychologists willing to make studies proving that "gaming' isn't harmful. reminds me of the tobacco industry back in the day....

but think about it, how could it possibly be safe for anyone to immerse themselves in a virtual kill stranger reality for days on end, not to mention a mentally challenged person...all this talk about possible mental diagnosis is interesting, but he was SICK in the head to be sure, and if he immersed himself in a reality where a shooter did exactly what he eventually did (xcept to unknown adults) how is it that so many people are unwilling to make the obvious connection?

after a reasonable post death diagnosis is made, what then? mass murder is not a characteristic of any of those childhood mental illnesses anyways.

I'd like to see a chart that shows how many of these mass murderers in the last 5 years were active virtual kill human target "players". thats what I would like to see.

 

[FragileSugar]

Sandy Hook Shooter's Pause May Have Aided Students' Escape

He then drove to the school, getting there about 9:30 a.m. He walked up to the front entrance and fired at least a half dozen rounds into the glass doors. The thunderous sound of Lanza blowing an opening big enough to walk through the locked school door caused Principal Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Scherlach to bolt from a nearby meeting room to investigate.

He shot and killed them both as they ran toward him. Two other staff workers in a meeting with Hocksprung and Scherlach were injured in the hail of bullets but made it back inside the conference room where one called 911 from under a table.

Lanza then turned toward the first classroom on his left, that of teacher Kaitlin Roig. By then, authorities said, Roig had hidden with her students in a closet in her classroom. Before securing the closet door, which opened inward, authorities said she concealed the door behind a movable bookcase.

Lanza then walked past Soto's classroom into the third one, where Lauren Rousseau was teaching. He shot and killed Rousseau, special education teacher Rachel D'Avino and 14 students.

...

Lanza then backtracked to Soto's classroom.

...

I had not heard of this version of the events! Was Rousseau's class AL's former 1st grade classroom?

 

[wallflower67]

I agree with everything written here except that Asperger's "could've easily morphed" into schizophrenia. Asperger's is a developmental disorder whereas schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder. They have different etiology and causes. I don't think one easily morphs into the other. Would be interesting to get statistics on what the frequency of Aspergers being linked to schizophrenia is.

Aspergers can't morph into schizophrenia. However, he could have received an incorrect diagnosis as a child. Or perhaps he had both.

 

[jjenny]

Maybe that is the real reason why AL shot himself too. Who knows what he would have done if the rifle did not have some sort of malfunction. He might have taken out the first responders.

I really doubt it. As I recall, it was reported that first responders heard him fire a bunch of shots after they arrived, not just one shot.

 

[costalpilot]

this is SO ridiculous...here is a long article (posted b4) that headlines how difficult it is to find a motive for mass murder for a mentally challenged young man who (according to the article) spent hours in front of a computer and whose only known socialization activity at school was sharing virtual kill stranger reality "games"....and (according to the article) even though he spent hours in front of a computer, he didnt interact on it...no fb, no twitter....

so, we have investigators knowing these "facts" and not being able to connect the VERY BIG dots...i dont get it.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/nation...wtown-conn-shooter-adam-lanzas-motive/1267513






Police tape surrounds the area near the home of Nancy Lanza. Investigators have learned through interviews with Lanza’s friends that Adam Lanza spent his days in the windowless basement of this house, anonymously playing violent video games.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





NEWTOWN, Conn. —
...In the desperate search for motive where madness has prevailed, the Lanza case is more frustrating than most. For a young man who spent most of his waking hours at a computer, he appears to have left behind an astonishingly small electronic footprint — no Facebook page, no Twitter account...



Lanza spent his days in the windowless basement of the family's $600,000, 3,100-square-foot house, sitting in front of a screen, anonymously playing violent video games with people he did not know.


Adam joined the high school's tech club, which brought together teens who played computer games and wrote programming code....

...According to club members, Adam played StarCraft and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, in which, as the manufacturer puts it, a dark "shadow has fallen over the world, threatening to extinguish all life — all hope."...

... Nancy Lanza searched for ways to get Adam out of the house, away from the vast collection of violent video games

 

[bourne]

Aspergers can't morph into schizophrenia. However, he could have received an incorrect diagnosis as a child. Or perhaps he had both.

Who is the "he" you're referring to?

Yes, the point has already been made multiple times that Aspergers doesn't morph into schizophrenia or vice versa. In fact, I know of no developmental disorder that morphs into a psychiatric disorder. Again, I've heard of co-morbidity of one or more disorders/illnesses, but never that one disorder transforms into another.

The thing that I'm currently interested in is what the statistics say about the co-morbidity of Aspergers with schizophrenia. A poster earlier stated that MDs often misdiagnose Aspergers as schizophrenia when the patient is young. I'm interested in the percentage of misdiagnosis, and comorbidity of both disorders.

Also, it would be great is someone could lay out side-by-side the symptoms of Aspergers vs. symptoms of schizophrenia, and the age of onset for both. TIA