In the wake of Friday’s horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six staff dead, many of my colleagues in the media have asked me to give my opinion on the atypical behavior of Adam Lanza, which has mainly been reported by friends of the gunman’s mother and first victim, Nancy Lanza.

It is being widely reported that the shooter Lanza suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, a diagnosis that has only been described by friends and classmates who used to know him. Even though I have not seen any official confirmation to tell me that this individual was diagnosed and treated for Asperger’s during the course of his early childhood, many folks want to know if this condition could have led to this horrific crime.

They ask me because they know I have an autistic child, and they assume that makes me an expert in dealing with emotional issues in children on the spectrum. However, my earlier responses have always been very consistent: Children in the autistic spectrum, who are treated and come from loving homes, are as pure as snow. The vast majority will grow up with moral values for themselves and for others.

My experience with autistic children is that they have an inner desire to make us happy – and to belong. So I continue to say that despite whatever hearsay there is in regards to the spectrum of this mass murderer, violence is not part of the character of these children, and there must be something else that occurred psychiatrically that led to this devastating act.

More importantly, I am concerned about this wave of experts getting ahead of themselves and creating unnecessary attention for many parents who currently have autistic children. These parents not only actively participate in their children’s care and development, but they also have to constantly imagine how their child is going cope as he or she grows older.

I think that any parent who has seen this massacre unfold is broken-hearted, but I’m also noticing the severe pain in the eyes of parents with autistic children. This horrific shooting in Connecticut will not be explained any time soon, but it does point to the fact that our society is eager to find easy solutions to explain problems. We have to wake up to the realization that what this world of ours needs better communication and more simplicity to our way of life. The Internet, social networks, texting – all these gadgets make us impatient and hasty to jump to conclusions.

If there are any lessons to be had from this tragedy, it is that we have to become a better community in supporting our members and protecting our children.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/12/17/dr-manny-dont-jump-to-hasty-conclusions-about-...

know even 10% of the truth of what happened.

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Sincerely,

Hobie

I posted this from another place. I thought the link at the bottom would make that clear, but re-reading it, I can see that it is not clear.

I do not have an autistic child, though like most of you, I've known my fair share.

I am just concerned that, #1 - generally non-violent people who are just a bit different are going to be suspect (I have seen this happen) especially if they have ever had any kind of mental or emotional struggle, #2 - mental health professionals are going to be given too much power to determine people's rights, and #3 - parents of challenged children are going to be held responsible for that child's behavior, regardless of age . . . until one of them dies.

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - C. S. Lewis

A parent should never be held responsible for the behaviour/acts of their child regardless of age or mental capacity. The child is responsible for his or her own behaviour/acts and should be held to account.

An adult, where a parent or not, should be held responsible for their own behaviour/acts. If their behaviour causes or contributes to the injury or death of another, then they should be held responsible.

Bad behaviour or irresponsibility of one human being should never be imputed to another. Each one stands on it's own merit or lack of merit, as the case may be.

Best estimates are that 20 percent of the population is anti-social if one uses the definition of those "actively opposed to any betterment activity or group".

Best estimates are that 3 to 5 percent of the male population actively fit the diagnosis of sociopath if one uses the definiton of "a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience".

The majority of these are are very bright (more so than the general population) and highly functional though they have a completely different outlook on life and those around them.

When this anti-social/sociopath personality is combined with mental illness bad things happen.

Regardless of the diagnosis, economics, concern about civil rights or desire to help everyone, many of these cats should be institutionalized simply as a matter of course.

When I was in high school in the late '60, there were no "special ed" students in my class. This in a senior graduating class of 1000. In the local high school the "special ed" program is the largest and most expensive in the system. There are a number of "special" students that require two male handlers, one on each elbow to walk them between classes to prevent interaction with the other students. 50 years ago they would be in state facilities.

One can say that everyone is responsible for their own actions but there are a lot more crazy people "out there" that were not "out there" in the past and they are a clear and present danger to public safety in and of themselves.

Byron

another failed government program. EPIC FAILURE.

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Of the Troops & For the Troops

Told him that when the guy came back to work there had better be somebody armed ready to take him out if necessary! Why wasn't he in a rubber room somewhere instead of released to go back to work!?!

in the early 70's with psycho-pharmaceutical drugs coming on line. The plan became to hand them some pills and shove them out the door. Phychiatrists are no longer trained in any kind of psycho-hor even much of an understanding of why folks act they way they do. Just come up with a diagnosis and give them the pills.

What little mental health help there is today comes from Psychologist and Social Workers who still know how to talk to people.

To say our mental health system is broken is an understatement of the highest order. Until we get serious about fixing it, crazy folks will continue to kill people wholesale and guns will get the blame.

restrictive environment" for everyone, especially for this type of messed up kid. We have Special Ed. kids in our main population, and S.E.D., or severely emotionally disturbed students in our schools. The very worst are kept away from the schools, but the ones that are not quite to that level are still available to cause mayhem where it isn't wanted. They've come up with terms such as Oppositional Defiance Disorder to describe those who habitually misbehave and misuse their classroom time but otherwise don't qualify as S.E.D. They don't qualify for extra help so they're placed in a classroom with the normal kids and the classroom teacher deals with them as best they can.

In my district, there are programs that are self contained within classrooms in some of the schools and they begin with the primary grades all the way through high school, and they house those with the tendencies you've described above. I once stood outside a former principal's office and watched a 3rd grader landing haymakers on her. Up to this point she was in denial about this kid's behavior in his classroom and actions towards his classmates and was reluctant to recommend him for an S.E.D. program. She saw the light after he beat on her for a while though and he was gone soon after. These S.E.D. students stay in their classrooms for most of their instruction but join a class of their age level for physical education or music or recess. Even when they have aides escorting them, they cause problems. It's just the way they are. This doesn't even count those who are on medication for other reasons such as ADHD.

A special education degree or endorsement will get you to the head of the line for a job, but from what I've seen, not the type of job that makes for a long career in education. As you've pointed out Byron, there used to be special places for these bad apples, but now they're typically right there with the rest of the students as much as possible and they tend to cause disruptions and bring everyone else down. We'll never see good results from the majority of these kids and their special requirements take a big bite out of our education dollars. The philosophy is a free public education for everyone through high school and we've been paying the price for it for about the past 40 years. It's a mess.

was a supreme court ruling, well intended i am sure, that made it very difficult to commit someone, and very very difficult to keep them institutionalized. prior to that , large state hospitals like dorothea dix in raliiegh NC had total populations of 1000s of these folks. now they are outpatients and / or 'homeless'.

i worked ERs back then and well remember the transition after that ruling and how difficult it was to commit someone even when they were truly dangerous to themselves or others.