Sandy Hook and it's impact on aspies

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"I have Asperger's, I play violent video games -- and I'm not going to shoot you"

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/13/opinion/a ... hpt=hp_bn1

I recall the paranoia that crept into my mind when I read that someone had linked the Sandy Hook shooter to aspergers.

It gave me an idea what it must have been like to pass for white in America's north. back when there was still slavery in the south.

Anyone else have some thoughts on it's impact (on aspie's) that they'd like to share?

IF Adam Lanza did what he has been accused of - and IMO, that's a huge IF - that would not be the act of an autistic individual. Just because his mother told people he was autistic doesn't make it so. That behavior would indicate a severe mental illness and autism is not a mental illness, but a neurological dysfunction resulting in a sensory processing disorder. Hypersensitivity to light and sound does not make a person homicidal.

That said, there is a mountain of reason to doubt the offical story about what (if anything) actually went down that day.

On the one hand, there is no doubt that Adam Lanza is responsible for the deaths at Sandy Hook.

On the other hand, whether or not he actually had AS may still be up for grabs.

On the gripping hand, the negative publicity surrounding the Sandy Hook massacre has only served to fuel my reluctance to "come out" as an Aspie in the real world.

I have "come out" on other websites, but always under a different nickname - about a half-dozen, so far. In this way, it may seem that about a half-dozen different people are "coming out" and telling the same story.

The story leads off with a few paragraphs describing the basic symptom profile of AS...

... then I explain what each of these means to a "typical" Aspie, while inserting the pronoun "we" in the final paragraph ...


So far, the reception has been generally positive, although the usual "Rainman" questions asked out of benign ignorance always turn up ...


... et cetera ...

Not bad, I suppose ...

See page 34: http://www.ct.gov/csao/lib/csao/Sandy_H ... Report.pdf
I would think the authors had access to evidence related to this case.

... whoa ...


I stand corrected!

But I still hope that it was something other than having AS that drove him "over the edge".

I am never "coming out" as an Aspie to anyone who knows me!

You should read the whole thing - the kid was was let slip through the cracks and aside from the killings, the details in that report could describe many aspects of any one of us.
I don't believe AS had anything specifically to do with what he did - it was simply a part of who he was and helped shape the way he reacted and handled things, like a thousand other things would have done.

I am reading it; in small doses, as some of it is startling.

"Fell through the cracks" explains a lot, though ...

My $0.02: We need better mental health care and parenting, not anti-gun laws.

It also shows that there are both good Aspies and bad Aspies just like there are good and bad NTs.

The trouble arises in trying to determine what defines "better" when it comes to mental health care, as well as education.

Most of the time, it seems to come down to "What can we get away with not doing and still rightfully claim that we are doing something?"

Either that, or "How much of the funding can we get away with spending on ourselves and still have enough left over to fund a study on how much more funding we need?"

No. Homicidal behavior doesn't equate to mental illness, nor a mental disorder.

Mental illnesses/disorders can affect certain variables, of course.

IMHO Sandy Hook had a very negative impact on Aspies. Based on past history there was good reason to fear a significant backlash against Aspies. The actual backlash that occurred was much less then feared and perceived.

Any backlash is always thrown at firearm owners anyway.

Thanks for posting the link Cornflake. I have to say that I am shocked after reading the police report.

the report had little mention of AS 1 page maybe not sure where all the anti AS paranoia is coming from.plus not that i am dxed under the new criteria i can dodge all the A.S stereotypes anyway.im not sure what to make of the report

Original media reports from shortly after the shooting.

They really beat it in the whole AS thing whether there was an actual diagnosis or not. Even Sanjay Gupta did a BS report on it for CNN.

Page 31 to 35 of the report should be read.

The report +

this (warning this will be very tough to read so sit down and have a stiff drink or tranquilizers on hand or maybe just don't read it)
http://www.countytimes.com/articles/201 ... =fullstory

Makes me believe that while Aspergers was not the cause of Lanza doing what he did, Asperger Special interests and hyper-focus were important factors.