Adam Lanza, Asperger's, and the Media Narrative on Autism and the Mentally Ill

[Mass]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/12/adam-lanza-aspergers-autism-and-violence/60078/

Researchers have found no connection between autism and violence, but that hasn't stopped the mainstream media from harping on Newtown shooter Adam Lanza's apparent bout with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism but is no longer listed in the DSM-5. Of course, it hasn't stopped the emotional responses from those familiar with autism, either.

Can we stop this? Can we stop referring to his as Asperger as a reason or a cause for his act?

[TwilightGardener]

1. People seized on the Asperger's only because it was mentioned

by his brother right after the massacre. Hopefully nobody knowledgeable would think that Asperger's leads to violence. I have a family member with Asperger's, I wouldn't fear violence from her, ever--it's not that sort of condition. Edit to add: the "personality disorder" that the brother mentioned in the same breath...we don't know what that was, but that may have been a factor--if it was even a true personality disorder.

[janlyn]

2. I am so upset...

As a person with Aspbergers I am really upset about people speaking of it, as if it was the cause.
We have worked so hard to be recognized and to educate others about autism.
I feel as if we have been set back a hundred years.
Back to people being afraid of our differences.And labeling us as crazy.
I am a normal person.I simply have heightened senses.so what is normal for you is sensory overload for me.

[Mass]

3. I agree, and this is why I posted this OP

Here is another one, from the NYTimes. Given that I have already seen that played in the past for my youngest son, a charming, but socially awkward young man whose main issue, like you, is sensory overload, I am really concerned about the fallout.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/opinion/dont-blame-autism-for-newtown.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

In the wake of coverage like this, I worry, in line with concerns raised by the author Susan Cain in her groundbreaking book on introverts, “Quiet”: will shy, socially inhibited students be looked at with increasing suspicion as potentially dangerous? Will a quiet, reserved, thoughtful child be pegged as having antisocial personality disorder? Will children with autism or mental illness be shunned even more than they already are?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. I'm very skeptical thiat any Asperger's had anything to do with it.

My guess is there was a second condition, either diagnosed or not.

[Mass]

5. It does not, and it is not even clear whether this young man was on the spectrum,

but read the connections made on DU, and you should understand why some of us are so worried.

[riderinthestorm]

6. I am so sorry about this Mass. For you and everyone else (my niece is an Aspie)

Its been making me really uncomfortable seeing DUers falling for the NRA deflection that these massacres are about "mental health", or in this case Aspergers (or maybe a combo of both).

Its firstly about the guns and easy access to them. I've been saying it for days now. Everything else is a red herring designed to deflect attention from that fact (so far they've tried mental illness, anti-depressants, special education failures, aspergers, poor parenting, and poor school security. Am I missing one? Anything but guns....)

[ceile]

7. Ugh- agreed.

When I heard that on the news a day or two after the shooting, my first reaction was "WTF? Aspergers had nothing to do with it." Talking head mentioned it in passing not realizing what she was saying...or maybe she did.

[Odin2005]

8. As an Aspie this is really pissing me off.

Just the other day I heard an ignorant woman saying that we "don't have feelings".