Shooting in Connecticut

[cmraman]

While the gun debate heats up. There is another debate that is closer to my heart. The shooter was recognized as having Aspergers, a form of Autism. He also had some mental illness. I'm a father of 2 Autistic boys and have a close friend with a Highschool son with Aspergers. She is dealing with hatred already. I'm afraid for my kids as well. Please don't judge these children on an isolated event. My boys are very innocent and loving. My friend's son is a very good kid as well. Here is a statement from the Autism Society of Wisconsin's Facebook page....

On Friday, 27 people in Connecticut lost their life through the acts of a single person. These people were children, teachers, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. Today, their families are experiencing grief that cannot be described. Individuals impacted by Friday’s tragic shooting are in the hearts, thoughts and prayers throughout the Autism Society network.

Many national media outlets are reporting that the shooter was autistic. While as of yet, this has not been officially documented, many newspapers and television outlets are stating that the individual who shot the children and teachers was autistic. And, in such reports, there is an implication that autism might have had an impact on the person's mindset in leading to the shootings.

There is absolutely no evidence or any reliable research that suggests a linkage between autism and planned violence. To imply or suggest, as some are doing, that some linkage exists is wrong and harmful to the over 1.5 million law abiding, non-violent and wonderful individuals who live with autism each and every day. Stereotyping an entire group of individuals because of the actions of one is something is wrong and can't be accepted.

We ask that people not judge any autistic person based on what is being said about the killer of the innocent children and teachers. Rather, we ask that we continue to put our nation's attention on being there for the children and teachers who were killed on Friday.

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by cmraman

While the gun debate heats up. There is another debate that is closer to my heart. The shooter was recognized as having Aspergers, a form of Autism. He also had some mental illness. I'm a father of 2 Autistic boys and have a close friend with a Highschool son with Aspergers. She is dealing with hatred already. I'm afraid for my kids as well. Please don't judge these children on an isolated event. My boys are very innocent and loving. My friend's son is a very good kid as well. Here is a statement from the Autism Society of Wisconsin's Facebook page....

On Friday, 27 people in Connecticut lost their life through the acts of a single person. These people were children, teachers, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. Today, their families are experiencing grief that cannot be described. Individuals impacted by Friday’s tragic shooting are in the hearts, thoughts and prayers throughout the Autism Society network.

Many national media outlets are reporting that the shooter was autistic. While as of yet, this has not been officially documented, many newspapers and television outlets are stating that the individual who shot the children and teachers was autistic. And, in such reports, there is an implication that autism might have had an impact on the person's mindset in leading to the shootings.

There is absolutely no evidence or any reliable research that suggests a linkage between autism and planned violence. To imply or suggest, as some are doing, that some linkage exists is wrong and harmful to the over 1.5 million law abiding, non-violent and wonderful individuals who live with autism each and every day. Stereotyping an entire group of individuals because of the actions of one is something is wrong and can't be accepted.

We ask that people not judge any autistic person based on what is being said about the killer of the innocent children and teachers. Rather, we ask that we continue to put our nation's attention on being there for the children and teachers who were killed on Friday.

We have a 14 year old son that displays many traits common with Aspergers (soon to be officially referenced as ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorder), while he's not been officially diagnosed symptoms are there. I understand your concerns, due to the vast amount of unknown's this could easily get blown out of proportion. Not to downplay the public's or our own concerns of how it may relate to violence of this nature. The mind is a complex arena.

I did noticed at school today indifferent body language from a teacher that could have been a result of this news........can't blame them for being concerned.

[Vegas69]

Originally Posted by cmraman

While the gun debate heats up. There is another debate that is closer to my heart. The shooter was recognized as having Aspergers, a form of Autism. He also had some mental illness. I'm a father of 2 Autistic boys and have a close friend with a Highschool son with Aspergers. She is dealing with hatred already. I'm afraid for my kids as well. Please don't judge these children on an isolated event. My boys are very innocent and loving. My friend's son is a very good kid as well. Here is a statement from the Autism Society of Wisconsin's Facebook page....

On Friday, 27 people in Connecticut lost their life through the acts of a single person. These people were children, teachers, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. Today, their families are experiencing grief that cannot be described. Individuals impacted by Friday’s tragic shooting are in the hearts, thoughts and prayers throughout the Autism Society network.

Many national media outlets are reporting that the shooter was autistic. While as of yet, this has not been officially documented, many newspapers and television outlets are stating that the individual who shot the children and teachers was autistic. And, in such reports, there is an implication that autism might have had an impact on the person's mindset in leading to the shootings.

There is absolutely no evidence or any reliable research that suggests a linkage between autism and planned violence. To imply or suggest, as some are doing, that some linkage exists is wrong and harmful to the over 1.5 million law abiding, non-violent and wonderful individuals who live with autism each and every day. Stereotyping an entire group of individuals because of the actions of one is something is wrong and can't be accepted.

We ask that people not judge any autistic person based on what is being said about the killer of the innocent children and teachers. Rather, we ask that we continue to put our nation's attention on being there for the children and teachers who were killed on Friday.

One of my best friends has a 17 year old son with Autism. He's very intelligent but doesn't speak. In the last year he has had episodes of violence hitting his mother to the point where his father must put his life on hold to be with him at most times. It worries me as my buddy has many guns but he has never operated guns around him. However, it would be pretty easy for him to go on youtube or other sources to figure it out.... This is a prime example of a situation where a gun safe is MANDATORY. It's clear that his son is very frustrated with his situation. He has communicated that he wants to move out and have his own life through an Ipad. Unfortunately, he'll likely never be able to do so. I can see how these type of situation could lead to great violence.

Please don't take this negatively against your boys. I just wanted to point out that some autistic kids are violent by nature depending on the degree.

[cmraman]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

One of my best friends has a 17 year old son with Autism. He's very intelligent but doesn't speak. In the last year he has had episodes of violence hitting his mother to the point where his father must put his life on hold to be with him at most times. It worries me as my buddy has many guns but he has never operated guns around him. However, it would be pretty easy for him to go on youtube or other sources to figure it out.... This is a prime example of a situation where a gun safe is MANDATORY. It's clear that his son is very frustrated with his situation. He has communicated that he wants to move out and have his own life through an Ipad. Unfortunately, he'll likely never be able to do so. I can see how these type of situation could lead to great violence.

Please don't take this negatively against your boys. I just wanted to point out that some autistic kids are violent by nature depending on the degree.

First of all educate yourself. First you said the child is non verbal. Mine are too. Have you ever thought that the reason for the outbursts is frustration?? Autistic children CAN'T express themselves. You need to think about the child's POV. First, how would you feel if you couldn't speak or express your wants or basic human needs at all, and would do anything out of frustration to try to communicate. My experience has told me that your friends' son is frustrated. Maybe it's provoked? I don't know the homelife. Do you? This is the narrow-mindedness that worries me. My oldest has at an early age, beat his head on the concrete driveway out of frustration for sure. THink about the parents as well. I'm sure there is a fair amount of frustration there too. Image for one minute, if you have kids, they cannot tell you when they are sick, hungry, upset, sad, happy, that they want to do certain things. Hell, they can't even say I love you. As a parent, when my child suddenly bursts out in tears and hits himself, I can see he's upset and frustrated about something, but he cant tell me why, I can't seem to figure out why. In the case of last Friday, there is much more to the story that what the media is saying. If your friend is concerned about the weapons, then he needs to take more precautions and keep them locked away. I'm not against the right to bear arms, but there is a certain responsibility that needs to take place. This also doesn't mean, any child with a disabiltiy is capable of hurting people either.

My friend who has a son with Aspergers found this. Here 18 year old son is already getting shunned at school. This sickens me. People need to educate themselves.

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/why...164900109.html

[Vegas69]

Those are/ were EXACTLY my thoughts and I realize this is a very sensitive subject. Imagine being a 17 year old boy that can't go out with friends, go to college, have a girlfriend, on top of the communication... I've expressed that to his Dad. In fact, I talked to him about it 2 weeks ago. Kelli has autistic kids at school and they can be violent. It's like anything else in life, in the right circumstance, bad things can happen.

In the instance I'm talking about, I am genuinely worried about him getting his hands on a gun. He's a frustrated/violent kid and I'm not sure of his awareness of right and wrong. I've known him since he was 6 years old.