Shooting Spree in Isla Vista, California

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I'm a wife and a mother to two outstanding autistic human beings. That being said, I find absurd that people on the spectrum, parents and family members seem to be outraged when mass shooters profiles come to the light with a diagnosis of Asperger's or some other psychiatric issue.

Regardless whether Elliot Rodger had a formal diagnosis or not, he was prescribed risperidone by a shrink. He was NOT OK, according to his therapist he needed an antipsychotic that is commonly used in ASD patients, and he was on therapy since he was 8.

Do you really think that Adam Lanza (who had a formal dx of Asperger's according to his own father http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -born.html ), or Elliot Rodger's conditions don't have anything to do with how they felt?

I love my husband deeply, but I remember very well how awkward and shy he used to be in his early twenties. He used to have that same type of extreme thinking, he swore to himself to never speak to a woman again after we had an argument before we were in a relationship (I was lucky to talk to him out of many irrational thoughts he had). Fortunately for him, he was able to grow up as a human being, he likes what he does for a living and since he's happy, most of the pieces fall within the system. He's an asset for society now, but 15 years ago, he could have gone that same route.

I'm not saying that all Asperger's are at risk of becoming mass shooters, but the risk for depression, loneliness, poor self esteem, and paranoia is certainly higher than NT's. Many young adults with ASD are not properly supported or understood, they are left to believe that they will rot alone, that nobody will ever truly love them, it's heartbreaking. We need to stop this denial reaction of getting outraged every time Asperger's and a 20-something mass shooter's name are in the same sentence, it's time see where are we failing, as family, as therapists, as society.

Guess what, plenty of betas don't do the pick up artist stuff either. Many are nice intelligent guys, but the only thing they've experience is that the world around them that has recognized this has been to busy exploiting them. Even when one acknowledges that being a nice guy is wrong, it is often against a beta's nature to be anything but a nice guy. Perhaps in becoming so indoctrinated with feminism your standard of value is that of a feminist, and in confirming to their ideas your ability to grasp reality is lost. My standard of value are those who are extremely intelligent, and the same holds true for women. I know feminist would argue that I should lower my standard of value, but it is pretty much the same as no one wants to wake up to ugly-I don't want to wake up to dumb.

In a casual sense when you buy a woman dinner you invited for dinner for your own selfish reasons, usually because you value this woman. For most people they hope it leads to various acts but there is no obligation on her part. What you seem to miss is the concept of a contract-particularly one in the black market-It is substantially different than casual relations which your describe. While we can both agree, well maybe not as some feminist find it as a form of empowerment, that this particular service industry should not exist. The reality is that there will always be a market for it and no amount of wishing and no amount of regulations will make it go away, and the further underground it becomes the more dangerous it becomes for women-and fully unregulated can be bad for women too. In the contractual or black market sense, when a service is paid for then you are specifically paying for a particular service and at that point it is expected that the service will be performed. If someone takes your payment and runs that is theft and fraud, and in the black market sense it can be met with violence. This is a reality that likewise can't be wished away over wishful ideals. If you support theft and fraud, you certainly are not a nice guy by any means (also if someone buys a that particular service they can't be said to be a nice guys either, just had to say it somewhere) You are more than welcome to revisit the feminism and put their fantasy world ideals on trial against the rules of the real world;Reality is the court of final appeals. Holding onto such ideals may make you feel like a better person, it may win you favor with your feminist friends,but in the end you are lying and deceived your own mind and you are trying to deceive the world with utter nonsense.

I just got my computer back today after having it worked on by our computer guy, so I'm afraid I'm not up on this whole discussion. I recall when this guy's identity had first been released, the claim that he had been diagnosed with Asperger's soon followed. I personally haven't heard any mention of Asperger's or autism since. Am I right in assuming the media is shying away from this claim? Or has the claim that he was diagnosed been discredited?

IIRC, the family's lawyer said he had AS. Then this:

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-05- ... aspergers/

"A friend of US gunman Elliot Rodger's family said the 22-year-old had not been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome - contrary to reports - but his parents suspected he was on the spectrum.

Simon Astaire, a Hollywood talent agent and media advisor, told the Los Angeles Times Rodger's had been in therapy for years and had no friends."

Is it likely this'll be confirmed either way, in terms of anyone he may have seen (psych, therapist etc) being called up for questioning?

I'll make the same argument here that I've made in other threads about confusion between sociopathy and autism. If a professional (or parent, for that matter) has a choice between two diagnoses, each of which seems plausible, will they choose to diagnose their patient (child) with the treatable condition or the untreatable condition?

Regarding the feminist angle, the only reason I can see for people to ignore it would be a desire to ignore and silence feminists generally. Sure, the shooter hated everyone, but he held some pretty common sexist views as well. I'd draw the line at ignoring his other hateful views in order to assert that "sexism made him do it." Short of that, it makes sense to me to point out that a dangerous, insane person had dangerous, insane attitudes.

Privileged people typically want to ignore their privilege on an unconscious level. Making it into a duality rather than a spectrum works great toward that end.

For the record:

I had a bad time as a very young teen. That was the longest time that I walked in darkness and could realistically have made the ultimate wrong decision.

But that's not the closest I've ever been to making it.

The summer of 2011-- the summer that I spent eating high doses of risperidone and hiding in an efficiency apartment because a therapist had told me in no uncertain terms that the most socially responsible thing I could do as a person with Asperger's was take my antipsychotics, isolate myself, and stop trying to live-- was the closest I've ever come to going Black Aspie.

The impulse was there. Not just the ideation-- the IMPULSE. I would find myself having intrusive thoughts of a mental image of the patch of water hemlock that grows above the swamp on my dad's property and of making a bunch of "rhubarb" pies and holding a bake sale.

I never had any trouble forcing myself to make the right choice, but it was HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE. It lasted for only a few weeks-- 8 or 10 maybe-- before I attempted suicide in part to get away from it, landed in a sane hospital, and got off the damn antipsychotics, and it was one of the worst parts of the worst experience of my life. Reason Number 37 that risperidone will not be making any more visits to BuyerBeware's life.

It had little to do with Asperger's. I don't know how much it had to do with risperidone-- but I can tell you that it went away, totally, within a week of the last dose. The impulse disappeared when the risperidone left my system. POOF. GONE. The Sanity Fairy came back. Night and day.

The ideation only makes a brief and repugnant visit when I fall back into thinking that I must accept that I am subhuman. It's not dependent on others' behaviors. It's dependent on (or anyway directly correlated with) the extent to which I accept the media portrayal of Asperger's as how I must see myself.

Go figure.

I was prescribed seroquel once,took it about a week and threw it away,awful brain fog.

I used to take risperidal and it worked for me, but wasn't strong enough. Now I take Seroquel and I thank God for it. Without Seroquel I couldn't function.