Worried about Connecticut shootings

Post Reply New Topic

I heard on left-wing radio this morning that the shooter had Asperger's, and the people on the radio show were insinuating that this is a "dangerous disorder" and that combined with homeschooling and Christianity, people on the spectrum could become monsters.

As a parent of children with AS, I find this outrageous. I homeschool my kids, and both are sweet and gentle. I sickens me to see the political left suggesting that AS is somehow dangerous, that AS individuals may need to be sent to institutions or special schools against their will, etc.

I am worried about this backlash against people on the spectrum.

Silas, I made a post about this concern, here...

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt218358.html

There's a good article by a parent:

Statement from the National Autistic Society at http://www.autism.org.uk/news-and-events/news-from-the-nas/newtown-shootings.aspx:

Edited.

SOh, quiet with the political conspiracy. If it calms your nerves, the first place I saw saying that he had autism was the right wing brietbart.org, the guy who said autism is just an excuse for bad behavior. It's mostly conservatives that are intolerant in my experience, but I'm not going to have that argument right now. Believe what you want.

Anyhow, I would like to say that this is not the time to hide, as rishardbenson suggests. It is instead the time to talk about it and raise awareness. Fifty years ago, everyone thought gay people were all child molesters, but then they came up with the idea of coming out, telling their friends and neighbors that they were gay. Many gay people, then and now, hold these same fears: that they would be perceived differently or rejected by their friends and family. However, history proved that, on the whole, rather than rejecting friends who come out, people change their views because they know they know one gay person, and know they are kind and decent. Even if it doesn't happen immediately or if it doesn't happen until multiple gay friends speak up, 91% of the time, people will become more accepting through this process. Remember, until the early 70's homosexuality was considered a mental illness in the United Sates, and now there is a lesbian in our Senate.

The process will have to be different for autism, because of the social isolation factor, but I think social media can help overcome some of that. We must not take a fatalistic attitude, though. Even if "the damage is done", that does not mean that it cannot be undone. I agree with richardbenson, however in that statements from National Autism Societies and whatnot won't help anything. The only people who can make things better for autistic people are autistic people.

As a young bisexual man, I view the first generation to come out of the closet as heros. If we start working now, a generation of autists not yet born will look back on us in abstract as a generation of heros. If not, we condemn ourselves, because (let's be honest) autism is not too hard to spot, and if we become truly demonized, we will be attacked and discriminated against even more than we already are. Therefore, it is my sincere wish that all who read this will work to erase negative perceptionsof autism, and be a hero, instead of joining history's lengthy tradition of cowards.

In my opinion home schooling children with aspergers is incredibly counter productive. They already have difficulties with social interraction, how is further isolating them from other people their own age going to help them at all? You say special school as if its something to be ashamed of but they will teach your children social skills and coping techniques that wuill give them a fighting chance at fitting in with society in future. Given the choice i would have gone to special school over mainstream school, but i wasnt diagnosed at an early enough age to have that choice.

Im also worried about a backlash, but whats most likely to happen is this will all blow over within a month. People have incredibly short attention spans with this sort of thing on the whole.

I wouldn't worry to much.

The anti-gun people are off to the races with this. They won't let any other issue rain on their parade.

You dont think that more restrictive access to guns would help stop spree killings?

All the media organizations are talking about Autism in connection with the shooting. Michael John Carley was on Fox defending autism and he looked really stressed out. I've always had a hard time reading facial expressions and knowing when to talk or not. I think being bullied is the norm for a lot of people with Autism but the degree depends on the individual. It's really hard to assume if bullying was a factor for this shooter doing what he did. Autistic's get bullied all the time and don't go on shooting rampages. I'm a woman, and I've had my share of other women being very rude and disrespectful to me or men trying to sexually harass me at work-- not once did I ever feel the need to go out and buy a gun and kill innocent children. Most Autistic's I've known are really logical and killing a child because so-and-so was bullying you has to be the most illogical thought ever--not only illogical, but downright evil. I can't even wrap my mind around how an Autistic would think this way. I feel for a lot of Autistic's who do get bullied, as I am reading these posts. I know their anger has to do with the frustrations of feeling powerless.

I wish I could help others learn to cope with bullying. The first step I think is to not care what your bullies think--their opinions are meaningless. When I was in high school, girls were rude and snubbed me. I look at some of these women as adults and I see the poor decisions they've made and I see them for who they are--in no position to judge me. You'll look back at bullies in your mid-twenties to early-thirties and see them as not-important. Time is precious, use that time to learn a language, play an instrument, paint, write a book, or continue with your education in college. If you get a phd in a particular area, you can usually get a good job that requires not so much socializing. Look into research areas depending on your strengths. I like Chemistry and Biology, some of you are really good at Math and would be equally good as computer programmers or software engineers. You all have strengths, focus on those strengths instead of your bullies. Research good colleges to go to. Arizona State University has clubs specifically for students on the spectrum that you can get college credit for. I wish there were schools specifically for those on the Autism Spectrum so we could all learn together--but there isn't. We have to make due with what we have and try to find people after high school who we can connect with.

As far as jobs, cleaning jobs are easy and don't require much social interaction. Get a cleaning job at night where you can clean alone. I would recommend hospital cleaning, because they have health insurance and decent wages. The only problem with hospitals is there is more sexual harassment--especially from Doctors. Keep a journal at home of your experiences at work--if someone bullies you or sexually harasses you, take that journal to H.R. and get that person fired. If there is any retaliation--document that too and keep communicating with HR. That's how you cope with bullies.

As far as dating, specifically for women, don't take it too seriously in the beginning. Go on a couple of dates as friends--be safe about it. Drive your own car to the date--don't let them pick you up if you don't them very well. Don't sleep with anyone you don't know or feel comfortable with, if they push sex, walk away. Make sure you go on lots of dates in the span of a few months before committing to even seriously dating that person. Remember that guys can be users, don't let them use you. If you notice anything that doesn't feel right, go home and write it in your journal. If you make a mistake, don't be mean to yourself, learn from it and go on.

Kind of what I'm saying, is that this is how Autistic's can get their power back.

I hope the media can stay focused on guns.

I have a theory this guy may have been being quite badly emotionally abused by his mother at home and killing loads of children at the school she worked at was just part of a pathological web of revenge and retaliation and so on connected to his relationship with his mother.

That's my take

If you read about his mother and some of her behaviour it does follow

every mass shooting has happened in a gun free zone
way more mass shootings have been stopped by armed citizens. the news wants you scared of your own shadow so you pay attention to them so they more money

Citation needed.

The shooter in Oregon may have been deterred after he saw a shopper pull out a legal concealed gun [1]. A shooting in Mississippi was stopped by an armed vice principal [2].

Who can say that the man would not have gone on a rampage with a machete or something else had he not been able to use a gun? And who can say that he would not have illegally procured a gun anyway if they were more heavily restricted? The real problem is whatever leads a person to want to commit a mass killing in the first place, not how they finally go about doing it.

Say I blow a gasket and decide to mow down 30 people in a crowded parking lot with my car. Would anyone say we should have had stricter laws about owning cars?