will we get punished for Newtown?

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I've been trying not to think about such things, but I suppose it's possible.

This is the impression I am getting too. But of course, that doesn't make people with schizophrenia feel any better.

Unfortunately, the truth is that delusions, hallucinations, and related symptoms are far more common (in fact, are the hallmark) symptoms in schizophrenia, but not in autism. That's not to say in any way that those who are "detached from reality" (i.e. hearing voices, feeling paranoid) are necessarily going to go out and kill anyone. But when someone is not in touch with reality, they are not operating in reality, period. You cannot apply "reason" to someone who is not reasonable. It's part of the profile of active, untreated schizophrenia. It is not the person's fault they have it, and there are brilliant people living successfully with it. But without treatment, they suffer tremendously. That's true for anyone who needs (but isn't getting) treatment they need.

If Adam Lanza had autism/Aspergers AND schizophrenia, that is a rare double-whammy, and he surely suffered greatly. He may not have recognized it as suffering. His mom may not have grasped his suffering. No-one will allow themselves to recognize this, and I understand why. The grief and suffering that his grief and suffering caused is too vast, too deep, and still too fresh.

The REAL problem, in Adam Lanza's and similar cases, is the deadly combination of ACCESS TO WEAPONS and LACK OF INTERVENTION. Adam was not receiving any treatment for anything, and had free reign of an arsenal of military grade automatic weaponry...an obvious recipe for disaster IF you allow and/or force yourself to be fully aware.

We live in a culture with a deeply entrenched and (still) very strong stigma against mental/developmental conditions, AND an obsession with guns. Until we come to our senses on these issues, the occurrence of horrific, unspeakable incidents like Newtown will continue.

Until these two underlying issues are resolved RESPONSIBLY, it means those of us with developmental disabilities like autism, or those with mental health conditions like schizophrenia--even though the vast majority of us (just like the vast majority of the general population) would not hurt a fly--will continue to be unfairly spotlighted, and in a position of having to--once again--defend ourselves.

Um...Newton?

I am very concerned about people bringing that up on this board as much as I fear people blaming crime on autism. Another thing I suppose is that nobody's more of a victim of backlash than others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook ... l_shooting

Walrus, I knew what the OP was talking about.

Adam who now?

Why are you concerned about that being brought up on this board?

When I first heard about that the following morning after the report of that awful school shooting, this one NT female of course had to speculate that Adam Lanza was autistic because of the fact that he had no friends growing up and obviously a NT had to point that and blame it on his autism and when I heard that, not only was I annoyed about that I didn't want to truly believe that and second why would she have to blame it on his autism since I thought other factors could have played in his role for what he did?

The next few years confirmed what I have feared and I'm sure some of you have and honestly I think the media , especially the NT run media that is so embedded in the mainstream, have done such a disservice that eventually those NTs are going to take something that we are powerless to control since birth and use that as an excuse and to further use that kind of excuse as a wedge to divide further the neurotypical world and the autism world all because of some lone gunman who really does not represent all what autism really is about.

Yes, we do wonder, and with good reason. There are plenty of mass-murderers who are perfectly mentally healthy, should NTs feel ashamed of their actions? Why should you be ashamed of the actions of one individual who might have shared a few traits with you? (Something that isn't even confirmed, no actual Autism diagnosis was ever revealed).

It's the firearm owners who're usually punished after such things.

Usually, if there's a recognized medical problem, they actually throw money at it.