By now, we have all heard the tragic news about the shooting that took place in an elementary school in Connecticut. Some say the shooter had Asperger’s Syndrome. Experts point out that there is no evidence of a link between violence like what happened and the existence of Asperger’s syndrome.
A tragedy has occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. I do not have the words to express the grief and pain that the parents of the children who were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut must be feeling. Lacking that, I will instead quote part of what President Obama said when addressing the nation after this tragedy occurred:
Our hearts are broken today.
I have no desire to repeat each and every detail of what happened. You have probably seen or heard it all on the news by now. One thing is certain, the shooter was a 20 year old named Adam Lanza. There have been several news articles that said that he was “odd” or that he had a “personality disorder” or that he had “Asperger’s Syndrome”.
Since then, I’ve read a few blogs and articles online where the writer expressed some worries about this very public statement that linked Asperger’s Syndrome with the type of violence that happened in Connecticut. One blogger, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, feared that the people around him would suddenly become terrified that he would do something similar to the tragedy that just happened.
Experts are pointing out that Asperger’s Syndrome is a disorder that includes “social awkwardness” and a difficulty with understanding and picking up on the social cues that come naturally to people who do not have autism.
Elizabeth Laugeson is a psychologist and an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. She said:
There really is no clear association between Aperger’s and violent behavior.
Another expert is psychologist Eric Butter of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He treats patients who have autism and those who have Asperger’s syndrome. He points out that research suggests that people who have autism have a higher rate of aggressive behavior, but that it is expressed in outbursts. In other words, the violence comes in the form of shoving, pushing, or angry shouting. He said:
But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen in Newtown.
In other words, if Adam Lanza had Asperger’s Syndrome, one cannot conclude that this means that all people who have Asperger’s Syndrome will do what he did. Yes, people who have Asperger’s Syndrome can become violent. Typically, the violence will be in the form of an outburst, not a premeditated and planned out act like what happened in Connecticut.
This does not mean it is impossible for adults or children with Asperger’s Syndrome to exhibit violent behavior. There is a post on a blog called “My Aspergers Child” that covers this topic.
Read the comments. Clearly, there are parents who are fearful of the violence their child has expressed or has verbally stated his or her intention to act on. There are also parents of children who have Asperger’s Syndrome who left comments stating that their child was non-violent.
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