Ralph Waldo Emerson was right. As a society, we pretty much do “learn geology the day after the earthquake.” However, five solid days of fact gathering by state and federal investigators has produced many more questions than answers regarding the unspeakable Newtown tragedy, with a great deal of reckless speculation and misinformation still being disseminated. Some in the media continue to report that Adam Lanza has Asperger’s or some other autism spectrum disorder. The suggestion, of course, is that autism is somehow to blame for Adam Lanza’s senseless acts.
This is not a new problem for the autism community. Ignoble criminal defendants have repeatedly attempted to cloak themselves with the “autism” label in a desperate effort to excuse and explain away criminal behavior. This latest purported “link,” while certainly sensational and helpful to viewership and ratings, is extremely hurtful and damaging to the entire autism community. Just this morning, I received a telephone call from one of our Connecticut families. Their son (with autism, in an inclusion program) had asked “Are the kids at school going to hate me now because I have autism?” To even posit that question speaks volumes as to the serious danger and consequences of inaccurate beliefs and perceptions.
Incredibly, the media has failed to produce any IEP or genuine medical or other assessment to establish that Adam Lanza was, in fact, ever actually diagnosed with Asperger’s or some other autism spectrum disorder. Adam’s estranged brother Ryan apparently told reporters that his brother was disturbed and “kind of autistic.” Adam’s mother (also by media report) apparently also used the word“Asperger’s” from time to time. To be certain, it is somewhat less socially stigmatizing for a parent to identify their child as havingAsperger’s (a neurological disorder) than to admit that their child is primarily psychotic, schizophrenic, or emotionally disturbed (i.e. mental illness). To their credit, not one of the federal or state investigators carefully sifting through the evidence have suggested that there is any demonstrable link between autism and planned violence. Nor have the NIH or the CDC. Some in the media, however, have not been as careful with their words.
Even if it ultimately is documented that Adam Lanza actually had an autism spectrum disorder, so what? People with autism certainly may be capable of tantrums and other “reactive” behaviors. As any respected autism professional will tell you, however, people with autism simply are not capable of the kind of the mass killing plan that Adam Lanza hatched and then executed with seemingly methodical precision. Indeed, if people with autism are known for anything, it is for their deficits in executive functioning, planning and time management. A student with autism may well forget to bring their homework assignment, tennis racket or backpack—but is not the kind of person who is capable of killing their mother, destroying a computer hard drive (so as to conceal their “tracks” and evidence), driving a car to the local elementary school, forcing entry into that school, and then killing nearly 30 human beings. That kind of sequence takes other “skill” sets.
At the same time that so many local families are grieving and burying their loved ones, the nation and the media understandably are asking “why?” On that score, there is plenty of potential blame to go around. Our ineffective gun control laws that allow the purchase of 30-round assault rifles might well be first on the list. Similarly, while I apologize in advance for speaking ill of the dead, also on the list might be a mother who apparently thought it okay to take her disturbed son to the local firing range to hone his assault rifle skills, and who apparently allowed him access to at least several military grade weapons.
Adam Lanza clearly needed instruction, intervention, and therapeutic counseling but that was not going to happen on the firing range. By all means, cast some blame upon Adam Lanza’s psychosis, his parenting, the availability of assault riles, or even Adam Lanza’sapparent regular access to violent videogames. There also are a lot of unanswered questions that need to be answered by AdamLanza’s school system as to whether he was ever properly and timely identified, much less made the subject of meaningful intervention efforts. But please do not allow ignorance, misunderstanding or public clamor to conveniently blame autism for this horrific tragedy. Don’t go there.