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Adam Lanza's Father Speaks Out

The New Yorker has an in-depth interview with Peter Lanza, the father of Newtown shooter Adam Lanza. It's remarkably candid.

Lanza, who hadn't seen Adam in two years because Adam refused to see him, says Adam was pure evil and he wishes he had never been born. He says he has no doubt that had Adam had the chance, he would have killed him too.

“It was crystal clear something was wrong,” Peter said. “The social awkwardness, the uncomfortable anxiety, unable to sleep, stress, unable to concentrate, having a hard time learning, the awkward walk, reduced eye contact. You could see the changes occurring.”

[More...]

The Lanzas took Adam to a variety of doctors and psychiatrists. None saw a propensity for violence. Lanza says Asperger's is not to blame.

Peter gets annoyed when people speculate that Asperger’s was the cause of Adam’s rampage. “Asperger’s makes people unusual, but it doesn’t make people like this,” he said, and expressed the view that the condition “veiled a contaminant” that was not Asperger’s: “I was thinking it could mask schizophrenia.”

On wishing Adam had never been born:

Peter declared that he wished Adam had never been born, that there could be no remembering who he was outside of who he became. “That didn’t come right away. That’s not a natural thing, when you’re thinking about your kid. But, God, there’s no question. There can only be one conclusion, when you finally get there. That’s fairly recent, too, but that’s totally where I am.”

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  • Display: Sort:
    How very sad. (5.00 / 4) (#1)
    by oculus on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 12:42:17 PM EST


    I'm not reading the article (2.00 / 3) (#41)
    by Mikado Cat on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 08:56:57 AM EST
    nor do I see a good reason anyone should be persuaded by the fathers claimed intent.

    Adam Lanza needed more supervision than one person could provide.

    I was aware his doctors "say" they saw nothing to indicate he would be violent, but clearly they were completely wrong. My question is do they stay away from applying a "might be violent" tag with more bias than is prudent.

    Pretty hard to see with your eyes closed. (5.00 / 1) (#42)
    by Anne on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 09:43:19 AM EST
    And your hearing seems compromised as well.

    I guess my favorite part of all of this is the example you provide of someone with such an overt disinterest in expanding his knowledge base beyond that which supports his preconceived notions and opinions, combined with an almost automatic rejection of anything that threatens to challenge or debunk those notions, but who still thinks he is qualified to sit in judgment of others.

    I guess that works on some people, but I don't think you're going to make much headway here.

    Parent

    We see nothing to indicate that (5.00 / 2) (#43)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 11:03:29 AM EST
    You are violent but we're sending two someone's right over just in case.

    Parent
    Damn those constitutional rights. Better (5.00 / 1) (#44)
    by oculus on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 11:06:00 AM EST
    safe than sorry. Let's start w/everyone fascinated w/assault guns.

    Parent
    How about NONE of them were assault (none / 0) (#59)
    by Mikado Cat on Fri Mar 14, 2014 at 03:09:49 AM EST
    weapons? Selective fire makes an assault weapon, not how it looks. How do we know his obsession was with the weapon's themselves, instead of the intense media coverage that comes from using them?

    Parent
    Wrong (none / 0) (#60)
    by Yman on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 09:01:25 AM EST
    "Assault weapon" is a different term than assault rifle, as defined for military purposes.  That being said, there are many terms with definitions that vary somewhat based on context. ... and this is not a military context.

    Parent
    I was going to say that everyone (none / 0) (#45)
    by Anne on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 11:40:16 AM EST
    has the capacity for violence, but I figured he'd suggest we should all be under lock and key, you know - just in case - and then I had no answer for the question of who locks up the last person standing - or is that person in charge?  What if he or she gets violent?  

    No energy for the trip down that rabbit hole.

    Parent

    Regarding who should be under lock (5.00 / 1) (#48)
    by vml68 on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 12:14:02 PM EST
    and key... May I suggest the people who think Sandy Hook was an elaborate hoax staged just so it could be used to take away their right to bear arms. I find these people truly frightening!

    Parent
    Adam (none / 0) (#2)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 12:58:53 PM EST

    Adam was every parent's nightmare.  No matter what you do, it all goes down hill.

    The excerpts are so sad and (none / 0) (#3)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 02:20:32 PM EST
    disturbing that I'm not sure I will be able to read the entire interview.

    Wonder what kind of nightmare it is to a kid to feel - because how do you hide it? - that his father wished he had never been born.

    My impression is that the father is saying (5.00 / 4) (#4)
    by vml68 on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 02:39:10 PM EST
    he feels that way now because of the shooting.

    Parent
    I thought about that, too, and maybe (none / 0) (#5)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 03:11:40 PM EST
    if I could bring myself to read the full interview I'd have an answer; it's just that when I saw in the excerpt that Adam hadn't wanted to see his father for the two years prior, it made we wonder if Peter wasn't giving off a vibe that he wished Adam had never been born.

    Maybe I'll give the interview a try...

    Parent

    It is a tough read. I got through it, and my (5.00 / 4) (#6)
    by caseyOR on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 03:17:24 PM EST
    impression was that Peter Lanza's feeling that Adam should never have been born came after the shootings. Adam's isolating behaviors, refusing to see his father, seemed to have more to do with Peter not being as easy for Adam to manipulate as Nancy was.

    All in all, it is a tragedy for everyone involved.

    Parent

    Ah! I did not make that connection. (none / 0) (#7)
    by vml68 on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 03:19:46 PM EST
    Makes sense.

    Adam hadn't wanted to see his father for the two years prior, it made we wonder if Peter wasn't giving off a vibe that he wished Adam had never been born

    Either way, a horrible situation for all involved.

    Parent

    Last paragraph (none / 0) (#8)
    by jbindc on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 03:24:55 PM EST
    I wondered how Peter would feel if he could see his son again. "Quite honestly, I think that I wouldn't recognize the person I saw," he said. "All I could picture is there'd be nothing there, there'd be nothing. Almost, like, `Who are you, stranger?' " Peter declared that he wished Adam had never been born, that there could be no remembering who he was outside of who he became. "That didn't come right away. That's not a natural thing, when you're thinking about your kid. But, God, there's no question. There can only be one conclusion, when you finally get there. That's fairly recent, too, but that's totally where I am."


    Parent
    My take is that the father's feelings ... (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 04:36:23 PM EST
    ... about his late son were formulated ex post facto, and not while his son was growing up. He's simply struggling to reconcile his longstanding parental feelings for Adam in the face of the horrific act his son committed.

    And I'm sure that, like most parents who've had to confront the harsh reality of their child's bad acts, he probably also holds himself to account for what happened and second-guesses his own actions, constantly asking himself what he might have otherwise done to somehow preclude the disaster. And quite frankly, I really don't blame him for feeling that way.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    That is (none / 0) (#12)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 07:16:44 PM EST
    what I got from the article too. His father wished that he had never been born because of the shooting. Prior to that it was mostly extreme frustratin with Adam because no matter what they did, nothing seemed to help.

    Parent
    It's just sad (none / 0) (#9)
    by sj on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 04:27:04 PM EST
    all the way around. I've only been able to read the first page -- partly because it's hard to read, but also because this article is a "sit down and really read it" article. It doesn't lend itself to being read in fits and starts.

    That's the "money quote" though, isn't it? That the father wishes the son had never been born? He's going to get some ugly push back no matter how he meant it.

    It's just awful and sad.

    Parent

    I finally read the whole thing, (none / 0) (#14)
    by Anne on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 07:07:39 AM EST
    and the part about wishing Adam had never been born came at the very end of the interview - and after reading all that he had tried to do over the years, it was clear to me that his wish was simply the end result of going through all the "what-ifs" and having to go all the way back to Adam never being born before he found the one thing that would have prevented this tragedy.

    Which is really just the saddest thing.

    This isn't one of those interviews I can say I was glad I read; I feel like maybe I know a little more, but the sadness is going to stay with me for a while.

    Parent

    I didn't read the entire (none / 0) (#11)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 07:14:31 PM EST
    article but what I got from it was not that Adam didn't want to see his father so much as Nancy didn't want Peter to see him. She would email him saying Adam has had a bad day or it's not a good time to come etc.

    I get the feeling (none / 0) (#13)
    by Mikado Cat on Mon Mar 10, 2014 at 10:04:30 PM EST
    its what we still don't know about Adam Lanza that is key to his actions. Do psychiatrists operate on the principle that 100 dangerous people should go free rather than lock up one person who might not kill anybody?

    I don't buy that "not being wanted" absolves the father from doing what he should do with a son.

    My take is that the father wants to lose the tag, "Adam Lanza's your son".

    What should Adam Lanza's father have (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 08:13:08 AM EST
    done differently then?

    Parent
    You didn't read the interview, did you? (5.00 / 4) (#17)
    by Anne on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 08:56:40 AM EST
    I ask that because when all I had to go on were the excerpts Jeralyn posted, I had a very different impression than I got after I read the entire interview.

    I really didn't want to read it, because I knew it was going to bother me on a number of levels.  For one, I don't enjoy other people's pain, and there's no question that Peter Lanza has experienced more than most people will ever have to.  Sure, you can second-guess and beat up on him and question his parenting skills, but you probably won't do any more or any less of it than he's done - and is still doing - every day, and starting long before the shootings themselves.

    If you won't read the interview, the least you could do is stop talking out of your a$$; Peter Lanza doesn't need your absolution, or your forgiveness - that will come from within himself, if indeed it ever comes at all.


    Parent

    Please link to data that (5.00 / 3) (#18)
    by MO Blue on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 09:17:55 AM EST
    states that Adam Lanza had been diagnosed as violent by his psychiatrists. I'm sure that the Connecticut State Police would like to have that information so that they can correct their investigation records.

    The investigation does not conclude what, if any, role mental health played in the shooter's motivation, but explicitly states that the "mental health professionals who saw him did not see anything that would have predicted his future behavior."


    Parent
    Did you even read all of Jeralyn's post? (5.00 / 3) (#19)
    by MO Blue on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 09:31:17 AM EST
    This is direct from Jeralyn's post:

    The Lanzas took Adam to a variety of doctors and psychiatrists. None saw a propensity for violence.

    So this accusation of yours was completely erroneous when applied to this case.

    Do psychiatrists operate on the principle that 100 dangerous people should go free rather than lock up one person who might not kill anybody?

    In the Lanza case it was not a matter of him being identified as being violent and a decision made that a violent person would be let free into society.

    So let me ask you a question in return:

    Do you operate on the principle that you can make up stuff as you go along and insert it willy-nilly into your comments?

    Parent

    Rhetorical? (none / 0) (#21)
    by CoralGables on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 10:50:47 AM EST
    Do you operate on the principle that you can make up stuff as you go along and insert it willy-nilly into your comments?


    Parent
    As you stated below, it is a lost cause (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by MO Blue on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 12:15:43 PM EST
    Yet, the assertion "that psychiatrists operate on the principle that 100 dangerous people should go free rather than lock up one person who might not kill anybody" is just the type of rhetoric that is used by Republicans to promote locking up all mentally ill people rather than treating them.

    Parent
    A guy who wants to lose (5.00 / 1) (#20)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 10:42:27 AM EST
    the tag "Adam Lanza's your son" doesn't do interviews in The New Yorker.


    Parent
    Well, if our friend had read the (5.00 / 5) (#23)
    by Anne on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 11:21:10 AM EST
    interview, he'd have seen this:

    The only reason Peter was talking to anyone, including me, was to share information that might help the families or prevent another such event. "I need to get some good from this. And there's no place else to find any good. If I could generate something to help them, it doesn't replace, it doesn't--" He struggled to find the words. "But I would trade places with them in a heartbeat if that could help."

    Peter told me, "I get very defensive with my name. I do not like to even say it. I thought about changing it, but I feel like that would be distancing myself and I cannot distance myself. I don't let it define me, but I felt like changing the name is sort of pretending it didn't happen and that's not right." But Peter has found the visibility hard. Old friends have been unflagging in their support, but Peter said he thought that he might never make new friends again. "This defines who I am and I can't stand that, but you have to accept it."

    Speaking to the New Yorker is part of not distancing himself, the exact opposite of what Mikado Cat has posited.

    Why do we bother?  There has been months and months of this kind of fact-free speculation and refusal to do any "homework," usually on the basis that he "knows all he needs to" on any given topic; I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.

    Parent

    Why do we bother? (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by CoralGables on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 11:39:37 AM EST
    You'll have to look inward for that. Those that engage must enjoy discussion with a turnip.

    Parent
    I like to think turnips (none / 0) (#26)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 12:31:17 PM EST
    are the future of the Republican Party. It's their way of "going green".zachary

    Parent
    oy where'd the Zachary (none / 0) (#27)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 12:33:18 PM EST
    come from? What I get for being a smartass..

    Parent
    What Sticks Out From the Article For Me (none / 0) (#16)
    by RickyJim on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 08:48:07 AM EST
    There was nothing in it about the arsenal Nancy kept in the house.  Did Peter and the psychiatrists know anything about it?  What about the advisability of training a person with no empathy for other humans to be comfortable firing guns, even if that person, on the surface, seemed to be non violent?  I didn't think the New Yorker is a publication that tries to be 2nd Amendment correct.

    This is what I got regarding that: (none / 0) (#22)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 11:09:58 AM EST
    Everyone tried to encourage Adam and looked for ways to engage with him. Nancy would take him on trips to the shooting range. Nancy and Peter thought that their son was nonviolent; the best way to build a connection to someone with Asperger's is often to participate in his fascinations.
    ergo, the guns.

    Parent
    so-called healthy respect (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 12:50:53 PM EST
    for guns is one thing. "Fascinations" with guns really creep me out, especially after everything that's gone down in the last couple of decades.

    Parent
    Different approach (none / 0) (#29)
    by Lora on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 01:21:52 PM EST
    The general meme seems to be, "No one could have seen this coming.  There isn't any way we could have predicted this."

    The question to ask is, "Is there any way we could have predicted/prevented this?"

    To be able to even ask this question I believe we would have to refuse to assign blame.  I think the overwhelming fear that someone might have done something to precipitate Lanza's rampage (or neglected to do something that might have prevented it) is enough to avoid the question altogether, to our great detriment.

    A little benign neglect (none / 0) (#30)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 01:49:28 PM EST
    involved here? How do you live alone in the same house with a deeply troubled loved one who was only physically an adult and only communicate via e-mail? Meanwhile Adam is sequestered away in his room apparently utterly obsessed with murder and mayhem and no one has the slightest clue.

    Parent
    Have you ever seen someone who is autistic (5.00 / 4) (#31)
    by MO Blue on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 02:14:18 PM EST
    have a complete melt down over some minor sensory experience that some one without that disease would not even notice?

    I don't think we know what advise his mother was given by his doctors and unless you have lived thought that experience on a day to day basis, I wouldn't be so quick to judge.

    Parent

    I certainly have, (5.00 / 3) (#57)
    by Zorba on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 06:01:18 PM EST
    since I used to teach the disabled, including children with autism.
    You could never tell what would set them off.  As you said, MOBlue, it could be something such as (what we would consider) a minor sensory experience.  Touch, sounds, sights, even a taste of something.
    And I didn't have to live with it 24-7, just a few hours daily, five days a week, nine months a year.
    The parents were desperate.  I spoke to many of them, at length.
    Most of them would have been pleased to even get emails from their kids (not that emailing was available, way back in the day when I taught, so let's say written or typed letters).
    I had a student who would only communicate by writing on a chalkboard.  We advised his mother to buy a chalkboard at home, which she did, and at least her son would write a few things down on it.
    Another student would only communicate by typing on a typewriter.  I suppose, nowadays, he might well use email.
    Even today, so much is not known about those on the autism spectrum.  And, if I were the parent of such a kid, and the main thing that gave that kid comfort, and a sense of connection with me, was taking him out to shoot, then that's what I would do.
    Of course, knowing what I know, I would also try to secure those guns in my house.  (Which we have always done anyway, with our guns.  A gun safe, and the bullets and shells kept elsewhere in another locked location.)
    But hindsight is a wonderful thing.  What if your child has a fascination with knives, and loves to cook and slice meats and chop vegetables, and this is the main way he connects with you?   Then what if that kid takes a couple of knives and goes out and starts carving people up?  What if he likes fire, and grilling food outdoors, and then takes a match or lighter and sets fire to a building with a whole lot of people?
    Oh, I don't know, and I would probably have secured the guns as well as a I could.  But locking up my knives, or matches and lighters and lighter fluid?

    Parent
    Agreed. Seems to me if you trust him to (none / 0) (#58)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 06:06:40 PM EST
    drive a car, for example, you'd trust him with a lot of stuff.

    Parent
    Quick.. (none / 0) (#32)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 02:26:42 PM EST
    How long has it been since those children were shot to pieces?

    I've worked with the mentally ill and drug addicts, you don't wanna go there, believe me.
    I will say though that in decades I never once heard an educated, qualified professional recommend as a therapuetic intervention buying assault weapons for troubled young men to learn to shoot.

    Parent

    You are changing the subject (5.00 / 1) (#35)
    by MO Blue on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 02:51:31 PM EST
    from isolation in his room to assault weapons. Also, the length of time since those children were shot has nothing to do whether or not his mother was neglectful. Assault weapons were not part of your original comment. Your comment had to do with his mother's "benign neglect" in allowing Adam to isolate in his room.

    Allowing Adam access to assault weapons and allowing him to isolate himself are two very distinct subjects. "Benign neglect" is not how I would describe either activity.

    Had you written that his mother should have never allowed Adam access to weapons of any type, I would have totally agreed with you. But you did not express that opinion in your comment. I can only respond to what you actually write.

     

    Parent

    O.k we'll stick strictly (none / 0) (#46)
    by jondee on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 11:53:49 AM EST
    with the isolation bit. There isn't a qualified professional in the history of autism research that would recommend that as an effective home treatment approach. I mean, what was that, the Amish-shunning method of dealing with Adam's condition?

    I brought up Nancy's Bushmaster therapy approach  mainly because you seem to know so much about the pluses and minuses of the introducing of "minor stimulation" into the environment of someone like Adam -- not to introduce a "separate issue" into the discussion.

    Parent

    I didn't think Nancy was "treating" (5.00 / 3) (#50)
    by Anne on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 12:42:58 PM EST
    Adam by isolating him, rather that he was isolating himself, and she was trying to reach him.  Which led to her attempting to draw him out by indulging him in his fascination with guns.

    Does that make sense to me?  No...and yes. I've never had a child with the kinds of problems and behaviors Adam had, nor have I ever had a child who was so difficult to connect with.  I don't know whether, if I were Nancy Lanza, I'd be so desperate for that connection, in the belief that connecting would somehow solve some of these problems, that I'd resort to what she resorted to.

    I think it's possible to be so deeply into a situation that one's perception of what makes sense and what doesn't is completely distorted; I'm sure Peter Lanza must wonder whether, if he'd been more persistent in trying to maintain contact with Adam, he'd have seen how badly Nancy needed help, both for Adam and for herself.

    These kinds of conditions, whether it was just Asperger's or Asperger's and another complicated component like schizophrenia, really become family illnesses - it isn't just the person with the condition who is affected, it's everyone who lives with and deals with that person.  I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to maintain anything resembling a healthily-functioning family unit under the conditions that existed with Adam.

    I think before any of us declare how we would have handled things differently, or decide who is and isn't at fault, we stop and consider that we are - thank God - just spectators to someone else's tragedy, and we really don't know who we would be or how we would be reacting if this was happening to us.

    Parent

    From what I understand (none / 0) (#52)
    by jondee on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 04:36:52 PM EST
    Nancy had a bit of a fascination with guns herself, as did a surprising number of other people around Newtown.  Not quite as much now I'd imagine.

    Parent
    What you claim I said is different (5.00 / 1) (#55)
    by MO Blue on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 04:53:02 PM EST
    than what I actually said.

    I did not say anything about introducing minor stimulation" into the environment. A direct quote:

    Have you ever seen someone who is autistic have a complete melt down over some minor sensory experience that some one without that disease would not even notice?

    It is pretty well documented that many people with Autism and Asperger have drastically different sensory experiences than other people.

    Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome Different Sensory Experiences Different Perceptual Worlds

    For one example touch:

    Touch can be painful and uncomfortable; people may not like to be touched and this can affect their relationships with others.

    Dislikes having anything on hands or feet.

    Difficulties brushing and washing hair because head is sensitive.

    Only likes certain types of clothing or textures.

    A piece of dirt on someone's hand with a serious sensory issue can create a complete, long lasting melt down.

    I could continue to provide information on this subject but it would not make any difference.

    You have made up you mind that Adam's mother neglected him and chose to isolate him. When someone is as heavily invested in being right about something as you are with this, nothing I or any one else could write would change your mind. I will not make any other attempt.

    Parent

    We're both "invested in being right" (none / 0) (#61)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 09:39:44 AM EST
    own it, Mo. Personally I haven't seen you have so much understanding for the questionable actions of someone at since the last time someone dared to criticize Madeleine Albright here.

    Of course, I could be completely and utterly wrong in everything I've said on this thread, but I do think at some point people gave up on this kid and let him retreat to his lair and morph into Kafka's cockroach -- with a veritable arsenal of ammo and guns in the house yet..

    Parent

    I think you must have me mixed up (none / 0) (#62)
    by MO Blue on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 09:46:39 AM EST
    with someone else. I have never gotten into a discussion about the actions of Albright on this site let alone defended her actions. Just another one of your unfounded accusations.

     

    Parent

    If you say so (none / 0) (#63)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 10:05:29 AM EST
    Yes and I'll say it again (none / 0) (#65)
    by MO Blue on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 11:40:49 AM EST
    Your Albright claim was just another one of your totally unfounded accusations.

    Parent
    Now you're just trolling (none / 0) (#66)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 11:51:26 AM EST
    Nope (none / 0) (#67)
    by MO Blue on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 12:05:18 PM EST
    Stating facts is not trolling.

    Fact: you were making a false accusation when you stated I defended the questionable actions of Madeleine Albright on this site.

    Trolling is better defined as someone who posts extraneous, or off-topic messages on a blog with the intent of distracting from topic under discussion.

    Your insertion of your false Madeleine Albright claim would fit the bill for trolling quite well.

    Parent

    Yes (none / 0) (#68)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 12:46:03 PM EST
    you've stated that "fact" once already. I think spoiling for a fight to no apparent purpose might qualify as trolling in some people's eyes. Maybe another one of Hillary's avenging angels will swing by and help you out -- ordinarily that's what happens on these situations..

    Parent
    Heh (5.00 / 1) (#70)
    by Yman on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 12:59:52 PM EST
    This:

    I think spoiling for a fight to no apparent purpose might qualify as trolling in some people's eyes.

    Followed by this:

    Maybe another one of Hillary's avenging angels will swing by and help you out -- ordinarily that's what happens on these situations..


    Parent
    Boy you are really getting desperate (none / 0) (#69)
    by MO Blue on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 12:59:13 PM EST
    First you make false accusations regarding Albright and now you are trying to stir up a fight with Hillary supporters to divert away from the issue.

    Your last couple of comments are a classic example of projection as  well as trolling.


    Parent

    If you have proof that Nancy (none / 0) (#53)
    by MO Blue on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 04:41:42 PM EST
    chose to isolate him in his room as a method to shun him, please provide a link to substantiate your claim. If not, you are making unfounded accusations that contradicts statements made by people who knew the family and from his father in this interview.

    From everything I've read, Adam was the one who chose the isolate and not something that was forced on him.

    Parent

    If he chose to eat (2.00 / 1) (#54)
    by jondee on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 04:51:31 PM EST
    out of the toilet, would you let him go ahead and do that?

    And btw, can we now scratch communicating exclusively via e-mail off the list of viable  ways to connect with autistic young people?

    Parent

    A 20-yr. old? What means of controlling his (5.00 / 1) (#56)
    by oculus on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 04:56:12 PM EST
    actions did his parents have?

    Parent
    She certainly could've (none / 0) (#64)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 10:59:57 AM EST
    controlled his homicidal actions to a large extent by not having all those focking guns and ammo in the house.

     

    Parent

    Btw I'd call all that target shooting (none / 0) (#33)
    by jondee on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 02:31:23 PM EST
    a MAJOR sensory experience if there ever was one.

    Parent
    From the interview, FWIW (none / 0) (#34)
    by jbindc on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 02:49:36 PM EST
    "Adam was not open to therapy," Peter told me. "He did not want to talk about problems and didn't even admit he had Asperger's." Peter and Nancy were confident enough in the Asperger's diagnosis that they didn't look for other explanations for Adam's behavior. In that sense, Asperger's may have distracted them from whatever else was amiss. "If he had been a totally normal adolescent and he was well adjusted and then all of a sudden went into isolation, alarms would go off," Peter told me. "But let's keep in mind that you expect Adam to be weird." Still, Peter and Nancy sought professional support repeatedly, and none of the doctors they saw detected troubling violence in Adam's disposition. According to the state's attorney's report, "Those mental health professionals who saw him did not see anything that would have predicted his future behavior." Peter said, "Here we are near New York, one of the best locations for mental-health care, and nobody saw this."

    Peter gets annoyed when people speculate that Asperger's was the cause of Adam's rampage. "Asperger's makes people unusual, but it doesn't make people like this," he said, and expressed the view that the condition "veiled a contaminant" that was not Asperger's: "I was thinking it could mask schizophrenia." Violence by autistic people is more commonly reactive than planned--triggered, for example, by an invasion of personal space. Studies of people with autism who have committed crimes suggest that at least half also suffer from an additional condition--from psychosis, in about twenty-five per cent of cases. Some researchers believe that a marked increase in the intensity of an autistic person's preoccupations can be a warning sign, especially if those preoccupations have a sinister aspect. Forensic records of Adam's online activity show that, in his late teens, he developed a preoccupation with mass murder. But there was never a warning sign; his obsession was discussed only pseudonymously with others online.

    Both autism and psychopathy entail a lack of empathy. Psychologists, though, distinguish between the "cognitive empathy" deficits of autism (difficulty understanding what emotions are, trouble interpreting other people's nonverbal signs) and the "emotional empathy" deficits of psychopathy (lack of concern about hurting other people, an inability to share their feelings). The subgroup of people with neither kind of empathy appears to be small, but such people may act out their malice in ways that can feel both guileless and brutal.

    Autism is increasingly invoked in courtrooms as an argument for leniency, sometimes on the ground that the autistic person is confused about cause and effect--a befuddlement defense, as it were. Adam Lanza, however, clearly understood what he was doing. He destroyed one of his hard drives, and left behind an electronic spreadsheet on mass murder, and photographs of himself with a gun to his head. A recent study suggests that a lack of empathy may be connected to insensitivity to physical pain. Despite Adam's hypersensitivity to more minor irritants, this seems to have been one of his symptoms; his mother warned the school that he might not stop doing something because it hurt.



    Parent
    That was exactly my point (5.00 / 2) (#36)
    by MO Blue on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 03:32:50 PM EST
    "If he had been a totally normal adolescent and he was well adjusted and then all of a sudden went into isolation, alarms would go off," Peter told me. "But let's keep in mind that you expect Adam to be weird."

    Adam isolating himself did not raise alarm bells because it was more or less expected behavior.  

    Parent

    Much was also made about communicating (5.00 / 1) (#39)
    by MO Blue on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 11:06:59 PM EST
    with Adam only by email.

    My daughter works with prekindergarten special needs children. She has worked with children who have Asperger's and who are autistic. She loves her work and often shares some of her experiences with me. She has detailed how difficult it is to communicate with these children and some of the creative methods that they use.

    She told me the story of one little boy who completely tuned everyone out who attempted to communicate with him using the spoken word. OTOH, if people sang the words to him he would normally follow the instructions sung to him and at times would sing words back. The tale was told not from the standpoint of this being abnormal behavior from someone with his particular disease but from the prospective that they were thrilled that they found some method that allowed them to communicate him.

    Parent

    A bit of a difference (none / 0) (#47)
    by jondee on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 11:58:36 AM EST
    between singing to someone who you're right there in the room with and sending them an e-mail, no?

    Parent
    People who work with autistic people (5.00 / 1) (#51)
    by MO Blue on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 04:09:48 PM EST
    are use to using several different means to communicate depending on the individual. From what I understand, they are willing to use whatever method works.

    Parent
    Sometimes (none / 0) (#49)
    by jondee on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 12:20:48 PM EST
    you just have attempt to interrupt someone when they're doing something that's just worsening their condition..And hopefully you're interrupting them with something other than e-mails and shooting exploding targets with Bushmasters.

    Parent
    Autism a Disease? (none / 0) (#71)
    by squeaky on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 01:00:06 PM EST
    Geneticists are starting to pinpoint the DNA anomalies found in kids like Matt who are savants from birth. Still, a single savant gene will probably never be found. More than a dozen genes may contribute to autism. Several other forms of mental impairment also produce islands of startling ability - known as splinter skills - as if fragments of savant code are scattered throughout the genetic database.

    Last year, researchers at Vanderbilt University discovered a cluster of abnormalities on chromosome 15 in the families of autistic savants. Another set of irregularities on the same chromosome produces learning-disabled kids who can solve jigsaw puzzles twice as fast as other children and have an insatiable desire to overeat - Prader-Willi syndrome. A third chromosomal disorder, called Williams syndrome, results in mental retardation, poor coordination, and a different set of splinter skills. Williams kids, who have distinctively elfin facial features, are naturally outgoing, love to schmooze, and have a propensity for florid verbal constructions (hyperlexia), similar to Matt's discourse on proportions.

    Like savants, people with Williams syndrome have an unusual relationship with the audible world. Some are terrified as children by the hum of household appliances, but others become connoisseurs of the rich drones of machines, like a boy described in the clinical literature who had a collection of 18 different vacuum cleaners. Many people with Williams also excel at picking out the notes in a chord. Some are so sensitive that they can identify the make and model of a car from the sound of its engine.

    In tests conducted at a music camp in Massachusetts, psychologists found that the errors made by Williams kids were more musical than those made by a control group. On a clapping test, those in the control group sometimes just dropped the beat, but the Williams kids made mistakes that elaborated on the rhythms. They were jamming.

    In the same way that Matt's mind is made of math problems, the minds of Williams syndrome kids are made of sound. As one girl told a researcher, "Music is my favorite way of thinking."

    Wired

    Not that all people on the AS are savants, or genius, or even excel at any one thing, but I think that calling it a disease is a misnomer, that is unless you have a political axe to grind.

    Parent

    You are correct (none / 0) (#72)
    by MO Blue on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 01:26:31 PM EST
    I should have called it a disorder rather than a disease.

    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development.


    Parent
    Oh Good (none / 0) (#73)
    by squeaky on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 01:43:25 PM EST
    I am glad that it was an error on your part, otherwise we may have wound up using a lot of bandwidth..

    hahhaha..  

    Parent

    You are so funny (none / 0) (#74)
    by MO Blue on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 02:11:43 PM EST
    hahhaha..

    Talk about someone with a droll sense of humor.

    I'm sure that you used well over 300 words to state that autism is a disorder and not a disease purely as an example of using a lot of bandwidth unnecessarily.

     

    Parent

    Not Unnecessary, or a Waste, IMO (none / 0) (#75)
    by squeaky on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 02:29:10 PM EST
    It is a good little story and also good information for the uninformed. I provided a link to read more on the subject for those whose interest was piqued.

    But, seeing that you are not so interested in the text, I concede it must have been a waste of reading time for you, bandwidth not so much as it is for the greater good.

    Parent

    Credit where credit is due (5.00 / 2) (#78)
    by MO Blue on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 03:05:53 PM EST
    The information regarding the different DNA anomalies was interesting.

    Some aspect of Williams syndrome might explain why one of the children that my daughter worked with would only communicate though singing but would not respond to spoken words.  

    Parent

    Just curious. How is bandwidth measured? (none / 0) (#76)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 02:43:36 PM EST
    By girth (5.00 / 2) (#77)
    by CoralGables on Sat Mar 15, 2014 at 03:02:46 PM EST
    Have heard you can drop bandwidth eating the vegie sub at subway

    Parent
    SITE VIOLATOR (none / 0) (#38)
    by Zorba on Tue Mar 11, 2014 at 09:40:45 PM EST
    Indonesian spam.

    SITE VIOLATOR (none / 0) (#40)
    by jbindc on Wed Mar 12, 2014 at 07:40:36 AM EST