It’s Not the Autism

I wasn’t going to write about the Sandy Hook shooting. It saddens me to read about it, and I’m sure everyone feels the same. We mourn in our own ways, we try to get on with our lives knowing that fellow parents and families are wading through grief that most of us can’t even begin to fathom, and can’t reconcile. We look for reasons. And that is why when it’s plastered all over the Internet and TV that the shooter was indeed on the autism spectrum, diagnosed with Asperger’s, I have to say something.

It’s not the autism that caused him to become a killer.

Believe me, I’m definitely familiar with the news story about the woman whose 18-year-old autistic son beat her to death.  The news reports I read indicated that he did not seem to be aware of what he had done. When a child or teen on the autism spectrum becomes aggressive, if they’re not frustrated or reacting to fear or pain, it’s usually because of a comorbidity, such as untreated bipolar disorder, or it could also be the side effect of medication. Both of these things happened with my son. And I am relieved to say that after removing the medication that was determined to be causing the side effect of aggression, as well as identifying the bipolar and treating it with the correct medication, I have not seen even a hint of aggression from him. But even when it was something to be worried about, I never feared for my life.

Deliberately killing someone? Murdering? That’s not the autism. That’s due to a severe psychological illness, not a developmental disorder. A person with such an illness (a sociopath or psychopath) could also have an autism spectrum disorder, just like someone with autism could also have an anxiety disorder or bipolar disorder. It doesn’t help that there are articles on Wikipedia listing serial killers speculated to have had Asperger’s (Jeffrey Dahmer and Theodore Kaczynski). It doesn’t help that there are message boards and an online article at examiner.com titled “Can Autism Create a Sociopath?” Fortunately for all of these speculations, there are just as many redirects. People responding to them, debunking the myths, presenting alternatives and the voice of reason.

And with that in mind I talked to my 18-year-old autistic son. His eyes widened when I told him that the shooter had been diagnosed with Asperger’s. I told him that I wanted to talk about it with him so that he would know what to say if someone at school questioned him or put him on the spot. I wanted him to be confident in how he addressed it.

“To advocate?” he asked. Boom. He knew.

Yes, I answered. I proceeded to discuss with him what I’ve maintained in this post, that sociopathy is a psychological illness and autism is a developmental disorder not related to sociopathy. I told him that while Adam Lanza did have Asperger’s Syndrome, he was most likely also affected by a severe psychological illness that caused him to become a killer. I wished that I didn’t have to have that discussion with my son. But I couldn’t believe how much I saw on the Internet indicating that so many people either don’t know or don’t understand that.

And so, as Neil said, we advocate.