"I am Adam Lanza's mother"

[sneakerd]

Wow. We all need to read this article on gawker. Just wow. Sorry no link. Search- it's worth it.

[BuffCyclist]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2311009.html

And a rebuttal:

http://thegirlwhowasthursday.wordpre...lanzas-mother/

eta: And with this post, I go from "Gong Shooter" to "Varmiteer"

[islandermyk]

eta: And with this post, I go from "Gong Shooter" to "Varmiteer"

Congrats man!


.. but the reads was a bit disturbing... so why am I not surprised?

[BuffCyclist]

I grew up with several kids who I always feared would bring guns to school, as they had mental health issues and were constantly bullied. None of them ever did, but that doesn't mean they won't do it someday still.

It does shed light on what it is like to deal with someone in your family who has a mental health disorder. And worst of all, there are many people out there who do not see the signs of mental health disorders and simply label it as a "rebellious teen" or "ADHD", so lets just throw drugs at the problem and hope it goes away.

[Irving]

I think the rebutal blog is too quick to dismiss the first artical. The rebutal correctly points out that most mental illness does not necessarily result in violence, just how poor communities have more crime, but that doesn't mean that most poor people are violent. It is not beneficial to make the autgor look stupid over the semantics of a very serious issue before the discussion even starts.

[BuffCyclist]

I think the rebutal blog is too quick to dismiss the first artical. The rebutal correctly points out that most mental illness does not necessarily result in violence, just how poor communities have more crime, but that doesn't mean that most poor people are violent. It is not beneficial to make the autgor look stupid over the semantics of a very serious issue before the discussion even starts.

Very true, the second article was quick to dismiss the first.

However, it does get you to think about the first article more closely.

[esaabye]

So as the father of a special needs spectrum kid I am scared. I am not scared of my child but I am of the emotional reactions of the people of this country.

First I feared that they would attempt to restrict my rights to protect my family through the restriction of firearms (and they will try). Now I am more worried that they will attempt make my child a villain and scapegoat to appease the need to "do something".

May I just point out that this killer, like the last child killer, had plenty of contact with the 'mental health community'. This family, as well as the last, had the financial means to address issues if they chose to.

My child is the kindest person I know, the most innocent person that I know. Now some will attempt to put a label on him and judge him. Some will try to make decisions about his care for me, because they 'Need to do something?. Some will simply try to use this crime as a means to further government control of anything aspect of our lives that they can.

Where will it stop, I don't know but peoples willingness to trade freedom for the feeling of security scares the hell out of me. We will all be on the wrong side of it at sometime at this pace.

[Madusa]

Why is it the governments response ability?

[Irving]

So as the father of a special needs spectrum kid I am scared. I am not scared of my child but I am of the emotional reactions of the people of this country.

First I feared that they would attempt to restrict my rights to protect my family through the restriction of firearms (and they will try). Now I am more worried that they will attempt make my child a villain and scapegoat to appease the need to "do something".

May I just point out that this killer, like the last child killer, had plenty of contact with the 'mental health community'. This family, as well as the last, had the financial means to address issues if they chose to.

My child is the kindest person I know, the most innocent person that I know. Now some will attempt to put a label on him and judge him. Some will try to make decisions about his care for me, because they 'Need to do something?. Some will simply try to use this crime as a means to further government control of anything aspect of our lives that they can.

Where will it stop, I don't know but peoples willingness to trade freedom for the feeling of security scares the hell out of me. We will all be on the wrong side of it at sometime at this pace.

I feel for people in your position, and believe you are absolutely correct. Not all "mental disabilities" are created equal.

[birddog]

^^^^^^^

and I'm also going out on a limb here but I'm guessing there was something else missing here. I certainly don't believe that autism was the sole reason for this. Lets look into some parenting and home situation.