Wonder how long it took for the Autistic insults to come

[pigletmania]

I was reading the DM coverage of the shootings, of course it is very sad and I hope tat the gunman is punished severly, it did not take long for the Autistic insults to come. I read in te same paragraph monster and Autistic, great stereotyping. The DM mentions that he had Autism a lot of times, as if every person with Autism is dangerous and a timebomb waiting to explode. The responses were just as hurtful

Not every monster is mentally ill. And not all those mentally ill are monsters.

I know from this teir will be other stereotypes, mental Health etc

Does America still use outdated ( I.e not used in uk) terminology for SN? I think I remember a thread here where it was referred to... And discussing it with my teens.

the OP is getting a hard time.

I can see what she means.

ASD/AS seems to be the new NPD in some circles. you see it a lot on here - mention undesirable personsality traits and bingo! someone will rock up and say 'have you thougt it might be AS?'

it is tiresome, and yes, worrying for those of us who have children or relatives who are actually diagnosed ASD.

when dd1 was little, and undergoing diagnosis, some friends of ours expessed horror when we said ASD was being considered - 'oh, but they're really violent, aren't they?'

those friends have, of course, been re-educated. but it can seem overwhelming when it is a high percentage of the world who need re-educating.

it is all very well saying 'oh, but the DM readers, what do you expect?', but the DM readers are real people, who will, everyday be judging our children. they are people with whom our childrne need to interact - in shops, in hospitals, in schools. they are people who can make the difference between our children being able to go about their business happily, and a life of misery.

have none of you villifying theOP seen the Rosa Monckton documentaries? fear and hatred of disabled people is very much a reality. as is abuse.

I can see why the OP's heart sank seeingautism and monster linked in the DM in that way.

Already on this thread mrsmushroom is saying he was mentally ill, tho how she knows this is baffling.... It's that kind of assuming which does the damage, IMO

Now Im a bit concerned what my son will hear on monday at school, everyone is talking about this, children will hear mention of autism and repeat it.

It will make him feel horrible to hear this sort of thing associated with autism.

He is aware of what happened but not the alleged autism of Adam Lanza.

You can chew this over until the cows come home; in the UK we have made massive steps to understanding, compassion and tollerance of various MH disorders (sorry to lump it all together) BUT there is still stigma surrounding MH.

USA, in my limited experience, isn't quite as progressive as we in the Uk are.

But seeing Autistic and monster In the same sentence

People with autism are like everyone else - they have personalities with all sorts of strengths and flaws - and that may include killing people. Theres also a big assumption - again- that this man "must" have mental health issues. Of course he may well - but not necessarily, some people are just plain "bad". People with mental health issues generally are more at risk to themselves than others.

RIP those poor wee kids, it was DS3s 5th birthday yesterday and I had a flashback to Dunblane which happened on DS1s 3rd birthday. Just hugged them more.

Now Im reading that there is no definite confirmation that he was autistic, just that someone think he may have been?

Great.

This is like when a husband is abusive and people pile in suggesting aspergers.

well, i figure he must have been mentally ill by definition to murder nearly thirty innocent children and adults. i don't see what's controversial about that. mentally healthy adults don't usually murder unrelated five-year-olds.

Being autistic or having Asperger's is mot a mental illness.
Gossip and speculation can cause a huge amount of harm to completely innocent members of the population until the truth comes out, by which time the damage is done.
OP, you have my sympathy, let's hope that the general population are more discriminatory than DM readers. I have my doubts.

Think we all thought of Dunblane... I mentioned it to a friend, then my teens asked what it was.... found myself explaining that to an 18,16 and 14 year old. Soul destroying it was.

The autism thing won't affect my 2 eldest as they both have good friends with different SN. They are fiercely protective of them too ( but tbh it's not that necessary anymore)

Also, these friends they have known all through school with SN... Can I just say, now as teens and young adults, the 'gap' has closed a bit.

Being autistic or having Asperger's is mot a mental illness.

I can't find anyone who has said it is. X

I hadn't seen any mention of a link to ASD until I saw this thread, so while of course we should be able to discuss it, if discussing it is just going to perpetuate negative stereotypes then I'm not sure it's helpful.

I have a child with AS, and I refuse to be upset by things like this. He will make his own way in the world the same as anyone else will, and I find it unlikely that anyone is going to judge his label before they judge him. They are unlikely to even know his label before they know him, and therefore will have their knowledge of him as an individual to base their judgement on.

There will always be ignorant people in the world, but I don't come across many of them. I choose not to surround myself or my child with the sort of people that comment on the DM website. And even if those people do judge, well then we judge them right back and stay out of each others way.

Obviously there was something wrong with this young man. Just like there was something wrong with all the other people who committed similar massacres in the USA, and it wasn't autism. Even if this kid was autistic, that doesn't explain these killings. He must have had other problems.

I think one big issue in the USA is that many citizens have easy access to guns, but limited or no access to good (mental) health care.

No it's not MH but it neurological, which affects the brain:

Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood

Tau it's kinda surprising it doesn't happen more often then isn't it? No NHS... Guns readily available... We need to brace ourselves, this will happen again

I totally agree silver and Amber you explained it in a much better way than I could have done. Kids will hear their parents r family talking about it, they may read it themselves and it might filter to the playground and negativity towards children Wth AS

I was at Yorkhill hospital in Glasgow visiting a friends sick son on the day of the Dunblane shootings and still remember the shock watching it unfold on the hospital TV and the atmosphere as some of the victims were flown there. My heart still goes out to everyone concerned there.

OP, YANBU - I believe (from reading posts on MN from parents with SN children) that it is a constant uphill battle, not only with the actual disorder/illness/condition but with the general public's ignorance and need to comment or have an opinion on a situation they have no knowledge of.

Autism doesn't = monster. Unfortunately sloppy, lazy journalism will fuel that misconception. As somebody up-thread said, long after the theory has been disproved the sloppy 'facts' that were initially reported will stick in the minds of some.

The DM reporting and then changing their article is just proof they are wankers (from reading posts on here, that is my understanding of what has happened)

Not sure why you were getting a hard time earlier on in this thread, obvious mis-reading of your original post by some I assume.

Bless those poor children, it is too horrific for my head to even try and understand - I literally draw a blank when I try and think about it.

Agree that assuming he must have mental health issues is possibly an even worse stereotype than the autism one. It may well be that he simply carried out a very, very evil act because he wanted to.

An interesting point raised about this on Twitter was that it is always men. With the exception of Brenda Spencer (the girl whose 'story' inspired the song I Don't Like Mondays) have any mass shootings like this been committed by women? Yet no-one says 'it's men, lock up all men and it'll stop...'

The term 'personality disorder' is also becoming a useful catch all. I don't doubt that's why Sky are using it. It suggests something 'wrong' with the person without committing them to a specific diagnosis.

I know shesriver, I automatically though of Dunblane and colombine, those poor little children and teachers and ther families. Nothing I can say seems the rght thing. I just was a bi sensitive on reading beat article tat I linked to

Sorry I'm on my I pad and silly autocorrect

I hadn't heard the shooter was autistic, and I don't read the DM so I don't know how gratuitous the usage of the term is on there.

Clearly since I didn't know his diagnosis, this means that no one I have spoken to about it must've known it either. That, or they were sensible and didn't see it as a focus point. The entire focus has been on the poor gun and ammunition control that the US have. I really don't think the fact that this guy had autism changes that. The blame is on the gun control, I've heard no blame put on autism.

That said, I'm sure there are people that are dumb enough to think such things as "ah, he was autistic, that must be why", so I can see your perspective on that. If there is an issue with this, then education is the way out of it. The articles are factual I guess, so people need to be taught how to read them IYSWIM.