First Post Summary

People have argued why Adam Lanza would murder 26 innocent people, some are worried about if it’s affecting kids, teens, and adults today . Some people say he was very troubled. After the shooting many people with mental illnesses needed to be taken care of. Some of the parents of the victims raised awareness to help people with

Before the sandy hook shooting, there were many cases where mental illness was tied with the cause of horrible events. In no way am I saying that those who are mentally disordered are bad people, but rather the opposite. They are individuals who need extra help in certain areas of functioning, and frankly, there wasn’t much of an effort in providing the help they needed. However, the sandy hook shooting acted as a catalyst in getting people to actually do something about it and provide care to those who need it. This provided care has been a blessing to individuals I know personally who have needed extra help, as well as their families. About a few weeks before the new town shooting, my best friend’s older brother was beginning to become mentally unstable and started becoming violent, which was highly unlike him. They went to get him examined by doctors but the doctors refused to examine him. After the shooting, the doctors examined him and found that he had a form of autism that was causing his aggression and made a steadfast effort to get him treatment. Sandy Hook helped lead to a wider range of treatment for mentally ill individuals that has been a blessing to

2 out of the 10 sources mentioned that there was no evidence of Asperger's syndrome, autism, or mental illness diagnosis. While interviews from his father describe Adam as gifted and intelligent, he had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for a social disorder (Griffin & Kovner, 2013). Based on the sources used, it is not definite if Adam was indeed on the autism spectrum or not, but all sources in one way or another described Adam as mentally illness and having Obsessive-Compulsive

The perpetrators who gave insight to many psychological fields and named as inspiration for unfortunately similar occasions, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris’s legacy will forever remain as homegrown terrorists. On April 20, 1999, Klebold and Harris opened fire at Columbine High School, consequently ending the lives of fifteen—including themselves—and injuring numerous others. In the nearly two decades following the Columbine High School massacre, the United States has seen an uptick in school shootings and an increased awareness of mental health; too often an individual’s “brain health” status goes unnoticed until they put themselves or others in immediate danger—such was the case of Klebold and Harris.

In Liza Long’s blog titled, “I am Adam Lanza's Mother,” she documented her struggles with her own 13-year old son, "Michael," who suffered from mental illness, and just days before the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, had been hospitalized after threatening to kill her and kill himself. Except for the brief moments when he experienced such rages, he was a sweet kid who loved Harry Potter, she said, and has an IQ that's off the charts. The main argument that Liza discusses is that all mothers, including her, of children that suffer with mental illness, have no options to help their children, besides sending them to

The Newtown shooting in Connecticut, otherwise known as the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012, rekindled the debate about gun rights and mental illness. The gun man of this mass shooting, Adam Lanza, 20 years old, killed his mother and gunned down 20 children and 6 teachers before committing suicide (CBS/AP). It was a horrific event, and people investigated his background to try to find a cause or motive for doing this. According to the reports, Lanza was rumored to have suffered severe mental and emotional problems, and was diagnosed with a variety of mental disorders throughout his life, including “Autism Spectrum Disorder, Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Asperger syndrome”

Two of the main school shootings that happened in the U.S. are the Sandy Hook shooting and the Santa Barbara shooting. Both of the shooters in these events were diagnosed with a mental illness at a young age, however, both denied it and refused to get a treatment for it. When an individual with a mental health illness does not get a treatment, the illness only

The following students died in the library: Cassie Bernall (17, also known as the girl who said, ‘yes’), Steven Curnow (14), Corey DePooter (17), Kelly Fleming (18), Matthew Kechter (16), Daniel Mauser (15), Isaiah Shoels (18), John Tomlin (16), Lauren Townsend (18) and Kyle Velasquez (16). Out of the fifty-six people in the library, thirty-four escape injury. The two shooters continued wandering around the corridors of the schools, aimlessly shooting lockers, ceiling tiles and any other part of the building in their sight. At 12:08 PM, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold fatally shot themselves in the library where they killed seventy-seven percent of their victims. On what became known as the deadliest mass shooting in United States history at the time spurred numerous copycat killers. Most come to the conclusion these copycat killers are mentally ill, however, in an article by Max Fisher and Josh Keller, “What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings?”, a 2015 study “estimated that only 4 percent of American gun deaths could be attributed to mental health issues”. Additionally, “30 percent of mass killings and 22 percent of school shootings appeared to have been inspired by previous events” (Kutner). The manor the media used to report the Columbine High School massacre and other mass shootings has influenced copycat shootings and plans.

On December 14, 2012 a very deadly and upsetting incident happened in Newtown, Connecticut. The murderer was later revealed as Adam Lanza. He was a 20 year old man who had been said to have been diagnosed with a sensory integration disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. For Lanza, growing up could be considered arduous. He had been in and out of treatment for multiple said “diagnoses” and other undiagnosed “problems”. He also took medication for his supposed OCD. His parents often would mistake his odd behaviors as a simple childhood or teenage stage. Before the school shooting, Lanza had killed his mother by lethal force at her Newton house. Lanza had shot 6 children and 20 adults fatally. After all was done, Lanza had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

Where did I locate this articles: I found both of these articles at the same publisher ibtimes which is a well known online news publication source in the UK

In the 1940’s, Hans Asperger, an Austrian pediatrician, observed children with autistic-like behaviors and social and communication challenges. These kids had normal intelligence as well as normal language development. Asperger syndrome is a type of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). PDDs involve delays in the development of skills, mostly around social, communication, imagination, and abstract thinking skills. Many experts argue that Asperger syndrome is a milder form of autism, referred to today as high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). Asperger’s work consisted of a historical review of specific Autism case studies that were not representative of the entire spectrum even though they were a great basis for the upcoming research in the field (Draaisma, 2009).

It is estimated that 1 in 500 people have been diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder. (www.aane.org) Other sites estimate as many as 1 in 88 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. It makes you wonder why? Why now? Has something changed to cause the rise in diagnosed cases of Asperger’s, or has it been like this always and we are just now diagnosing and tracking this disorder. I have a personal interest in this subject because my younger brother was diagnosed with Asperger’s seven years ago. When he was diagnosed my mother researched all that she could and became an advocate for him. Although the information has always been available to me, I found myself questioning so much about what I do and do not understand about Asperger’s. In this report I hope to outline what I have discovered and answer questions such as: What is Asperger’s Syndrome? Who is affected by Asperger’s Syndrome? How are their lives changed? As well as other questions.

Since the late 1970’s, there has been a strong correlation between mental health disorders and the perpetrators of mass shootings. “Up to 60% of the perpetrators have displayed symptoms including acute paranoia, delusions and depression before committing their crimes” (Metzl & Macleish, 2015). In the case of Adam Lanza, infamously known for the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, the history of his mental illnesses is quite extensive. However, it has been discovered that when it comes to mental illnesses, it is not influenced by one factor, but rather many factors that have integrated into the individual’s life (Sue, 2014). These factors began affecting Lanza’s life at only two years old, continuing throughout his lifetime until his heinous act of murder at the age of twenty. Throughout his

Recently, society is showing concern for the rise in people having Autism and the economic costs to society. However, history shows Asperger has been known as a disorder since 1944. Autism and Asperger are not new disabilities and many people are still undiagnosed. After over 70 years, how to diagnose, treat, and understand these disabilities are still being researched. DSM-5 addressed the possible confusion of diagnosing these disorders, increased costs, and high numbers of people diagnosed with Autism by changing the criteria to a spectrum and removing Asperger’s disorder.

The headlines are dramatic and communities are stunned as it reads “Shooter kills 23 children at a school near you.” The first thought that rushes to the head is “this is crazy.” Or, that individual must be out of his or her mind. Upon further investigation, it is determined that the shooter has had a long record of mental illness. This situation could have been avoided, if that individual had the covered healthcare. As a result, random shootings would be curtailed. In retrospect, this care could have been provided for by families and caregivers, if