Another Tragedy, Hate, Autism and Stigma

          It is Friday, a week after the the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. This shooting took the lives of 20 innocent children and 6 brave educators who died trying to save their students. Then Adam Lanza killed himself. Before all this he had killed his own mother and this brought the victim count up to 27. This tragedy so shook us up that many politicians and their supporters have re-thought their postition on the loaded issue of guns and the role that guns should play in protecting us and our children. But I'm not going to discuss guns here. It is like this shooting just happened. This shooting broke the hearts of the USA and the world in a way no other shooting seems to have, no doubt because so many children lost their lives as well as so many brave educators. We all continue to offer all the grieving families our most profound empathy, our prayers, our support and out commitment to make sure that this never happens again.
          However, this tragedy seems to have claimed even more victims than the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School and those in Newtown, Connecticut. This was through the irresponsible coverage of the media and the equally irresponsible actions of Adam Lanza's brother. Almost as soon as reports came out last week about the tragedy, it was brought to my attention that Ryan Lanza, Adam's brother, said that his brother had a develpomental disability. Later in the afternoon, it was brought to my attention that Adam may have Asperger's Syndrome. And as I scrolled through Facebook, I saw news articles and heard on TV that afternoon, speculation that Adam, the shooter, had Asperger's Syndrome. Autism Advocacy groups and nonprofits put together statements doing "damage control" in their fervent effort to combat the new backlash of meeting hate with scapegoating a group of people, spreading ignorance, fear and more hate. My thoughts and the thoughts of many others in the autism community, who are relatives or loved ones with autism or who are on the spectrum of autism ourselves, was: Here we go again! Getting painted with a broad brush! Being made a whipping post! Making our stigma even worse!
          Earlier this year, in the aftermath of another shooting, a talk show host had surmised that the shooter "had to be on the autism spectrum." Immediately, this generated wrath in the autism community. A petition was promptly set up, demanding that the talk show host apologize to the autism community and it took off overnight, soaring well past mine in signatures even though it calls for autism services. Now this backlash has occurred again and as tshe did in the aftermath of that shooting, one person in my social networks has put up as her profile photo the banner, "Autism Does Not Cause Murder!" Currently, a Facebook page is up and is called, "Cure Asperger's--Stop Child Psychokillers." I posted, asking others to report it and I reported the page myself. It is still up.
          I know that it is human nature to try to make sense of the senseless by looking for scapegoats to blame. The tossing the words autism and Asperger's Syndrome and linking them to mental health issues was also irresponsible. To be fair, many in the media have tried to correct the mistakes that they should never have made in the first place, stating that "There is no link between Asperger's Syndrome and violence." But it seems that much of this is irreparable, simply because many people are uninformed in the first place and media is powerful in shaping public opinion. Also, the Facebook page that I reported has not been taken down by Facebook--yet.
          Why are so many quick to scapegoat autism and Asperger's Syndrome? I think is is because so many people are uninformed and think that autism is a mental health condition because it affects how a person relates to other people. Then there is the widespread misconception that people with autism lack empathy. The facts are that autism and Asperger's Syndrome are neurological conditions that affects the way that individuals relate to the world, themselves and process information. Study after study show that people with autism are much more likely to become crime victims than its perpetrators. And there is something else that very few in the media have brought out. Guess what? Two of the children who were killed at Sandy Hook were diagnosed with autism! One of the little victims is a girl whose parents have just shared with the public that their daughter had autism as well as other conditions. The other little victim was a boy who died in the arms of his aide, who bravely died trying to save him and other children. This tells me and I'm sure others, that autism is still seen in a negative light and still carries a big stigma, so that most are not mentioning that two of the 20 children murdered in this shooting were touched by autism. I find this unfortunate and sad.
          Growing up, I was given labels that cause any sane person to link such labels with violence and have traditionally carried worse stigmas that either autism or Asperger's. And these labels have never explained my mix of differences growing up till present. My behavior was not even explainable by these labels. Now the diagnosis I am seeking is being linked with violence too? But because there is nothing more devastating that not feeling that you belong anywhere, even with this backlash against autism, nothing can dim my resolve to access this diagnosis. People who do not think a sense of belonging is a big deal do so because they have always know this advantage and do not know what it is like not to know it. Also, I have a daughter who had the diagnosis of autism and like so many other parents, I have some measure of concern with how this all will affect how people will see her and treat her. The current backlash against autism is being perpetrated by people who are uninformed, ignorant and focused on meeting hate with hate. They are creating more victims of this terrible tragedy and causing so many of us to not only deal with the profound heartbreaking impact of  the massacre, but with the backlash against us.
          It is true that aggressive behavior is common in many with different forms of autism and that "autistic meltdowns" are very common. But these are VERY unlike the kind of predatory, planned and premeditated violence that Adam did last Friday. Autistic anger and rage is impulsive and usually a response to sensory overload or is a build-up of anger at an unwelcoming world that is so often uninformed. When autistic people have committed crimes, it is not because of their autism but because of other undiagnosed or diagnosed mental health conditions. Many people with Asperger's or autism are caring, empathic, nonviolent and have a wery well-developed sense of ethics. It is usually nondisabled and nonautistic people who have been known to commit heinous crimes against other people. People with autism or with other disabilities are much more at-risk of becoming victims of all kinds of crimes than of committing crimes.
          Yes, I know that the focus of all of us should be on this tragedy in Newtown and on supporting,  caring and praying for all the families and survivors of this massacre. Their lives are changed forever and none of it had to happen. Every crime, every murder, and every mass murder is 100 percent preventable. But to meet hate with hate and to scapegoat an entire people group which faces enough obstacles as it is, is totally wrong. Every such mass shooting and every heinous criime is caused by multiple factors. I know that the national discussion is calling for tighter gun laws. Others are calling for prayer to be "put back into our public schools." Many are calling for improved mental health care and much better access to mental health services. Some are calling for arming teachers and educators. Many of us are calling for our society to become more caring and to reach out to those who are struggling with severe issues as Adam Lanza seems to had been doing, or to take an interest in those who are "at-risk" because of their life circumstances.
          I am sure that most of you know that I have an active petition calling for autism services which is still open and active. This petition speaks for all people with autism and at all levels of function. The services would help decrease ignorance, fear and hate and ultimately benefit society through many more contributions and taxpayers. Yet I fear that the backlash against autism will hinder people, uninformed to begin with, from supporting this petition if they have absorbed any of these rumors and believe them to any degree. There is not any evidence that Adam had Asperger's and because of HIPPA laws, his doctors are unable to legally confirm this to the public. This is beside the point; even if Adam had autism, this neurological condition would not have made any contribution to what caused him to enter that school and murder 27 people, two of who were little children (out of 20) who themselves had autism! The media neglect to point out that according to much research, people with autism are far more often the victims of crime than perpetrators. My holiday wish is that you will sign my petition and once having done that, will share it widely with this short and easily remembered link: http://tiny.cc/mrsahw.
          The ultimate cause of this massacre, of all crime and all wrongdoing is an old-fashioned word called SIN and hate in people's hearts. We are all, given the right circumstances, capable of such acts. This is why we all need a Savior. Christmas is all about celebrating and focusing on the wonder that such a Savior came and became one of us, a human, many years ago. God is our ultimate hope and the answer to all the problems in human hearts.