Even before Adam Lanza was a teenager, it was clear something was very wrong. “The social awkwardness, the uncomfortable anxiety, unable to sleep, stress, unable to concentrate, having a hard time learning, the awkward walk, reduced eye contact,”
his father said. “You could see the changes occurring.”
When he was 13, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome which,
according to the American Psychiatric Association, falls under the broad umbrella of autism spectrum disorder. His parents, Peter and Nancy, were relieved.
They finally knew what was wrong with their shy, diffident son who would one day shoot and kill 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. “It was communicated as ‘Adam, this is good news,'”
Peter Lanza told the New Yorker. “This is why you feel this way, and now we can do something about it. ”
After Sandy Hook, Adam Lanza’s autism sparked a fiery debate that still burns today. Drawing any direct causality between his condition and the killings remains controversial. “To imply or suggest that some linkage exists is wrong and is harmful to more than 1.5 million law-abiding, nonviolent and wonderful individuals who live with autism every day,” the Autism Society
said in a statement.
A
new study in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior will likely fuel the debate even more. It found some mass murderers and serial killers have something in common: autism and head injury. Like Lanza, other killers had an inability to connect socially, spoke in flat monotones, and had emotionless features.
Researchers
call it the first review of published accounts of what causes people to commit mass murder. They said: “Our findings tentatively indicate that these extreme forms of violence may be a result of a highly complex interaction of biological, psychological and sociological factors and that, potentially, a significant proportion of mass or serial killers may have had neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder or head injury.”
The researchers
stressed the study is “clearly limited” by the “anecdotal and speculative” nature of some of the published accounts. Lead researcher Clare Allely, of the University of Glasgow, emphasized the study did not suggest those with autism or Asperger’s are more likely to commit murder. “We’re not saying people with autism will be serial killers,” Allely said, adding “it’s way too early to make any statement like that.”
The director of the United Kingdom’s National Autistic Society’s Centre for Autism reacted to the study with caution. “We would urge people not to jump to conclusions about people with autism and to make judgements about a whole section of society,”
Carol Povey told the Independent. “This and previous research shows that the vast majority of individuals with autism are law abiding and respect the rules of society. Indeed, in many cases, individuals with autism are unusually concerned to keep the letter of the law, due to the nature of the disability.
Calling such studies “vital,” she added: “This research reaffirms the importance of ensuring that people with autism get the support they need as early as possible.”
