Is Autism to Blame?

By now, almost every person in the United States has heard about the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of 26. This tragedy has appeared to overwhelm the country with talks of increased gun control and better security measures in schools. Although gun control is a huge topic and one that is of utmost importance, I feel that another topic related to the shooting is not receiving enough focus. I was reading an article that mentioned the recent spike of hate towards children with Autism. You may be wondering how this can possibly be related to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Well,the shooter (Adam Lanza) was diagnosed with a form of Asperger's. This condition is on the Autism Spectrum but at the very low end so therefore is not very severe. People with Asperger's often exhibit social awkwardness but can still function rather normally. On the other hand, people with extreme Autism may have impairments in their communication. In Lanza's case, his form was not extreme but still played a major role in his life.

People were quick to assume that one of the reasons for Lanza's violent actions were related to his Autism but advocates of organizations like "Autism Speaks" are trying to get the message across that this is not the case. The President of Autism Speaks recently wrote a statement that reads,"Several media outlets are reporting that the shooter might have had an autism spectrum disorder. Some have also inaccurately reported that there is a linkage between autism and planned violence. We ask that blame not be placed on people with disabilities or disorders in the midst of these types of tragedies". True to her words, many doctors have agreed upon the fact that Autism is not related to this type of violence. So why then are Americans so quick to blame this disease? I think that a possibility is that with such a tragic event like this one, people do not want to sit with the feeling of an unknown cause and want to find a scapegoat.

In relation to this misleading assumption, there have recently been concerns that more children with Autism will be bullied. Students may  falsely identify the link between Autism and violence and would further exclude these kids from school life. This study found that 46 percent of middle school and high school students with Autism have reported being bullied. These students are already "easy" targets and now with this new association tacked on, it seems as though children with this disability will never be able to escape a cycle of exclusion. Advocates of Autism awareness organizations feel that teachers should better educate students about the condition. To what extent do you think this would help the situation? Do you think this raises an even bigger question about the American's desire to blame?