'Asperger’s, Autism, and Mass Murder', by John Elder Robison. The discussion post-Sandy Hook shooting

Last night I read with interest this piece posted by notable author John Elder Robison. John is the author of 'Raising Cubby', 'Look Me in the Eye', 'My Life with Asperger’s', and 'Be Different - adventures of a free range Aspergian.'

John is also member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee of the US Department of Health and Human Services. He serves on the Scientific and Treatment Boards of Autism Speaks, the largest private source of autism research funding.

John grew up in the 1960s before the Asperger diagnosis had come into common use, and before 'autism spectrum' was fully understood. After dropping out of high school, he worked in the music business where he created sound effects and electronic devices, the best known of which were the signature guitars he built for the band KISS. Later, he founded Robison Service, a specialty automobile company. 

He wrote an interesting, thought-provoking piece for 'Psychology Today' titled: 'Asperger’s, Autism, and Mass Murder: Let’s stop the rush to judgment.'

"Whenever something horrible happens the public and the media look for answers... factoids to explain what may be truly inexplicable. Whatever information can be discovered is tossed out into public view in the hope that somehow a bunch of discrete facts and data points will somehow provide the answers everyone is seeking.

This happens whether the event is a catastrophic fire, a plane crash, or a mass killing. Thanks to the Internet, people all over the world speculate about what happened and why, often in the absence of any firsthand information. The result: a rush to judgment, and all too often - innocent people harmed.

Sometimes these early speculations are prescient. When reporters observed an aviation mishap and said, “the same thing happened on another flight a few years ago,” that report led to the discovery of a flaw in an aircraft’s design, and the potential saving of many lives when a design defect was corrected.

Unfortunately, on other occasions, early speculation proves unfounded, wrong, or irrelevant.  When that happens, innocent people are often harmed by the rush to judgment. I’m very concerned that is occurring right now, as the public digests news reports about the Sandy Hook school murders.

Reporters are saying the killer had Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. Every time a news story does that – by tying “killer” and “Asperger’s” in the same sentence – they are at some level implying that there is a connection between autism and mass murder. There’s not.

Statisticians have a phrase for this situation: Correlation does not imply causation. Let me explain that by way of an example. Three banks are robbed, in three different cities.  Each bank had security cameras trained on the entrances.  In each case, a review of the tapes showed a white Toyota Camry turning into the parking lot, moments before the robbery.

Was that a clue? Was the same car used to rob all three banks? No. It was a random, irrelevant coincidence. In fact, white Camrys are one of the most common cars in the country and we might observe them at the scene of most anything, without any causative connection at all.

How about this factoid: Most school shooters are Caucasian males. You might find that statement a little more shocking than the previous one.  But it’s true.  Does that mean every white male Caucasian who enters a school is a potential mass murderer? Of course not

Suggesting a mass murderer had Asperger’s is much the same – it may be true, but stating the fact does nothing to explain the crime, nor does it help prevent other crimes in the future.   What it does do – and this is important – is paint a whole swath of population – Asperger people – with a brush that says “potential mass murderer.”

To continue reading, click here.

What do you think of the piece?

Life With Autism: 'Australian Family' magazine

I need to be very careful about the frame of mind I am in when I write a personal story... especially about autism.

Last time we went away as a family I had LOADS to say about how much I - frankly - hate the disease sometimes. Yep, that piece, aptly titled 'Ten Things I Hate About Autism' was definitely shooting from the hip and raw as.

You can read that piece here.

Same with this piece, in the current edition of Australian Family magazine, about raising a child with autism. [Here is the cover, scroll down for more]:

Turns out, there is no easy way to talk about autism... unless you want to be inauthentic about it all.

Here is an excerpt about my experiences with autism. Yours may be different, of course.

Life with Autism

Here’s the thing about autism – it’s like an uninvited guest you have to pander to, put up with, be a yes-person to, and find a way to get along with, even though nobody said they could stay at your home, eat your food, and mooch around all day in their comfy clothes, while infiltrating every element of your life.

Autism can be very rude, disrespectful, arrogant, and flippant. It can change its mind at a moment’s notice and be utterly unapologetic about it. Autism can ruin travel plans, destroy holidays, have no respect for your ‘date night’. And when you say in exasperation, ‘It’s all about you!’, it looks at you like you’re an alien, and replies, ‘Yeah… and? Problem?’

If it sounds dramatic, maybe you aren’t fully acquainted with this beast called Autism. It takes over every area of your life. In every way. And never says ‘sorry’ about the collateral damage.

Autism is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder beginning at birth, or shortly after. The symptoms have been described as impairments involving delay and deviance in social and communication development, along with restricted interests and repetitive behaviours.

The term Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) covers diagnostic labels which include: Autistic Disorder, High Functioning Autism, Asperger Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).

Early intervention

Make no mistake: as passionate as I am about communicating about autism and its negatives, I am equally passionate about early intervention and finding out about every single thing I can do. That’s because  my son was diagnosed with mild autism spectrum disorder at age two (although I just ‘knew’ at age 1 and a half).

I am also very much about highlighting the positives, and talking about the very excellent aspects of autism. Yes, excellent ones. There are things about autism that bring about the very best in those who have this diagnosis, as well as in those around them, especially those the mums and dads of special needs kids – if you have a child with autism, you know what I’m talking about. You find a strength you never knew you had.

No, there is nothing half-hearted about my approach to autism. We have a love-hate relationship that infiltrates every fibre of my being. When we hate each other, we really, really despise each other. But when we love each other… nobody else exists in that moment. It’s an intoxicating love, the kind of love where you feel glad to know each other, and are grateful to be exposed to its intricacies and quirks; because you know you must live together in as much harmony as you can muster. After all, you’re stuck together for the rest of your lives.

When a child is very young and you suspect autism, it’s a critically important time for early intervention, which can powerfully shift the child's future life course. So, finding out as much as you can about each other early on makes complete sense. The more you know about its foibles – and the sooner you know – the faster you can learn to get along and identify the triggers of autistic behaviour.

The argument to encourage early intervention in autism centres around harnessing the "plasticity", or ability to change a young child’s brain, in the hope that the path of their neurological development can be redirected away from autism.

Having lived this for almost three years I can attest that early intervention has had a huge impact on my son’s progress and development. With the various therapies, and my own learning which I then apply to our interactions together, well… it has made a huge difference to all our lives.

To continue reading, click here.here.

What is your experience with your autistic son, daughter, niece, nephew, friend's child, or child's school friend? Please share.