Mother of Child with Asperger's: "Autism Is Not an Explanatory Factor in (Adam Lanza's) Actions"

From PRI/WNYC's "The Takeaway" with John Hockenberry

December 17, 2012

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LISTEN to John Hockenberry's Conversation with Science Writer and Blogger Emily Willingham (4:29). Click on the player's smaller of two "play" arrows.

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As conversations about the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut begin to center around guns and mental health, one woman is advocating a careful look at the latter. Science Writer Emily Willingham has a son (11 years old) who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. She said:

"No one knows as of this writing what drove the Connecticut shooter to kill 20 children and 7 adults, point blank, although obvious candidates are rage, hate, a huge grudge against humanity, and some triggering event. But if he turns out to have been someone on the spectrum, I'd like to remind everyone that autism is not an explanatory factor in his actions."

Willingham wrote an excellent blog post arguing her case. You can read it here.