What Does Autism Have to Do With It?

Great interview from TELL ME MORE of NPR News. Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza has been described as "quiet" and "different." Unconfirmed reports have suggested that he may have had autism or Asperger's syndrome. Host Michel Martin looks at the speculation about Lanza, and talks about the myths and truths about autism and Asperger's syndrome with two moms and a child psychiatrist.

By now you might have heard that the shooter, Adam Lanza, has been described as quiet or different. Many reports quoting unnamed sources or hearsay from the family's divorce mediator have suggested that Lanza had autism or Asperger's syndrome.
Now it's important to note that officials have not confirmed those diagnoses. Still, we wanted to dig deeper into the conversation that people are now having, which is what if Lanza was on the autism spectrum? What, if anything, does that mean? To talk more about this we're joined now by a group of people who are very well acquainted with autism and Asperger's.

Troubling Sandy Hook Legacy May Be Backlash Against Children with Autism

On the first day back to school after 20 first-graders and six adults died at a Connecticut elementary school, students at a Utah middle school gathered to discuss the massacre.

A boy raised his hand. "The reason why this man shot little kids is because he has autism," he said.

Tricia Nelson's seventh-grade son was at the assembly. He's shy, not the kind of child apt to speak in public, but his hand darted up in response. "Autism doesn't make people shoot other people," he said.

Sandy Hook Victim with Special Needs Died in Aide's Arms

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Staring down the barrel of a rifle, Anne Marie Murphy pulled Dylan Hockley close to her, trying to shield him from the hail of bullets that would kill them both.
Dylan, 6, had special needs, his family said Monday. And Murphy was his "amazing" aide, they said. He loved her, pointing happily to her photo on the Hockley's refrigerator every day.
"We take great comfort in knowing that Dylan was not alone when he died," said his parents, Ian and Nicole Hockley.