Don't blame the Autism!

Last Friday, the unthinkable happened.  I, along with everyone else, was stunned when I learned of the shootings in an elementary school in Connecticut.   We send our children to school every day and expect them to be safe.  When such violence occurs at a place we consider safe, our view is shattered.  As a teacher, I thought about how I would handle the situation.   As a parent, I am sure I did what other parents did.  I hugged my babies tighter.

I watched the coverage on TV with my husband.   Aaron ended up turning it off because I couldn’t stop crying as we watched the story unfold.  Before he shut it off, I heard something that made me cringe.  The reporter said they thought the shooter had a form of autism.  His tone of voice implied this could have been the cause of the shootings.  

  As the parent of an autistic child, I needed to pause before I wrote this.  First, the only sources the media had to back their autism claim at the time were former classmates.  I don’t know any high school student qualified to diagnose autism.   

To say the shooter, had a mental illness is probably accurate.  I don’t know any sane person who would do what he did.  However, autism is not a mental illness.  Autism is a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction.  Do some autistic children display violence?  ALL children display violence.  If you don’t believe me, spend a day in my preschool class.  

I am not saying the shooter did not have autism.  I am saying he committed this act DESPITE his autism.  To have autism thrown out as a possible explanation of this horrendous act was an injustice to all individuals with autism.   Autistic individuals have enough social stereotypes to overcome without adding to it.