Connecticut Shooting Brings Autism to the Forefront

The perception of individuals with autism could possibly be affected by the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut — felt as far away as El Paso.

Connecticut’s chief medical examiner has now enlisted the help of professors from the University of Connecticut to pursue genetic testing on 20-year-old Adam Lanza, the man who gunned down 20 first graders, their teachers and principals on Friday.

Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.

Dr. H. Wayne Carver said Asperger’s is not linked to violent behavior and said he does not believe it is the reason for Lanza’s violent act. Lanza’s toxicology results are pending.

The Center for Disease Control reports that one in every 88 children is diagnosed with autism

In El Paso, one of the areas leading researchers onautism, psychologist and University of Texas at El Paso professor Robert Trussell, Ph.D, believes the information of Lanza’s diagnosed, if not put into context, could be dangerous.

“The link is not is Asperger’s and mass murder connected, that somehow they’re combined now,” Trussell said. “[The link] is that individuals with asperger’s aresusceptible to metal health issues, as we all are.”