Parenting a child with Asperger's syndrome can be a difficult challenge, particularly with the recent shootings in Roseburg, Oregon and the news that both the mother and her son, the shooter, had Asperger's syndrome. The 26-year-old wrote that he felt socially isolated and neighbors in the apartment building where he lived with his mother said they rarely saw him. Certainly people with Asperger's syndrome can have good lives if a way can be found for them to feel comfortable communicating and interacting with others. A feeling of isolation and easily accessible guns can be a recipe for disaster, as was also seen in the terrible Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings. Adam Lanza also had the diagnosis of Asperger's and was home schooled which certainly must have increased his feelings of isolation. In general, I think home schooling can be a big mistake unless there are lots of social activities available and planned. No child should ever be kept in isolation. Friends and a good support system are important to all of us.
The mother of the Roseburg shooter was said to be an R.N. who loved guns and took her son target shooting despite admitting that he had "psychological problems". At one point she was said to have admitted him to a psychiatric hospital because he would not take his medications. it would be interesting to know who prescribed the medications and why there was no record of any on-going follow-up. If hospitals had more social workers available to follow patients like this young man, we would have fewer problems in society with those who had psychiatric problems. We need more psychiatrists and certainly more psychiatric social workers.
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