Hello, Friend, It's Been A While

It has been over a year since I have posted here. A lot has happened in a year, and I will catch you up at another time. But today I am compelled to write.

Write about a subject that might not interest a lot of you, but about a subject that is important. 

Important to me. Important to my family. Important to others that I have never met.

What happened this past Friday, the shooting in Newtown, CT, is tragic. My heart just breaks for the families. I cannot watch the footage without crying. I cried all through the President's speech last night.

But the media just pisses me off.

I am sorry, but they do.

Obviously, the man who committed this crime had issues. One of those issues, according to people who were interviewed by the press, was Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's Syndrome is Neuro-biological Disorder that affects (the stats constantly changing) 1 in 50 people. The majority of those people are boys, but there are girls. This disorder (mostly) affects the way that people interact socially with others. Most people with the disorder are super smart, but have issues knowing how to have a conversation with someone in their peer group. It also affects each person differently. The most famous quote regarding this syndrome, is "show me a room with 50 people with Asperger's Syndrome, and I will show you a room with 50 of the most different people that you will meet." A lot of times, Asperger's Syndrome "comes" with something else. ADD/ADHD is common. Depression is common. Also are other genetic disorders.

How do I know all of this? My daughter has Asperger's Syndrome. She also has had a complete genetic screening and has something called Rubinstein's Taby Syndrome, which is a chromosome disorder.

Last night, watching 60 Minutes, and they interviewed a family friend of the killer's mother that said the man had Asperger's Syndrome and was such a problem to his mother, having to be home schooled. They interviewed a a former school mate of the man who said he was just different, explaining that he carried a brief case to school and was embarrassed to talk in front of the class, so people just left him alone. 60 Minutes did not offer one "expert" on Aspererger's to come on the show. They did show (briefly) a letter that stated most people with Asperger's are bullied not aggressive. I could not see where the letter was from, but I really think that a doctor should have been interviewed as well.

The media is reporting that this man committed this awful event because he had Asperger's Syndrome - and it just isn't true. This man committed this awful event because he has some sort of mental illness ALONG with his Asperger's Syndrome. Shame on the media for reporting things that are untrue and not researched.

My daughter just did a presentation at school about having Asperger's Syndrome and how she is still just like everyone else, with the same wants and desires. When she goes back to school after break, is she going to be lumped into the preconceived notion that she is going to be the next mass murderer? Are parents going to make their children stay away from her? Are teachers going to be looking for "signs" that she is going to snap?

The damage that I have to undo due to the media and their false reporting is ridiculous. Just ridiculous.

  If they would just take the time to do some research and get the story right the first time.