The Face of Evil In Newtown Connecticut Elementary Massacre: Adam Lanza Death Toll At 28
Newtown, CT- At approximately 9:40 this morning twenty year old Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, CT. Lanza With a Glock in one hand and a Sig Sauer in the other he locked-down a classroom of terrified students and by the time it was over had savagely murdered 20 children. Adam Lanza has no criminal record.
He was also in the possession of a semi automatic rifle, believed to be responsible for the majority of the mortal wounds.
At press time, their is one known injured adult survivor.
Parents were alerted of an emergency via text message and all access point to the school were clogged with hysterical parents and family members desperate for information about their sons and daughters.
The scene reduced hardened SWAT members and emergency responders to open sobs- As it almost did during President Obama’s press conference on it earlier this evening.
A parent attending a meeting with the principal and school psychologist, both of which are believed to be among the victims, called 911 from under a desk.
Taken into custody this afternoon was Adam’s older brother Ryan who is currently being questioned in Hoboken, NJ.
It is believed Adam was carrying his older brother’s identification which led to early erroneous reports that Ryan was the shooter.
Peter Lanza, Father and former husband of the late Nancy Lanza was alerted to the tragedy and questioned near his home in Stamford, CT. Mr. Lanza is a Tax Strategist executive for a division of General Electric.
Two 9 millimeter semi-automatic weapons registered to Adam’s Mother Nancy- a former teacher or volunteer at Sandy Hook who has also been found deceased at the pair’s Yogananda St residence were found with Lanza’s remains.
Adam Lanza ia believed to have taken his life at the scene and early reports suggest no law enforcement officers discharged firearms at the scene.
Lanza was dressed in black and wearing a bullet proof vest.
Today’s mass shooting is the second largest in US history after the Virginia Tech massacre, killing 32 college students.
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Please don’t turn this site into a gun rights blog. There are plenty of those already.
Peace be with the families of the victims today and always.
Let us learn and coordnate the findings of how and why this trajedy unfolded and developed. What can be done that wasn’t done? How do we help the “Adam’s” of the world? Can they be helped? Or institutionalized?
Agreed, I am ok with some dialog as it relates to this incident, but will be narrowing it if it gets too broad. I am a gun owner, I am married to an avid hunter and gun collector and I have no desire to start a career in hypocracy anytime soon.
B
i am interested in his psychology ,but i am not an expert.i think , i now understand why they thought they there was two shooters , he was outside at the car, heard the sirens , knew he wouldnt get away ,didnt want to be killed by anyone other than himself. he’s a coward. he didnt want death by cop ,but he did try to leave(he was not suicidal) ,he didnt kill himself immediately after at the scene , he returned to the scene and shot himself.(i think because he had nowhere else to run). that marks it not a crime of passion(love seperation as was first thought,(his mother loved her students more than him) or hate crime (hates children) , maybe he hates the school,imo ,the no apathy, i think it was ,blink said TARGETS, simply violent target practice , pretty kid duckies sitting in a school desk row , only one exit. he is a coward, didnt choose a mall,moving targets,different sizes , he wanted an enviroment he could maintain control over with victims smaller and weaker than him. he desperately wanted to get into a classrom (not just the administrators ),he wanted to get to the children ,and go to town,high body count.just my opinion.i still dont understand what he thinks he proved.guns are powerful, i think he wanted to feel his own power over people, and chose children,cuz he’s a coward or does he blame the school or society for something? i think his mother was shot, trying to stop him.i am just speculating , waiting for the experts to weigh in, and hear more about his darkness.
It took one unhinged boy to reign horror on that school yet hundreds maybe thousands rushed to make the world right for those who remained. The world is still balanced with heros and good people.
It took me to a Canadian Pharmacy page too!
I am commenting on the thread, you guys need to clear your cache.
B
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nancy-lanza-feared-son-adam-worse-article-1.1221505#ixzz2FF5QHhom
His mother was like 52 and had a “drinking buddy” – sounds like (mentality) of someone in their 20s He was burning himself – serious mental health stuff, though his nerves weren’t working someone to feel physical pain. Since the serious change/deterioration in him may have happened while in school and he didn’t have a lot of other life, he may have blamed the school. Kip Kinkle (in Springfield, OR) also first shot his parents before he went into the school cafeteria and shot others).
I also should add that although I do believe we need more regulation of guns I also agree its an issue with our country not treating mental illnesses. Wasn’t in Reagan who eliminated some of our largest institutions? ( I may be mistaken because it was actually before my time. )
Rose- totally agree-
I think we will find this may be the root of his problem with a school system as a whole and his mother as having failed him in a variety of ways.
totally on board with susanm.
site chosen due to confined small sitting ducks.
imo he never had a brave personality.
Liberman, CT, today talked of a Commission on Mass Violence.
Given polarized politics, makes sense.
Another pol said school securitization needs to be a part of the Comm mandate.
I agree that this is a mental health issue. Very much so. I’m weary just thinking about the gun control debates ahead.
I think people are very well meaning in wanting to put an end to horrific incidents like this one. It’s logical for them to look toward gun control. Their logic is: no more guns, no more shootings. I respect their efforts. But I consider that Connecticut has some of the strongest gun laws in the country. The boy who did this broke a half dozen laws that are already in place. I’m beginning to think of gun control legislation as a quick fix that isn’t really working.
And the elephant in the living room in all of these tragedies, to me, is the psychological problems the killer has, and especially if they’re young, that information is rarely made public. To me, more important than their psychological diagnosis, if there is one, is what drugs were they taking. And it’s an extremely sensitive issue, because how many Americans are prescribed psychotropic drugs? MANY. And how many CHILDREN are prescribed those drugs? I’m very aware that the drugs help many people, but I think we all know that they cause problems too. Sometimes very serious problems.
Sometimes I suspect the pharmaceutical companies deliberately prevent open discussions on what harm they may be causing. I imagine they wield a lot of power and there is quite a bit of money being made on these prescriptions.
I know that my opinions on this are not popular opinions. I’m just saying my piece, and I’ll say what I have to say everywhere this subject comes up over the next few weeks, because I’m becoming impatient for a true fix to this problem.
This is a hundred years ago, but I recall being asked to consult on a case of a young person who flew into a building for an accutane suit. I declined immediately. I do not feel any person who has ever attended trials and given presentations to the FDA can ever be seen as neutral. Same goes here.
B
I’ll just say this one more thing about the gun control debates that I know are going to be huge in the next few weeks. One, I’m so glad that Blink will curb those discussions on this blog. And second, well, I’m from Connecticut, and here, well, we are a blue state, and it’s very easy for gun control legislation to go through. We already have some of the strongest anti-gun laws in the country, and still, look what happened. And I just wanted to say that who’s to say that A Texas Grandfather’s solution wouldn’t work better? If the boy who did this knew that the teachers in those classrooms each had the means to take him out, maybe he wouldn’t have chosen a school at all. Your view used to seem extreme to me, Texas Grandfather, me being from the Northeast, but in light of the number of tragedies we’ve had like this one in the last year, your view seems just plain sensible.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html
I’m wondering about how we can tell if a young person is more than a little troubled, and if they might be heading toward some awful crime like this.
There was another terrible crime here in CT in 2007. The Cheshire home invasion. It scared people to their core. I read in the newspaper that MANY Connecticut residents bought guns after that. One of the men who was part of it was in his 20s, he’d grown up in Cheshire. He had a criminal record of robberies, but it sounds like his juvenile record was more extensive. The crime was horrifying, soul wrenching, much like the senseless shooting in Sandy Hook. Unfathomable. Law enforcement explained that their crimes had escalated from robbery to far worse.
I know of a boy who has a juvenile record. I know because his father told me. It worries me that there are people who DON’T know these things about him. Don’t know to be careful of him because juvenile records are so private. What if his crimes escalate? What can people do, especially if they don’t know? The professionals who DO know, like the police, and psychologists I suppose, how much can they monitor young people like this?
PigletinCT, hello! I moved here from Southbury. I love Newtown and my heart is broken. We can’t fathom the why of it. Babies. But I think God will help us cope.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nancy-lanza-feared-son-adam-worse-article-1.1221505
Back in September, Lanza and her disturbed son seemed happy at a family barbecue in Danbury, Conn., according to Adam’s uncle Jonathan Lanza.“I’m just in shock right now. It’s like a nightmare. It’s so surreal,” said the uncle, 39.In the center of the bucolic small town that is now etched in history, Jonathan Lanza knelt on one knee in front of a Christmas tree memorial, struggling to comprehend the horror.Adam, he said, was taking the anti-psychotic drug, Fanapt, but had never showed any violent tendencies.Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nancy-lanza-feared-son-adam-worse-article-1.1221505#ixzz2FGeuHF8V
Fanapt is a drug that is used to treat schizophrenia.
From reading:
snipped-
Richard Novia, the school district’s head of security until 2008, who also served as adviser for the high school technology club, of which Lanza was a member, said he clearly “had some disabilities.”
“If that boy would’ve burned himself, he would not have known it or felt it physically,” Novia said in a phone interview. “It was my job to pay close attention to that.”
—
It seems Adam and his family were dealing with a # of different disabilities and this passage would hint that Adam may have suffered from a type of sensory and autonomic neuropathy
Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), also known as congenital analgesia, is one of rare conditions where a person cannot feel (and has never felt) physical pain
If this is the case then even though Adam may have been mainstreamed he would have had to have careful measures to ensure he was safe. And he would most likely would have qualified for adult help as well even SSI as this disorder would and could prevent a person from securing alot of different types of jobs – and insurance for them could be a factor as well.
I do not know if Adam was diagnosed with this condition, but
Having worked with just such a child and having researched much-
these children often go undiagnosed until later in childhood unless there is a severe injury to alert the parents.
Depending on the type and severity these babies can burn themselves severely-bite their tongues off- pull out their own teeth- break a bone -chew off their fingers or nails etc
They must be taught with special care to be safe simply telling a baby or child that the stove is hot will not help-
They often have no concept of pain at all some can feel pressure some can not-
If you add a diagnosis like congenital insensitivity to pain plus another disorder such as aspergers which effects a childs ability to interact it would make it hard to teach a child sensitivity empathy safety etc.
If Adam had this disorder I can begin to understand his parents wanting to teach him about guns and safety but I can not understand how they would want to take the chance of having the guns in the home in the chance that he would hurt himself or others due to lack of “sensitivity” both emotional and physical.
There is so much we dont know and having one or more of these conditions is in NO WAY a precursor to a school shooting-
I honestly dont think we will ever be able to isolate the factors or the reasoning’s. Each child each person is different despite their diagnosis etc.
-Rose I read your
December 16, 2012 at 9:36 am comment I agree with much of what you said. if I may I would like to comment further as having worked with such children in an educational setting Id like to share my perspectives.
You wrote;
Imo the big picture is not that this single incident is a platform to debate gun control issues.
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Rose Hi I agree this one incident should not be used nor should any one particular incident be used to debate ANY platform
You wrote
Nor did Adam’s act stem from his probable Aspergers which would have muffled his social sensibilities.
-
I agree clearly Adams act stemmed from many factors and we likely will never fully understand the causes or the effects nor sadly will we be able to narrow down a profile enough to prevent the next Adam
You wrote:
Obviously his precipitator lives in a neurocognitive illness, and with more & more experience I see various diagnoses such as Intermittant Explosive Disorder as more neuro, with complex constitutional & developmental strands, but mostly constitutional.
-
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and expertize with us Rose I agree in essence but truly we can not say if this 20 year old just snapped and acted impulsively with little or no correlation to his possible neorocognitive illness/S but yes they could have been a factor
You wrote:
Imo there are 2 broad public policy issues that apply to at risk children with disabilities like Adams’:
1) the current mandatory ed system is not set up to educate or make socially-emotionally safe children with significant neurocogitive issues–ones with level 4&5 ieps. They are put in mainstream classes, & the legal rule is they are not owed the most appropriate ed setting, just some public education, no matter how many experts stand in line to testify if a parent sues for the professionally recommended treatment/educational setting.
–
Rose, I am sorry but just as you are leery of using this one incident to debate gun contol issues (I agree) I am too leery of using this one kids actions to call for an end to mainstreaming or denying any child especially a special ed. child a right to participate in the the same educational setting as other students. Not sure if this was your intention but I am gonna use your post as a jumping off point- Thanks
This family was very affluent from my understanding, and could have opted to have Adam schooled in a special program or school- many children and families dont have that option- nor are they afforded the best health care.
having said that for every potential Adam there are 1000s of other kids with his same diagnosis and with lacking social skills and IEPS that do very well in mainstream classes- and just for the record- If Adam was “mainstreamed” and still had IEPS etc then he would have been part of a team of special education homeroom etc that would evaluate his progress as I am sure you know- so just because Adam may have been mainstreamed does not mean his team or his parents dropped him into the classes without aid and follow-up
I do agree that every school needs to better fund special education and there needs to be more programs etc but to call for an end to mainstreaming is quite drastic
You wrote:
Of course school was excruciating for Adam from K on; he himself would’ve perceived how very different & ill suited to mix in educationally or socially he was. That causes the neurocognitively disabled child great pain in itself.
I dont know that we can say Adams schooling was any more or less hard then his home life…
regardless of the child or his issues each child who is “different” (all of them are different) and each can find school excruciating as well as everyday life – and yes according to all accounts Adam had problems socially and in making friends but he had no problems keeping up intellectually he was one of the smartest kids with the highest grades.
So i dont think we can necessarily use such a broad brush in categorizing him or any student. JMO
You wrote;
And kids like him are always bullied & belittled in the mainstream by teachers & students alike.
WHOA NOT so Rose – kids are not always bullied and belittled and certainly not kids like Adam- not always and definitely NOT by teachers and students alike-
If A teacher was found to be bullying a student especially a special education student they should be fired immediately
There is a reason why schools are taking such a hard stance against bullying and yes it is a major problem which can lead to violence and deaths but your statement is almost like saying oh well stop mainstreaming them…then they wont be bullied or belittled… I dont think you meant it that way- I hope not
Adam was 20 years old along time out of grade school -and out of High school too- to me it seems his disconnect or fracture came after all the “help” ended after the safety net of school ended after the ieps after the diagnosis…as Blink said
“I get the sense that Peter and Nancy were quite educated and active in Lanza’s “care”, but let’s not forget that when someone with his impairments has become an adult- the control really goes away without specific conditional restrictions if warranted.”
This is true Adam most likely was left to his own care as he was an adult- had he been enrolled in an adult program to help him integrate into society and helped him to better face all the pressures and the harshness of life outside of school etc this may have helped but again he was an adult
You wrote:
So one public policy issue is when will we stop putting kids with diabilities like Adam’s in inappropriate educational settings? Programs need to be designed for kids like him. Neurologically disabled children need educational choice in a best practices setting.
I agree we need to better fund our schools and especially our special education but I disagree that Adams problems stemmed from his schooling.
and i agree doctors need to be better as do parents but if Adam suffered from CIP then it is so rare a disorder doctors and parents are basically flying blind
You wrote:
2) The public health issue is research into etiology & into treatment for kids like him, and most especially guidance for parents & pediatricians. It is very hard to parent or treat a kid like Adam. For most of these lads, pediatricians simply dispense a ritalin-type med, often with an SSRI so the ritalin-type med dose can be higher. Then, as the child ages and doesn’t improve but appears to worsen as he faces high level challenges, the fallback is to blame the mother, the primary caregiver.
-
I agree with this but I am not sure how we can better handle it- certainly these kids need further help into adulthood thanks for writing such a well thought out post Rose
As President Obama said (pp) if there is even one step we can make to prevent another childs death another family another communities grieving shouldnt we take that step?
I look forward to figuring out with you -all of you- what if any steps we can take together to prevent another tragedy.
AJMO
Peace
If you haven’t seen it already, google “I am Adam Lanza’s mother.” As the mother of a mentally ill adult child and I can tell you that until we change how we deal with mental health issues nothing will change.
Rose
IMO your first paragraph is exactly what is wrong regarding mainstreaming children with mental problems. This is primarily caused by the schools funding systems in many states. Childrens attendence at school determines the amount of state funding a particular school gets on a daily basis.
In my generation, federal and state funds were not used to fund local schools. Children with mental health problems were never allowed to attend a regular school. They were sent to schools that were designed especially to assist in overcoming those type of problems.
One other thing that I find that has not been addresed is the effects of improper medication. We have some very powerful drugs that were designed to help depression and other behaviors. Unfortunately, these have very dangerous side effects that are often worse than the original problem.
Some really smart people with good skills and experience need to play “what if” regarding how to make our schools and public places safer for all. This group needs to be made up of School people, LE, Safety experts, doctors, business people and moms and dads. The school people have not solved the problem nor has LE. Maybe a larger group can get the job done.
Oh, Blink. I have been trying to keep myself very busy to not cry again. This coming on the heels of our Mall being invaded, and two innocent human beings killed. But something about this one is so un-Earthly and inhuman. Having worked and volunteered in an elementary school makes it harder as I envision moments of the acts of heroism among the staff there that died. But to point a gun and fire many times into those defenseless little bodies….It’s just too horrifying.
But we have to believe that there is a spirit of heroism in every one of us that are crying now. Because we know that we would have done the same. Just like that salesgirl who went back to lock the gate against the sniper in the mall. In full view of him, if he had passed her.
Regarding the gun issue and the mother. I know alot about raising children with ADD and other emotional issues. Comorbidity is common and ADD is just one of the emotional difficulty these kids have. Often the “bad parenting” falls on the mom’s plate. As Rose mentioned, fathers detach while moms seek every avenue and doctor to help their children succeed.
I wonder, given what I’ve noticed about these young men, how many had a father and/or father figure who
mentored and served as a positive role model when these young men may have become more oppositional or violent in their teens?
It’s easy to blame the mom and her penchant for guns and “demanding” parenting style. But where was the dad? And did the mom really hand over the guns to her son?
With a son back from school right now and of the same age, It’s time to sit down for a talk. He’s depressed about the future and doesn’t know if he’ll stay in college or not. So many boys his age are so lost, but they are also adults. Parents can’t dictate that they see their doctor, or a counselor. But they can be there for them.
Anyway, some thoughts. Thanks for being here today with this story. And thanks to your commenters.
My heart is just so heavy.
I hope evryone gets the chance to read this. TY for posting.
Eloise says:
December 16, 2012 at 7:03 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html
Yes, this is a mental health issue. If you have not read the link posted by Eloise upstream; I strongly suggest you take a look. Here is copy of the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html
I know at least one mother who is in a situation similar to the writer of this article. She recently moved into my condo complex with her son. He is in eighth grade and seems to have some neurological condition; Tourettes perhaps? Whatever his condition; he is clearly also an extremely angry child. I understand that we laypersons are to refrain from guessing or naming possible diagnoses; but honestly, we need words to identify what we witness.
On Thanksgiving day, outside in their unit, he was standing over his mother who was on the ground in a fetal position and he was yelling obscenities at her. That was the worst of many shouting instances in his short time here.
Last week he physically menaced a neighboring mother (who was with her kindergarten daughter) until she yelled at him to get away from her. He reacted as if surprised at her outburst.
Blink, we can identify troubled individuals. Our problem is that we are without means to effect these situations.
Last year my closest friends; the parents of my Godson brought a gun into their home. My Godson has Aspergers, is in high school and has suffered bouts of depression. I crossed social boundaries and pleaded with them to reconsider getting a gun on the basis that bringing a gun into the home a of cyclically depressed HS boy is flirting with disaster. Their response was; we have no problems with guns. I countered that I don’t have problems with guns in general either; I have a problem with a gun in your specific home. It’s amazing our friendship survived. But they do now have a gun, no gun locker and they believe that their son would never be able to figure out how to disable the trigger lock. Ironically they live in a town that borders Newtown.
We are asked to remain vigilant to the potentially disastrous dynamics in our personal sphere. Many of us are, and seeing the hotspots, what are we do with our insight?
Post the url you are looking at when that happens exactly please. I will take a look.
B
Joan T.
Put your faith in GOD. I believe in his infinite wisdom that he allows free will to play out so that we can learn to be a more loving people. Sometimes the lesson is harsh as it takes something harsh to get our attention.
Love your brother and neighbors as yourself is the commandment.
50. Tarheel says:
December 16, 2012 at 11:48 am
Hey Blink. Is there a problem with the Kyron thread? When I try to access it, it takes me to a pharmacy page of some sort. Thanks.
Not at all, a pop up maybe?
B
**********************
Also getting the pharmacy page this morning. Will try to clear my cache.
The mother had issues, too. If she was hoarding food and water and weapons in fear of a looming doomsday, then that had to be a part of everday life for this guy and no telling how it was affecting him with his brain already miswired due to whatever was wrong with him. He obviously had issues for a long time and imo he wasn’t being watched closely enough. He had two bedrooms in the large house, one just for his technology equipment. Due to his overwhelming shyness I would bet he stayed in there a lot and mom was busy dwelling on doomsday. He wasn’t getting the help he needed and he blew up. jmo
I taught school throughout my working career. We had help for students, which included a classroom for emotionally impaired. I know it did a lot of good and stopped many incidents such as this shooting.
But the funding was dropped, and mainstreaming began. There are no programs for our mentally unstable children, and I feel early intervention is key.
Not only is mainstreaming a result of funding cuts, but also because so many parents want to believe their child is normal. Denial ain’t just a river. If a kid is in a ‘normal’ classroom, the thought is they will become like the other students ie. normal. But this isn’t the case. I feel it makes the child with the mental issues even worse off due to feeling different from everyone else. That no matter how much we work to stop bullying, the child is teased, ostracized, and has low self esteem. In the meantime, the child acts out in class, throwing things, swearing, throwing fits that disrupt learning for everyone. It’s almost a ‘show’ for all the other kids to watch. I have worked with too many kids in this capacity to count, and when something like this shooting happens, I am, very sadly, assuming the person did not get help in school and was ‘mainstreamed’
I also have thought much about how the classroom was entered and the students shot. The door obviously wasn’t locked and the children not hiding. In the timeline of events, I wonder if the teacher in that classroom didn’t know what to do. Was it the substitute teaching in that class? If so, did she have a key to the door?
I also think that the shooter may have felt that the school is ‘where his problems began’ and thus went there to do his deed. Many adults have hard feelings toward their schooling, and usually it seems to have to do with social experiences, or certain teachers.
I worked at schools that we had to keep our doors to the hallway locked at all times due to security measures taken to try to prevent violence. Hopefully all schools in the US will at least push that measure with their teachers. A locked door will slow down the criminal, at least. It’s a sad world when we have to have ‘lock down’ drills in our schools, but it’s a good thing the students and teachers at Newtown knew what to do. They had a place to go and the teachers knew just what to do. That most likely saved many lives.
erose says:
December 16, 2012 at 5:35 am
I believe this issue is deeper than gun legislation though do not
The greater component, I believe, is that this is a mental health issue. Many people that are in need of mental health care either do not want it, and they can not be made to get it, and, or are not in a position to afford it and therefore are unable to receive care.
**********************************************************************
I agree 110% with erose. We, as a system, are so incapable of dealing with mental health issues, even when we do recognize them. I work in the public system, helping people find employment. I can refer someone to multiple health care organizations, I can refer them to clothes and food, I can refer to housing, I can refer almost anywhere . . . but I don’t have a resource for mental health issues. That’s often what’s needed most. We do what we can, but there just isn’t really a place to refer people who know they need help.
We get people who are quite literally at the end of their rope. People who have exhausted all their resources. I’m notorious for being the person who has the most people cry at my desk each week.
After Friday, I’ve sort of made it a personal goal to be *more of* the person that people can talk to.
I think what we can do immediately as a society is engage more. Engage more with people you wouldn’t normally engage with. We bury ourselves in our smart phones and our lives and agendas and ignore the things and people around us. I’ve been so guilty of this the past few years. I leave work and do a good job of leaving my work here, but I “shut off” for lack of a better term. I have to stop that. I have to engage people around me. That’s what I’m doing to help with this, it’s my own little contribution. Maybe it’ll rub off on people, maybe it won’t. This weekend I’m going to bake cookies and take them to my neighbors, I haven’t done that in years. I’m going to wish people “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays” (both!!) I’m going to try to sparkle a little brighter in honor of those kids.
Hervness said:
I’m notorious for being the person who has the most people cry at my desk each week. What a coincidence, I am notorious for being the person who has the most people cry at their own desks each week.
***
Very kind suggestions indeed.
B
Good for you Annals!
You saw a potential for harm and acted on it. You cannot control their decisions and the outcome thereof. The only thing you can do now is to make youself and your friends aware of the potential danger.
IMO all families who choose to have guns in the home should provide a means of secure storage of weapons and ammunition. Especially is this true regarding homes with children with the potential of mental problems.
I’ve tried clearing my cache and I’m using my work computer today and I’m still getting a pharmacy page when I try to enter the Kyron thread. When I tried from home last night, I tried 3 or 4 other links and they all went to the pharmacy page except for this thread. I will keep trying to figure it out from my end, but wanted to let you know just in case.
Do you have it set to RSS?
B
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical_industry
This is what this is really all about in the long run. Many of these murders we have seen, you will find the culprit was on some form of experimental drug. Produced by money and allowed to be used by money and prescribed by money.. Then WE have to deal with the reality of the person on drugs who losses their mind and commits atrocities.
edward- I spent years in all phases of drug development and launch. In many cases if not most, the problem is either unforeseen contrandications, I can tell you companies don’t get out of phase II anymore if the trial has even the slightest of hiccups- it is way too costly and dangerous. The drug manu-to Dr. Relationship has been drastiaclly altered, and for good reason.
Neuro altering meds, behavior altering meds with a person with (being general) a serious mental defect are largely a trial and error script for a while until it is tweaked ( no pun intended) to the individual needs of the patient.
Overall- meds or someone deciding to stop taking them unilaterally or alter their script can be dangerous if a patient is relying on them as an anti-psychotic or non-hallucinagenic.
I should also note that many times scripts stop working effectively for a multitude of reasons and need very strict monitoring. Basically, once we get to an adult, that individual who is unstable to beging with, is now in charge of their own medicinal prep and administration and that can be a huge problem.
Let’s hope to get more knowledge if drugs are even a factor here, although I presume them to be at issue, not likely the genesis of this.
I can “get into it” with mental health professionals in my work, there is a very deep divide between criminalogists and those that think having an explanation for an act makes is excusable.
B
I took a screen shot in case you want to see what is coming up. The URL doesn’t change……. I clicked on the Adam Walsh link and it took me to the same page.
Are you using firefox and blocking pop ups?
B
Eloise, what a very powerful story.
Eloise says:
December 16, 2012 at 7:03 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html
It surprises me that she can’t get help for her son until he commits a crime? Am I understanding that right? Is she understanding that right? She said she has health insurance. I’d love to hear a psychiatrist’s response to that story. I wouldn’t be surprised if they could diagnose what’s wrong with him and prescribe the right medications in the right doses so that her son could live a good life.
Phyl says:
December 16, 2012 at 8:12 pm
And Phyl, I searched for that story about Adam Lanza’s uncle, Jonathon Lanza, and I didn’t find it in the Daily News. I found it in one of the English newspapers, The Sun. Since you read the article, a lot of people have come forward to say this man interviewed is not Adam Lanza’s uncle. His last name isn’t even Lanza. Weird. He was the one who said that Adam Lanza was prescribed Fanapt, so chances are that’s false. I think it will take at least a few weeks for the truth to shake out on this.
Last night FoxNews, the Huckabee show, had a psychiatrist on, I didn’t catch her name, but she was very interesting. She said she foresees all the schools, even high schools, and maybe even elementary schools, having threat assessment teams similar to the team that the Colorado Batman shooter’s psychiatrist was on. It seems to me that could work. But what about young people like Adam who wasn’t in school? There’s so much we don’t know, but he must have been seeing mental health professionals somewhere along the line.
I heard that these threat assessment teams came to being after the Virginia Tech shooting.
From Wikipedia:
“Cho, a senior English major at Virginia Tech, had previously been diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder. During much of his middle school and high school years, he received therapy and special education support. After graduating from high school, Cho enrolled at Virginia Tech. Because of federal privacy laws, Virginia Tech was unaware of Cho’s previous diagnosis or the accommodations he had been granted at school. In 2005, Cho was accused of stalking two female students. After an investigation, a Virginia special justice declared Cho mentally ill and ordered him to attend treatment.[5] Lucinda Roy, a professor and former chairwoman of the English department, had asked Cho to seek counseling.[6] Cho’s mother turned to her church for help.[7]
The attacks received international media coverage and drew widespread criticism of U.S. laws and culture.[8] It sparked intense debate about gun violence, gun laws, gaps in the U.S. system for treating mental health issues, the perpetrator’s state of mind, the responsibility of college administrations,[9] privacy laws, journalism ethics, and other issues. Television news organizations that aired portions of the killer’s multimedia manifesto were criticized by victims’ families, Virginia law enforcement officials, and the American Psychiatric Association.[10][11]”
He had been ordered to attend treatment, but he didn’t go, and no one followed up. No one even knew he hadn’t attended treatment until after the shootings. He had also been prescribed a medication, and I haven’t heard any reports of whether or not the prescription was filled, but I did hear a report that no trace of the medication was found in his blood when he died.
It does seem really irresponsible of the professionals who were at all involved with him. A lot of people dropped the ball, but I wonder how hard it is for them to help someone like Cho with all the privacy laws? Not to mention Cho’s rights.
And it was never clear to me why the psychiatrist who was treating the Colorado shooter didn’t order involuntary admission for observation of him? I heard some explanation that she DID contact the threat assessment team immediately when she saw bad signs, but it was never clear to me why the threat assessment team didn’t act. I think they said he was, at that point, no longer a student at the university. But wouldn’t a doctor have the responsibility to do SOMETHING?
Also, she had prescribed medication to the Colorado shooter, and to me, it seems extremely negligent to then just drop him as a patient. From what I’ve heard, the medications someone like him would need have to be closely monitored, because the medications themselves can cause suicidal and homicidal thoughts. Even if the medication didn’t cause the thoughts, I don’t know, but what if the medication brought down his natural boundaries, where he would then act on thoughts he never would have acted on before? I think James Holmes belonged in a hospital. He should have been treated with medication and he shouldn’t have been released until the medication was stabilized in him. And what laws prevented his own psychiatrist from doing what she was supposed to do? Was she not allowed to continue treatment when he was no longer a student at the univ.? It seems all wrong to me.
I’ve read a lot of things about Nancy Lanza, a lot of uncharitable things, but I suspect she was just like anyone else. She loved her son, and she did everything she could to help him. But she’s not a psychiatrist. I think she was in way over her head. I’d like to see every mental health professional view themselves as part of a threat assessment team. If they see a kid with problems, they can’t drop the ball. And there shouldn’t be laws and red tape to prevent them from ringing the warning bell until the kid is properly treated.
I heard that people are asking Obama to form a commission to look at ALL of the things that contribute to these shootings, from psychiatry to LE, gun laws, and including violent games, all of it, to see what can be done. These are things to be hopeful about.
In the early reports, it was said that police escorted someone out of the woods near the school in handcuffs. I haven’t heard anything about that since. Was that just bad reporting like the wrong shooter name and saying Adam’s mother was a teacher?
Mom3.0,
You wrote in response to Rose:
Rose wrote;
And kids like him are always bullied & belittled in the mainstream by teachers & students alike.
Mom3.0 wrote:
WHOA NOT so Rose – kids are not always bullied and belittled and certainly not kids like Adam- not always and definitely NOT by teachers and students alike-
If A teacher was found to be bullying a student especially a special education student they should be fired immediately
There is a reason why schools are taking such a hard stance against bullying and yes it is a major problem which can lead to violence and deaths but your statement is almost like saying oh well stop mainstreaming them…then they wont be bullied or belittled… I dont think you meant it that way- I hope not
______________________________________________________________
Mom3.0 and Rose,
I haven’t heard anything about Adam Lanza being bullied. I HOPE not. I don’t think bullying has entered into it, but I guess we’ll know more over the next few weeks.
hervness says:
December 17, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Hervness, I love what you wrote. I agree. Simple human kindness can go a long way.
For the last three days I’ve heard a lot of people discuss 1) why did this happen and 2) what can we do? I don’t think we will ever understand the why, but one thing our family is doing is donating an additional amount to our local mental health facility. Since they are nonprofits now and have lost major funding the last couple of years I felt it was the least we could do. I just thought I’d share in case anybody else would like to do something themselves.
And on a different note, (I forget which poster said it), but I do believe a lot of parents are in denial. My sister is a K teacher in WA State. It’s year she has 26 students and THREE boys with autism. Only one of those boys parents agreed with providing an aide. The other parents want to main stream their sons and are in major denial. It’s very difficult working with students with special needs parents are in denial.
Classygal,
I checked the links and they’re working okay for me. Try clicking on links on other sites, other than Blink’s, and see if the same is happening. A few years ago, I picked up a virus that did this exact same thing. That was when I was using a PC. I went to http://www.malwarebytes.org/ and downloaded their free scan. It isolated the virus, and things worked well after that.
To prevent getting reinfected, I stopped clicking on links that people had posted on sites like TOPIX, which is where I picked up the first one. Instead of clicking on people’s links, I copied and pasted the url address directly into the url window.
@ NY Liz December 17, 2012 at 2:35 pm
– I saw a child interviewed who said his class saw a man on the ground behind a car being handcuffed when they were walking to the fire house.
– In one of the press conferences this weekend, the spokesman reacted to a similar question noting that anyone in the woods even cutting down trees was questioned. I don’t recall his specific remarks but it lead me to believe that there was someone in the woods doing something completely legal and that he/she was detained and questioned and cleared.
SusanJ,
thanks for offering your thoughts and experiences with us. I agree early intervention is key.
I am worried there may be a misunderstanding of what mainstreaming is and when it was implemented and why.
Let me explain
Since 1975 and the implementation of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA)
PS are required, all public schools accepting federal funds are required to provide equal access to education for children with physical and mental disabilities. Public schools were required to evaluate handicapped children and create an educational plan with parent input that would emulate as closely as possible the educational experience of non-disabled students.
The act also required that school districts provide administrative procedures so that parents of disabled children could dispute decisions made about their children’s education
Until this act was implemented public schools educated only 1 out of 5 children with disabilities.] Approximately 200,000 children with disabilities such as deafness or developmental delays moderate to severe lived in state institutions that provided limited to no educational or rehabilitation services and more than one million children were excluded from school
Another 3.5 million children with disabilities attended school but did not receive the educational services they needed. Many of these children were segregated in special buildings or programs that neither allowed them to interact with non-disabled students nor provided them with even basic academic skills.
The EHA, later became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which required schools to provide specialized educational services to children with disabilities. The ultimate goal was to help these students live more independent lives in their communities, primarily by mandating access to the general education standards of the public school system.
Initially, children with disabilities were often placed in heterogeneous “special education” classrooms, making it difficult for any of their difficulties to be addressed appropriately. They were sheltered away from their peers which did not foster growth socially or otherwise- essentially not helping to integrate these children into society- making them less independent minded and ready for the real world.
In the 1980s, the mainstreaming model began to be used more often as a result of the requirement to place children in the LEAST restrictive environment
Students with relatively minor disabilities were integrated into regular classrooms, while students with major disabilities remained in segregated special classrooms, with the opportunity to be among normal students for up to a few hours each day. Many parents and educators favored allowing students with disabilities to be in classrooms along with their nondisabled peers.
In 1997, IDEA was modified to strengthen requirements for better integrating students with disabilities.
The IEPs must more clearly relate to the general-education curriculum, children with disabilities MUST be included in most state and local assessments, such as high school exit exams, and regular progress reports MUST be made to parents.
All public schools in the U.S. are responsible for the costs of providing *a Free Appropriate Public Education as required by federal law.*
Mainstreaming or inclusion in the regular education classrooms, WITH supplementary aids and services if needed, are now the preferred placement for all children.
Children with disabilities MAY be placed in a more restricted environment ONLY if the nature or severity of the disability makes it IMPOSSIBLE to provide an appropriate education in the regular classroom.
The alternatives to mainstreaming for special needs students are separation, inclusion, and excluding the student from school. Typically the student’s individual needs are the driving force behind selecting mainstreaming or that of another style of education.
Mainstreaming does not mean putting a child FULL-TIME in a special school.
Mainstreaming does not mean placing a child FULL-TIME in a regular classroom. A student who spends the ENTIRE day in a regular classroom with non-disabled peers is considered FULLY included.
Most students with mild levels of disabilities such as dyslexia or attention deficit disorder, or with non-cognitive disabilities such as diabetes are fully included.
Mainstreaming DOES NOT happen due to lack of funding-
With the # of recognized LD today what some seem to forget is there are many children with many disabilities which would require them to be segragated from the classroom if mainstreaming were to end.
These children with dyslexia or ADHD diabetes etc will not be excluded from the fall out.
How would that help the children/? The Adams of the world or the Blinks of the world?
We need to better fund special education not defund and go back to segregation How will that make these children more valuable productive members of our society? How would NOT providing them with the best education go to help them become the best most independent well functioning adults?
It seems to me that it wouldnt help but instead would promote more children to be isolated -reclusive- dependent upon overworked parents and caregivers and they would become more socially awkward, and never be taught appropriate coping skills life skills ect- thereby feeding the anger rage despair etc.
You are right when you lament of the mainstreamed student disrupting or requiring much more attention from the teacher than non-disabled students in a general class. Time and attention taken away from the rest of the class to meet the needs of a single student with special needs But again this goes to funding for this problem can be alleviated by placing an aide in the classroom to assist the student with special needs, although this raises the costs associated with educating this child
Your concern is wellfounded and you share it with many parents and teachers as well- The fear that general education teachers do not have the training and skills to accommodate special needs students in a general education classroom setting. However, again this can be addressed through better funding as well for professional training and supportive services such as modifications to ensure all students whether disabled or not can reach the class room goals together.
Your fear over bullying is again a real concern as Compared to fully included students with disabilities, those who are mainstreamed for only certain classes or certain times MAY feel conspicuous or socially rejected by their classmates. They MAY become targets for bullying. Mainstreamed students MAY feel embarrassed by the additional services they receive in a regular classroom, such as an aide to help with work or to help the student manage behaviors.
But it is my experience and those of my colleagues that if the general education teacher and the special education teacher work in a collaborative effort- just as with other students and issues of bullying etc- if a no tolerance rule is put into place along with dialog this concern is rather quick to mitigate, as you stated earlier intervention is key
SusanJ you wrote:
(mainstreaming takes place) because so many parents want to believe their child is normal. Denial ain’t just a river. If a kid is in a ‘normal’ classroom, the thought is they will become like the other students ie. normal. But this isn’t the case.
–
This is simply not true whether or not the childs parents are sitting knee deep in that river of denial or not- it is by law mandated that the child be tested and given the best and most appropriate education possible- parents can not simply opt out of special ed- although they do have a say in their childs educational process- if they attend the public school then their child will be where he/she NEEDS to be- Many parents refuse to recognize this and often times do take their child out of school and put them in a private religious school or charter school or home school hoping to postpone or-avoid the label–but sooner or later the parents are again faced with the same conclusions- there child needs special attention inorder to excel.
IDEA and the mainstreaming effort was put into place to meet four major goals:
1. To ensure that special education services are available to children who need them
2. To guarantee that decisions about services to disabled students are fair and appropriate
3. To establish specific management and auditing requirements for special education
4. To provide federal funds to help the states educate disabled students all disabled students
Schools are required to provide special education services but may not be given additional financial resources. There in lies the problem The per-student cost of special education is steep. The 2005 Special Education Expenditures Program (SEEP) report showed that the cost per student in special education ranged from a low of $10,558 for students with learning disabilities to a high of $20,095 for students with multiple disabilities.
The average cost per pupil for a regular education with no special education services is $6,556.
The problem is not in allowing children with disabilities the best education possible to include mainstreaming it is making sure the special education depts as well as the general education depts are well funded and well prepared to meet the needs and concerns of all while ensuring that each child is better prepared for life AFTER school-
This is an issue I hold very dear to my heart and I thank you SJ for your post which helped me to share some of my life long knowledge base.
Glad to have another educator here on BOC trying to advocate for a better tomorrow
AJMO
Peace
Most of the time I enter your site from AOL (explorer). I just tried Firefox and it opened fine. Thank you.
YAY!
B
Evidence of possible bullying:
“Adam Lanza has been a weird kid since we were five years old,” wrote a neighbor and former classmate Timothy Dalton on Twitter. “As horrible as this was, I can’t say I am surprised.”
Richard Novia, the advisor for the tech club at Newton High, said that if Adam Lanza cut or hurt himself, “he would not know it or feel it.”
Kyle Kromberg, another former classmate, said that Lanza could not keep eye contact with anyone.
“He hated looking at your eyes for more than a couple seconds,” Kromberg said. “He’d always look down at his papers or whatever he was doing.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/newtown-shooting-gunman-feel-pain/story?id=17996682#.UM-KnYXf6Gk
Blink,
This has left everyone sad and confused. But this site is the only safe place to ask questions without someone climbing down your throat (thank you for that, by the way). My two questions are- why did the mother own a Bullet Proof vest? Adam was wearing one- and there is a huge leap to be had there. My dad was a federal investigator so I know law enforcement of all kinds have a gun safe and BP vests- it comes with the territory but I am confused as to why a gun collector/game/target shooter would have that kind of protection…does game in other parts of the country pack arms too?
My next question is why are the first accounts so screwy? All the first day we were told that Adam’s mom was a teacher, then a volunteer, but really she was a stock trader. We were told the father was also killed that morning but he wasn’t. I know that all the media scramble to deliver the story first, but to mess up to such a degree?
Thank you for being here and giving people some direction- and by people I mean me. Sandra Cantu broke me in a way I will never recover from and I am looking for a way to advocate children.
Blink, or Blink’s website person,
In my message to Classygal, I didn’t mean to imply in any way that there may be viruses on your site. I mentioned Topix, because the only reason I knew I had a virus at all was because many people had posted, right on the Topix site, that the links posted there were riddled with viruses, and that people should be careful. They were right, I had a virus and I must have picked it up there. I’ve never experienced that on any other site, let alone yours. I wonder if Classygal has been on the Topix site. Anyway, the malwarebytes download worked, and I rarely, if ever go to the Topix site now, but if I do, I copy and paste the link into my url window instead of just clicking on the link. Just FYI in case you’re worrying.
Regarding mental health care- I don’t know alot about the care one can receive- never has been my specialty. But for instance, I am insured and I know I have 2 weeks covered of in-patient care- so basically, if I plan to lose my bird I best be over it in a timely fashion.
Also- the amount of available in-patient beds are very limited for adults- particularly what they call crisis beds- for those that are suicidal or homicidal. There are pt’s that sit in the ER’s for days waiting on placement bc there is no place to go. Sometime the problems are that folks are repeat offenders that are homeless that are familiar to the routine who know to say they are having SI/HI’s to get placed and they are on the bottom of the list, and places can turn them down for lack of insurance. It is all very complicated and if they feel there is nothing left to offer someone that is another reason, so maybe that plays into what the woman in the article was referencing. I do know that getting a mental detention order by the court in the case of an adult( Adam) like in this case would have been his mothers only route (other than criminal charges) to have obtained help for her son if he had refused help otherwise- from what I can tell.
Blink~
I too have a son (25) who is “special”. He has brain damage due to spinal menengities from when he was just 9 months old. My son has some really keen skills yet he is most comfortable with young kids as he acts more like a 5 year old most of the time. Periodically he has “fits” and I always thought they were because he cannot express himself like everyone else. Very seldom do you know that he is super excited or depressed. Because of his size he could overpower me in a heartbeat but he doesn’t aim his rage at me. It’s usually aimed at his dad. My husband is very calm and sweet with him but not nearly as patient and if he changes a part of my son’s plan too abruply- it throws him off. He squeezes and scratches and will spit right in his face. If you don’t back off he’ll continue at you. I never thought for a minute that his rage would escalate and maybe Adam’s mom thought the same. My heart aches at the thought of even considering putting him in any type of institution because of this. It may happen once a month or every 3 months. One never knows. I guess what I’m saying is that there are individuals in our world who fall through the cracks. They don’t fit once place or another and we really don’t have much of an option on how to deal with it. Maybe she didn’t know exactly what Adam was capable of. She guarded him just as I do my son. We think we are doing right by them but it’s only when something bad like this happens that we realize we had it all wrong.
I so appreciate the trust you placed in us to share that. I do not have the experience or background to comment specifically on your son’s behavior(s) except to say it must be very painful and difficult, and I applaud you and your husband’s devotion to him. I will let the others on here I am confident have significant experience in this area to respond as they will- I have stated this is a mental health issue at it’s genesis and I feel strongly this is a topic that folks “in the trenches” are reaching out about.
If we go where I suspect this may end up in terms of profile, I can better contrast your comments inasmuch as I suspect their is no real comparisons to be made outside of perhaps some social observations, I am not sure. I am very hesitant without more information but I am aware of a developing profile.
B
I will be discussing this more Wednesday evening on Dana’s show, I will post the details.
I forgot to site the info/statistics in my last post- my apologies just google IDEA or mainstreaming to read the full text.
Joan T. says:
December 17, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I agree we will hear more in the coming weeks I am sure
mas says:
December 17, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Evidence of possible bullying-
Thanks for the info mas-
most of the behaviors such as avoiding contact would be due to his possible autism or As. also if he had CIP it can be accompanied by seizures of the sort that would seem to indicate withdrawal or checking out-
TGF- just wanted to say thanks for reminding of the school in Dallas that does not have a no guns policy.
gigi says:
December 17, 2012 at 11:50 am
Hi I have read some of that info but I am not sure how accurate it is here is a link;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2249185/Nancy-Lanza-Did-paranoid-gun-crazed-mother-trigger-Sandy-Hook-Connecticut-killing-spree.html
The latest is that she bought the guns in 2010 or later so – Adam would have been an adult at the time.
I agree that we cant overlook the parenting just as we cant overlook the schooling or the mental health issues- It all is part of the puzzle. But again he was an adult- kindof impacts the whole thing
It seems Adams mom loved him and wanted the best for him but figuring out what was best may have been the issue at least in Adams eyes.
It has been reported that his mom opted for homeschooling for a time because she disagreed with the junior high schools educational plan for Adam- was he a full time highschool student or did he supplement homeschool with part time public school? IDK
Here is another link with some possible background family info- again I do not know how accurate it will turn out to be- if true it may help to shine a light on some of the whys-
http://tinyurl.com/d5gqufq
AJMO
Peace
#25 @ Gigi:
I take exception to your comment regarding the mother hoarding water and food for doomsday. Could you please provide the link for this comment?
Many people in my neck of the woods, keep a supply of water and food due to power outages from storms and don’t consider ourselves doomsdayers. Just prepared.
From one who works in the mental health system – I guess some of the availability depends on where you live and your money. It seems to me it would be real easy to get anyone with private insurance into a facility, like a few days and these people had money! THese private facilities are a money making business! Of course you still have to GET them there and if there is only 1 parents and a big teen, it can be really hard. The lower income have it harder, but it depends on the day, sometimes they go right in the Psych Ward, but one cannot keep them there without reason and they are frequently stabilized and then let go and then they go off their meds and the whole revolving door starts over. Many refuse treatment and blame everything on the people that love them or who are trying to help them.
From my side, we are spending time thinking how families can get their loved ones in and yes, there are many kids like this in every area. You have no idea how many are diverted from sick actions – a lot – the favorite thing is more suicide, including “suicide by cop.” We try to think of clever ways parents, spouses, etc. can entice these people in and if lucky to get them in,how can we make them stay, because without serious threats to self or others, one cannot just lock someone up and take them away, they will lose their civil rights then. . In my area, very recently a parent used to be able to go to court and ask the Judge to declare the kid out of control so they could get treatment. Recently it was decided there were too many kids like this so they stopped doing it.
MANY people will not come in for help. It would help if 2 or more people could go to someone’s house, but recently there was a killing from that when one person went. Many people also do not want to put their other family members away, put them on medication, etc. but they are not realizing the possible consequences of this denial. There are thousands of people in every state doing pretty well on meds. And yes, the situation is getting worse, more severe problems happening earlier on. I have thought for some years that we need to have a question at intake: are there guns in the home? Guns plus mental illness and/or substance abuse are dangerous combos.
Hi Blink,
I just want to weigh in on mainsteaming of students that have a myriad of problems from lack of English skills to moderate ADD issues to psychological and biological issues that could necessitate a complete one-on-one educational program that separates that student from others forever.
For right now, I only wish to talk about what I know best. Immigrants.
When the feds finally chimed in with the AWD act and IEPs and 504s became the norm and were protected by the law (especially IEPs) districts all over the country clamored to get federal monies and states enacted SPED and other programs to coincide with the new theory that students learn best when in a LEAST RESTRICTIVE environment. That is a story in itself. But a side issue of the AWD act was that those with NOT disabilities in essence became disabled.
Districts and Individual schools rebelled at first against the AWD act. Those that struggled with immigrants ontinued to put Non-speakers of English (ONE example) into their own classrooms and segregating them from the general populace of the school. Defying the dollars and the research.
Some districts even wrote IEP programs for them, suggesting that lack of knowledge of the language was a bonifide “handicap”.
What happened, in this particular case? Non-literate became a synonym for “retarded”. Students were treated as and isolated for a “disability”. And, in the end, the students lived up to it. Very few graduated, many became deliquent, families and communities began to believe that welfare and gangs were their “right’.
In 1979 it was the Hmong and Mien of Thialand that assisted the GI’s in the downfall of Vietnam. In 2009 it was the Burmese.
And the Hispanic gangs….and the disconnect so many feel…it goes on and on. The young man at Clackamas is a prime example.
Mom3.0
Yesterday at a birthday celebration for one of my son-in-laws (his 60th) we got into a conversation about the subject of this thread. He is a retired officer of the Texas DPS. He was a certified firearms instructor for the DPS and holds certificates for training people in Texas for a concealed carry permit. He is also certified for SWAT team activity.
During the conversation he told me that he had actually worked with that school district in the planning and execution of their policy. That was totally unknown to me when I posted earlier.
There was a three part process used to determine those that would be sent to the final stage of getting a concealed carry permit. Every employee of the district from the top to the bottom were given a physc. exam to determine if they could or would complete the program.
Everyone was give an introduction to firearms course that included actually going to a range and firing a 22 cal. pistol. Those that failed the physc. exam were not allowed to go further. Those passing, continued through the basic firarms training and on to the training required to qualify for the permit.
Their policy is that no one except the superintendant and assistant superintendant actually know who has the permits. Concealed carry is just that. One does not allow others to know when they are carrying. Men and women who carry have the weapon on their person at all times concealed by a shirt/blouse or jacket. There are special concealed carry holsters to make the weapon invisable to others.
Without any prompting on my part, he stated that whoever designed the school lockdown processes was a fool and had no clue about the behavior to stop a shooter. He said that buildings and proceedures left the teachers and pupils at the mercy of a shooter.
That is his area of expertise and I am certain that he would not make such a statement if it weren’t true. We do know that in this case, Adam used the rifle to break a window to gain entry to the school by reaching in to turn a single cylinder deadbolt. Some security that provided. This all goes back to my earlier post about reviewing the security items in school buildings.
I have some experience in cleaning up the work of architects for commercial buildings and schools. I have been known to tell some of them that they knew how to draw beautiful buildings, but they had no clue of how to make the systems work.
I also think that for students that are more than mildly handicaped, there should be no mainstream school activities. I know that in our school district the more severly handicaped are kept away from the regular classrooms although they are in the same building. Most of the time there is just a baby sitting function going on with little learning taking place. IMO we are wasting time and large amounts of money in doing this.