First I want to say My thoughts and prayers goes out to those who have lost their loved ones in this senseless tragedy. I am so sorry.

     As I sit here watching the news about the tragedy that happened yesterday in Connecticut a disturbing thought crossed my mind, it's a miracle if kids can literally survive school nowadays with all these school shootings, suicides due to bullying, and stupid dares or supposed "games". How screwed up is it that that thought crossed my mind? I have to worry if my son will make it to graduation. I want to teach him basic survival tactics just in case this happens at his school. This shouldn't be fears and thoughts that people should have. Xavier has already been through a lock down due to a stupid asshat that was in a standoff with cops a couple blocks away from his school. The worst my generation had to worry about was getting your butt kicked.

     They keep saying the shooter had asperger syndrome which is on the autism spectrum.  My son has Asperger's.  I want to let everyone know that autism did NOT cause him to go on this shooting spree. I just wanted to make that perfectly clear.
     From www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov via A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia Asperger syndrome is often considered a high functioning form of autism. It can lead to difficulty interacting socially, repeat behaviors, and clumsiness.
People with Asperger syndrome become over-focused or obsessed on a single object or topic, ignoring all others. They want to know everything about this topic, and often talk about little else.

• Children with Asperger syndrome will present many facts about their subject of interest, but there will seem to be no point or conclusion.
• They often do not recognize that the other person has lost interest in the topic.
• Areas of interest may be quite narrow, such as an obsession with train schedules, phone books, a vacuum cleaner, or collections of objects.

People with Asperger do not withdraw from the world in the way that people with an autistic disorder do. They will often approach other people. However, their problems with speech and language in a social setting often lead to isolation.

• Their body language may be unusual.
• They may speak in a monotone, and may not respond to other people's comments or emotions.
• They may not understand sarcasm or humor, or they may take a figure of speech literally.
• They do not recognize the need to change the volume of their voice in different settings.
• They have problems with eye contact, facial expressions, body postures, or gestures (nonverbal communication).
• They may be singled out by other children as "weird" or "strange."

People with Asperger syndrome have trouble forming relationships with children their own age or other adults, because they:

• Are unable to respond emotionally in normal social interactions
• Are not flexible about routines or rituals
• Have difficulty showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people
• Do not express pleasure at other people's happiness

Children with Asperger syndrome may show delays in motor development, and unusual physical behaviors, such as:

• Delays in being able to ride a bicycle, catch a ball, or climb play equipment
• Clumsiness when walking or doing other activities
• Repetitive finger flapping, twisting, or whole body movements