<p>Parental denial in this case was matched by school denial. </p>
<p>I haven’t read the report yet, but I note that, as far as I know, there was never anyone who indicated that Lanza had ever shown aggression or violence towards anyone. I’m I incorrect about that? I’m ready to be corrected. </p>
<p>Dadx, the report talks about a violent piece of writing (or writing and art, or something) that Adam Lanza and another kid wrote when they were in grade school. The report says that mental health professionals would have viewed it as a dangerous sign of serious mental illness (and indeed, obviously Lanza was mentally ill, and the other child apparently grew up with mental illness and is currently in some kind of residential program). But the teachers who saw this were not mental health professionals and evidently did not view it as a red flag, and the parents of the other kid and Lanza’s father say they didn’t know about it.</p>
<p>There is nothing in the report about any violence by Lanza toward anyone before the shooting.</p>
<p>Yeah, thats what I’m thinking I’ve seen, but I’m open to other information. The difficulty with this situation is that, for all of the sense that all of us have that there really must be some way to prevent or at least mitigate something like this, my great fear is that this is an extreme outlier case, and preventing the next one will not be possible (other than an armed school guard). The good news, if that term could be used, is that, as an outlier, another one is extremely unlikely. We can only pray that that is the case.</p>
<p>This case makes me fearful everytime I think of it. It is truly unthinkable. </p>
<p>The report is more about how to spot and offer treatment to children with developmental delays and/or mental illness… Its emphasis is very definitely not on violence or how to spot children who will grow up to be violent adults.</p>
<p>I spent much too much time reading that report yesterday. I found it really interesting, and very very sad. A lot of missed opportunities and unfortunate decisions. </p>
<p>For example, in Adam’s early years, the emphasis was on treating his speech and language difficulties – when it seems obvious that those were symptoms of a larger problem. Yet, there was no (or minimal) effort to diagnose and treat that larger problem. That pattern continued.</p>
<p>Can you force a preteen or early teen to take medication? Adam clearly had OCD – was treated for his excessive handwashing numerous times – yet refused to take any medications. The lack of treatment for his anorexia alone is very disturbing. He clearly had an eating disorder for years. </p>
<p>This kid was clearly miserable for many years, and much of his treatment was counterproductive (like keeping him home instead of sending him to school). What he did was horrific and I don’t mean to condone or excuse or justify what he did at all. But after reading this report, I can see that path to his actions. We so often wonder after these shootings, why did the person do this? I think we got some answers here. </p>