<p>CTTC-
Here’s a brief description of paranoid schizophrenia from the mayo clinic’s website <a href=“http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/paranoid-schizophrenia/DS00862/DSECTION=2[/url]”>http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/paranoid-schizophrenia/DS00862/DSECTION=2</a>
you do not have to have all the symptoms to meet the criteria for diagnosis. You can also read about schizophrenia in general, or read about a delusional disorder, but from what I’ve read about him, I think he was probably a paranoid schiz. Don’t know if he hallucinated, had ideas of reference, etc. Perhaps if any mental health records are ever accessed/released, we will know more.</p>
<p>Here’s another interesting website on schizophrenia <a href=“http://www.schizophrenia.com/family/sz.overview.htm[/url]”>http://www.schizophrenia.com/family/sz.overview.htm</a></p>
<p>Another interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed, this one by a researcher who has studied a number of school shooters.</p>
<p><a href=“http://chronicle.com/free/2007/04/2007041904n.htm[/url]”>http://chronicle.com/free/2007/04/2007041904n.htm</a></p>
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<p>I just heard an interview with Cho’s great aunt. The translater stated that the family was told that Cho had autism. She goes on to state his mother was very worried. Apparently he did not speak with his own mother either. I wonder if he was ever evaluated by a school psychologist and an educational team of specialists sometime between age 8 (when he came to the US) and HS graduation.</p>
<p>From Fox News:
"BLACKSBURG, Va. — Long before he snapped, Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui was picked on, pushed around and laughed at over his shyness and the strange way he talked when he was a schoolboy in the Washington suburbs, former classmates say.</p>
<p>Chris Davids, a Virginia Tech senior who graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., with Cho in 2003, recalled that the South Korean immigrant almost never opened his mouth and would ignore attempts to strike up a conversation.</p>
<p>Once, in English class, the teacher had the students read aloud, and when it was Cho’s turn, he just looked down in silence, Davids recalled. Finally, after the teacher threatened him with an F for participation, Cho started to read in a strange, deep voice that sounded “like he had something in his mouth,” Davids said.</p>
<p>“As soon as he started reading, the whole class started laughing and pointing and saying go back to China.”</p>
<p>NSM - how sad of a history for him - and how mean kids can be 
No kiddo deserves to treated like that - no matter their differences.</p>
<p>NSM
That is really sad to hear. And we may get more such information in the coming days. No excuses for the horror unleashed, but there is a lot of pain inflicted on teenagers by their peers and the system in general, which all too often they do not bring to their parents’ or teachers’ attention for fear of further negative attention.</p>
<p>I for one refuse to judge or blame Cho’s parents, his High school, or V-Tech.</p>
<p>That’s very strange that he would speak that way NSM. He seemed articulate and had no strange speech mannerisms in the released footage.
The autism angle is also interesting. It would explain his aversion to eye contact and inability to socialize. But most autistic children and young adults would have issues with creative writing and language skills without extreme intervention in early years. I would think his middle and high school counselor couldn’t help but be aware of an autism diagnosis. Interesting.</p>
<p>He may have had a different problem that was misdiagnosed as autism.</p>
<p>Autism is often misdiagnosed in the early years, but hard to believe that by 5th grade it would not be properly diagnosed.</p>
<p>As far as avoiding eye contact, jeez, walk into any middle/high school and see how many kids will meet your eyes. In fact our staff makes it a point to stand around the hallways and individually greet children as they walk in every morning. You would be surprised at how many kids do not respond.</p>
<p>Some info about the family:
<a href=“Gunman's brooding disturbed his family | World news | The Guardian”>Gunman's brooding disturbed his family | World news | The Guardian;
<p>Very sad…</p>
<p>While some people go around blaming the parents, nobody knows their entire story. Perhaps they have sought help all along and HAVE noticed that their child had problems. At this juncture, however, I truly feel sorry for them because not only have they lost their son, the feelings over what he has done and the guilt from that must be utterly unbearable.</p>
<p>NNGMM - what a very sad background for this family - and their son. I can’t imagine how his parents are going to live thru this horrible nightmare.</p>
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<p>Funny that nobody from VA Tech mentions this.</p>
<p>From that Guardian story. I feel so sorry for the parents. It does seem as if they did everything that they can. Having a grown son myself whose mental health I am concerned about, and having other friends who are concerned about their adult children’s mental health, I know how difficult these situations are for the families.</p>
<p>There is only so much one can do with an adult offspring. If the young adult also is very intelligent and resistant to treatment, they can figure out how to fake being very healthy. Even if they are in treatment, they can either fake normalcy or can reveal so little that the therapist can’t do anything to help them or to even diagnose them.</p>
<p>In addition, one can’t force an adult offspring into treatment. I also know parents with highly intelligent adult offspring who have mental illnesses, and who have tried and tried to get help for their children to no avail.</p>
<p>Any person who expressed the kind of anger that the shooter expressed also has fury toward their parents. It’s not likely that such a person is going to go along with their parents’ suggestions about getting help. IT doesn’t surprise me at all that the shooter didn’t even talk to his parents. </p>
<p>"It was only the second time the grandparents had seen their grandson. “He would not talk even when I called to him. He was so quiet that I remarked that he must have a very gentle nature,” Yang-soon said. “But his mother told me he was too quiet. Soon after they got to America, he was diagnosed as being clinically withdrawn. It amazes me that he ever made it into university. I guess he must have had some mental problems from birth.”</p>
<p>Cho’s family worked hard to make a success of their life in the US. His father spent hours in the laundry, earning enough money for his children’s education. His mother supplemented their income with part-time employment as a waitress at a cafeteria. Her spare time was devoted to the Korean church in Centreville, where she implored the pastor to help her son. According to the Joong-ang Daily, she always prayed that her boy could become more outgoing.</p>
<p>When Cho started college, at Virginia Tech, his mother took his dormitory mates to one side to explain about her son’s unusual character and implored them to help.</p>
<p>“She was worried that he spent all his time in his room, lost in a world of video games,” the paper quoted the pastor as saying. “[Cho] came to bible studies for a couple of years, but rarely spoke and never got along with the other youths. I can’t believe he has done this to such a devoted mother.”</p>
<p>“That’s very strange that he would speak that way NSM. He seemed articulate and had no strange speech mannerisms in the released footage.”</p>
<p>He may have been ashamed of his accent, and put on some fake deep voice to draw attention to his voice that way – something that was under his control – instead of using his usual voice, and getting negative attention due to something that was beyond his control.</p>
<p>I believe Marian is right. This behavior is not consistent with an autism diagnosis. Elective mutism, social anxiety/phobias, and a host of other disorders can lead to early withdrawl, isolation, etc. But at a young age, the delayed onset of language, social disconnection, etc is seen in autism, so I can understand where this initial diagnosis may have come from. That said, if a child is diagnosed with autism, they should be receiving intervention and academic modifications. I have to wonder of sociocultural issues would have come into play here. Might the family have felt uncomfortable disclosing a diagnosis or pursuing treatment? Mental health issues have such a stigma as it is. I would imagine it might be even more of a difficulty in some cultures.</p>
<p>and NEM,
Typically a school psychologist’s role is to evaluate whether someone qualifies for services available in the school system. If they are performing academically, they would probably not be referred for a psychoed eval. That said, they might be referred to the school counselor if there are emotional or behavioral concerns. This seems more likely to have been an appropriate route. I guess as more information is disclosed we will learn more. The whole situation is painfully sad, and perhaps what good could come from this is an increased awakening of the need for, and use of mental health services.</p>
<p>We may never know exactly what any diagnosis could have been - all we do know tho is that his brain was wired differently somehow. This guy could have well been very high functioning in many areas and decomped in many others of his personality thru out his lifetime. I do believe that there are some real cultural issues here as well - we may never know :(</p>
<p>One of the comments that sticks out about this guy came from one of his professors - that behind all they saw of him - he was actually very bright.</p>
<p>chocoholic - Inability to make eye contact is different from avoiding eye contact…so perhaps I should have used that word. Inability to make eye contact is a typical in cases of autism. Different or unusual speech patterns, such as use of echolalia; and sensory integration issues are also typical. </p>
<p>After reading nngmm’s link, I do think it is very possible Cho had some condition lying within the autism spectrum. It’s hard to know…conditions within in this spectrum are so varied and some are very hard to diagnose. But he seemed to have such an unreasonable response to his environment which should have really raised all sorts of red flags. It is just so important to get early intervention and therapies to autistic children. </p>
<p>My son went from using nothing but echolalia to communicate and from having major issues with textures (grass on bare feet), noises (mylar balloons being blown up) and being uncomfortable with eye contact…to being a wonderful, affectionate and very gentle young man, who is very social, writes lovely creative pieces, who participates in science projects (that win national awards…ahem…lol!), who could read chapter books at three, loved Boy Scouts and who scored high enough on the Duke TIP for the Duke campus classes. But, we recognized a problem before he was 2 years of age and got help. Back then you could hold his face and try to make eye contact with him…if he couldn’t pull his face from your hands, he would avert his eyes. He became extremely agitated when he even saw the baby swing at the park, he had such severe vestibular issues. He never, ever babbled like a baby.</p>
<p>We had him at Texas Children’s before his second birthday and his language and SI therapy began between his second and third year. Later he was also diagnosed as highly gifted (with its own basket of issues). Today, you would never know that he has a communication disorder on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum. Other than being highly accomplished, he is just one of the boys.</p>
<p>I do see some disturbing things about Cho’s early childhood that do seem to be related to autism. I just have to think that the window of opportunity for getting meaningful help must have closed on him before he ever arrived in the United States.</p>
<p>(Another observation…if Cho’s mother was married at 29 and had a daughter before her son, she was likely in her early to mid 30’s when he was born. Some think there is some link to older mothers and autism-type disorders. I was 35 when my son was born.)</p>
<p>…''I do see some disturbing things about Cho’s early childhood that do seem to be related to autism. I just have to think that the window of opportunity for getting meaningful help must have closed on him before he ever arrived in the United States. ‘’…</p>
<p>I have to completely agree with you on this - coming from where he came - and the cultural differences - the availability of any type of evaluation process was most likely not available to this family - or even consideredable as well.</p>