The TV series Frontline has been covering the Newtown killings
and tonight aired a two part episode, the first was titled "Raising
Adam Lanza". One should be able to watch the program on the
PBS website which has additional material that fills in some of
the numerous gaps in the Lanza family situation and the events
leading to Adam's murder of his mother. See:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/raising-adam-lanza/
The segment is about two reporters from the Hartford Courant
who try to get some basic info about the Lanza family and history
but few people are talking, especially family members though
one unidentified family member provides some critical info about
Adam and his mother. A friend of Adam's mother is interviewed
and an email exchange they had back around 1999-2000 is
available on the website which I find kind of odd, but that could
just be me.
One piece of news that hasn't been widely presented is that
though Adam's parents were divorced in 2010 they apparently
were separated back in 2001. Another is that though there were
support groups in the Newtown area for parents of children with
autism, she did not associate them nor is it clear whether and
when she got professional advice for dealing with Adam's condition
outside of what the schools provided -- it is unclear whether
she had an expert in autism examine Adam (perhaps Adam's
mother had problems with a diagnosis of autism; DSM V's
elimination of Asperger's syndrome in favor of autism spectrum
disorder might have been upsetting/disturbing to her).
Also, Adam's mother indicated in emails that she had had a
diagnosis of a genetically based autoimmune disorder but did
not specify what it was -- it is suggested it was multiple sclerosis
(however, MS is not considered a hereditary illness and it is
not clear what symptoms she had -- she apparently had a
really mild form).
A program like tonight's Frontline is inherently frustrating because
one wants to know what factors are relevant to understanding why
Adam did what he did. The police investigators, forensic examiners,
and other groups involved in the investigation didn't talk to Frontline
and won't until they have finished their investigation and no one
knows when that will occur.
The program can also have negative effects because I was left with
the impression that Adam's mother was living in a dream world, that
she thought she was handling things and had things under control.
She had no idea.
-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]
---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected].
To unsubscribe click here:
http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=23847
or send a blank email to
leave-23847-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
