killer was thought to be autistic
 

Behavior as a young child

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cho_Seu..._a_young_child



Cho's great aunt, Kim Yang-soon, described Cho as "cold" and a source of distress as an 8-year-old. According to Kim, the boy rarely talked; after arriving in the U.S., Cho's parents were told that he had autism, a developmental disability marked by unresponsiveness and delayed speech.[41]

Behavior at middle school & high school

In middle school and high school, Cho was teased and picked on for his shyness and unusual speech patterns. In English class at Westfield High School, he looked down and refused to speak when called upon, said Chris Davids, a high school classmate. After one teacher threatened to give him a failing grade for not participating, Cho began reading in a strange, deep voice that sounded "like he had something in his mouth," Davids said. "The whole class started laughing and pointing and saying, ‘Go back to China.’" Another classmate, Stephanie Roberts, stated that "There were just some people who were really mean to him, and they would push him down and laugh at him. He didn't speak English really well, and they would really make fun of him."[42] CNN and other sources reported that Cho had been bullied in high school, and that students worried that he had a "hit list" of other students he wanted to kill.[43][44]

Behavior at Virginia Tech

Fellow students described Cho as a "quiet" person who "would not respond if someone greeted him." Student Julie Poole rec

arent people just so damn kind?

Well some people are and some aren't!

SM

When I was watching the coverage and saw the interview with the roommates, I told my husband that there was probably a combination of things. Cho had moved to the US at an age when if he had problems that may not have been noticed because of a cultural and language problem.

I figured he probably had a personality disorder of some kind, but there seemed to be no personality.....then I said "You know what, he seems Autistic?" How do I know that? My daughter is an adult with Autism. As far as I know there has never been a case like this where an Autistic person was a killer, but given the right circumstances and this guys isolation....

The thing is I believe a lot of people were very kind to him they just didn't know what to do.

Judy

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive...22071cho1.html

he bought rubber ducks on ebay

Clouds

Is your link an example of how people are still making fun of him - or do you think he bought them to use for target practice?

Why is this important in figuring out why he killed all those students?

Maybe clouds was just commenting on the person's rather obsessive nature, nothing more. It's something not uncommon in people with the qualities of autism.

It's something that actually crosses my mind when these tragedies happen and the next thing the media jumps on is their prior *diagnosis*. I don't believe clouds posted the link to make fun of anyone.

i stated a fact he bought ducks

so whats the big deal ?facts are facts

Hi Clouds

He probably picked his nose and farted too, :p but does it have any relevancy to the case or help us understand why he killed those people?

It was the redundancy in the text of what you posted. They mentioned the killer by name and said he bought the duckies, but they had to repeat it for impact. They HAD to throw in there "That's right, the mass murderer bought....little squeaky toys." It reminded me of Sesame Street, but I wasn't sure if you or the author were trying to infer he used them to perfect his shooting skills. I wondered why you both found it necessary to tell others. :confused:

We already know why he killed those people. He told us why. I don't understand why people are still walking around wondering "why?" People don't usually lie while recording their reasons for dying. Why do we take the words of suicide bombers seriously, but not this kid? :confused:

They (the paper) were probably accentuating the fact that it was obsessive behaviour as I stated in my previous post. It doesn't remind me of Sesame Street.


Thread title: killer was thought to be autistic

It's human nature to wonder "why".

im not feeling too good and im tired of typing

you act like autism always leads to having people just love you and be entertained like the rainman movie

all arent savants

i thought i was aut and read some on it

maybe i am who knows

some autistics become argeressive

some have tantrums

isolation is what many get

combined with depression or schizophrenia i suppoose he went mad

maybe he was also schizo

the retarded ones wouldnt care to fit in i doubt or not too much

the high funtioning ones want a life but cant find a real life at times

Hi clouds,
I'm sorry you're not feeling so well.
Hope you feel better fast.
I understand your concerns and why you posted it.
[My son is on Autism spectrum.]

I hope you're feeling stronger soon.
take care,
Lara

I had a friend whos son had Asperger's Disorder.

[Asperger's Disorder is a milder variant of Autistic Disorder. Both Asperger's Disorder and Autistic Disorder are in fact subgroups of a larger diagnostic category. This larger category is called either Autistic Spectrum Disorders, mostly in European countries, or Pervasive Developmental Disorders ("PDD"), in the United States. In Asperger's Disorder, affected individuals are characterized by social isolation and eccentric behavior in childhood. There are impairments in two-sided social interaction and non-verbal communication. Though grammatical, their speech is peculiar due to abnormalities of inflection and a repetitive pattern. Clumsiness is prominent both in their articulation and gross motor behavior. They usually have a circumscribed area of interest which usually leaves no space for more age appropriate, common interests. Some examples are cars, trains, French Literature, door knobs, hinges, cappucino, meteorology, astronomy or history. The name "Asperger" comes from Hans Asperger, an Austrian physician who first described the syndrome in 1944. An excellent translation of Dr. Asperger's original paper is provided by Dr. Uta Frith in her Autism and Asperger Syndrome.]

http://www.aspergers.com/aspclin.htm

Yes, my son has Asperger's Syndrome (ASD) and he has always had some odd obsessive interests. He is a collector, although these days his collections are not as neat and tidy as they used to be. lol

is he on meds?

Not anymore, clouds. He wasn't correctly diagnosed until he was almost 14. Also has Tourette's Syndrome and some other things, as you might remember. He's not taken medication in about 6 maybe 7 years. He's just turned 20 and is doing very well considering how hard it was all those years ago and without a correct diagnosis.

oh

where i live i think the goon doctors think i need massive doses of meds even if i slip up just a little

theyre a bunch of hypocrites

We didn't have much luck with doctors here. Which is obvious 'cause for 5 years I was telling them he was on autism spectrum and they said he wasn't 'cause his eye contact was too good or something like that. He slipped through the system in school too because he was very clever so they just dismissed everything else he was struggling with and only looked at his report cards.

Then I took him to talk with Tony Attwood. www.tonyattwood.com.au He lives not too far away from us. World known specialist in AS. It took him 5 minutes to diagnose him correctly but I'd sent in all his previous history and medical reports prior to the appointment. We talked with him for a couple more hours after that. Was the beginning of the better times for my son really and a goodbye to lots of his wondering why he was a lot different from his peers who treated him very badly when he was young.

It was on his advice that I took him out of school at the time. The good thing I've noticed with him though is that as he got older and was mixing with other young adults and older teens (he went to college very young to study rather than finish school) no one really took any notice of him and he has been treated just like everyone else. He's adapted pretty well really.

hi everybody. can i pop in? hehehe..y'all know i will anyways.

meds can help people. but like you clouds..you are so good at research and finding alternatives to try and help yourself. i know lara is the same. chemar...so many here.

the right supplements can do wonders. i'm not a med person myself. they just don't do well for me. but i;m not totally adverse to taking them...if the right one worked. like for me...slep meds..nope...haven't found one that doesn't have side effects on me. same with pain meds.

:grouphug:

Hi Curious, I've been trying to get my son to take Melatonin for some years now. He's always had sleeping problems (but then so do I lol). I've almost got him convinced!!! almost lol

That's a very good article. Thanks, clouds. I'm glad that courageous young woman has been able to go on to help so many after the tragic death of her brother.

ive been eating raw garlic and i say it helps me sleep and i lost 3 pounds

12 more to go

it helps me so much. i can actually fall asleep. my problem is staying asleep now because of high pain levels. i should ask mrsd if i can take it twice. hmm...

i'm a happy camper if i get over 3 hours of sleep. :o lately i have gotten grandmonkey to take a 30 minute nap during the afternoons with me. a little energy boost. :eek: for a 5 yr old. lol.

keep trying lara. i have never had any groggy feeling the next day...no medicine head feel. i don't get that zoned out feel...like passing out from a regualr sleep med. rx...or otc.

do you eat it before you go to bed? how are you preparing it? you gotta be safe from vampires. :D :wink:

awesome hon!!! are you still drinking the apple cider vinagar?

maybe at 9pm or when i want to

cider vineger? yes when i want to

garlic is good for lots of things

i bookmarked it. thanks clouds.

i had to laugh. i think frrom the bad breaththis would keep family and friends from getting close enough to spread the germs. :wink:

For sore throat, make a garlic tea by steeping several cloves of garlic in half a cup of water overnight. Hold your nose and drink it.

i love spicey foods. i add peeled garlic cloves to my jars of sliced jalepenos. i just eat them right from the jar. drives my family crazy. their eyes water just watching me eat. :D