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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSchool Adviser: Gunman a Loner Who Felt No Pain
At Newtown High School, Adam Lanza had trouble relating to fellow students and teachers, but that was only part of his problem. He seemed not to feel physical or psychological pain in the same way as classmates.
Richard Novia, the school district's head of security until 2008, who also served as adviser for the school technology club, said Lanza clearly "had some disabilities."
"If that boy would've burned himself, he would not have known it or felt it physically," Novia told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "It was my job to pay close attention to that."
Novia was responsible for monitoring students as they used soldering tools and other potentially dangerous electrical equipment.
He recalled meeting with school guidance counselors, administrators and with the boy's mother, Nancy Lanza, to understand his problems and find ways to ensure his safety. But there were others crises only a mother could solve.
"He would have an episode, and she'd have to return or come to the high school and deal with it," Novia said, describing how the young man would sometimes withdraw completely "from whatever he was supposed to be doing," whether it was sitting in class or reading a book.
Adam Lanza "could take flight, which I think was the big issue, and it wasn't a rebellious or defiant thing," Novia said. "It was withdrawal."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/school-adviser-gunman-loner-felt-pain-17986929
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bongbong
(5,436 posts)To have much tighter gun control in America.
Cha
(297,323 posts)exactly what it meant. That's weird..
I also read he had a bullet proof vest on so I'm specuating he didn't want to get shot down before he finished what he came to do before he killed himself. I have no words to describe the depths of his depravity.
Thanks FarCenter
ProgressiveProfessor
(22,144 posts)No indication of soft or hard armor in more recent media stories.
Cha
(297,323 posts)But, with the "news" reports on this tragedy.. who knows?
ProgressiveProfessor
(22,144 posts)We had similar media reports in Aurora. Someone later came up with the order for the vest it appears he was wearing...LBE no kevlar.
I have one of those. Used to wear it while riding the ATV on the property. Got too hot so I went to a thigh rig. Looks a bit ridiculous but is really quite functional.
gkhouston
(21,642 posts)heat, etc. Not that House is a documentary, but the medical problems are real, as far as I can tell.
AldoLeopold
(617 posts)FarCenter
(19,429 posts)However, it appears to be unrelated to psychological issues, except that it may affect fomation of body image and it may also affect the formation of empathy with others pain, since the patient has no experience of pain himself.
OTOH, Adam may have some less severe defect which is related to another neurological problem that causes both pain insensitivity and other psychological problems.
AldoLeopold
(617 posts)Not to be too blunt about it - but I'll wager you are highly respected on these boards - and well earned.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)She was economically comfortable with the divorce settlement so money was apparently not a concern. I don't understand.
AldoLeopold
(617 posts)Many psychological and in this case, neurophysiological and psychological, conditions are barely, if at all, treatable. Its amazing how little research has been done on these things when compared to other ailments.
But I would defer to someone on these boards with more knowledge on this subject than myself. Is there a neurologist or psychiatrist in the house?
ProgressiveProfessor
(22,144 posts)There are all sorts of stories but nothing definitive if there were problems and what if any treatment was done. Its one of the things we need to wait to get a factual vs innuendo based data.
