A man with Asperger syndrome will stand trial for telephone bomb threat during London 2012 Olympics

A 52 year old man with Asperger syndrome who lives in a care home outside central London will stand trial for placing a hoax call to police reporting a bomb in the Olympic Park during the London 2012 Olympics.  The man is also accused of making persistent nuisance communications during a four month period last year.  Read more about it at thisiscroydontoday.co.uk here:  http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Olympic-bomb-hoax-case-Croydon-man-Asperger-s/story-18621047-detail/story.html#axzz2R7zgN2zO

Joe Scarborough appears to imply he assumed Autism was at the root of the Newtown tragedy

Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC's "Mourning Joe" talk show, once again seems to have suggested that there is a link between Autism and violent acts.  Scarborough claims knowledge of Autism and specifically Asperger syndrome because his son has been diagnosed with the condition.

Previously Scarborough quite overtly suggested such a causal link between Autism and violent acts when discussing the Aurora, Colorado theater mass shooting of July 20, 2012.  In his broadcast shortly after that tragedy he stated, “You have these people that are somewhere, I believe, probably on the autism scale, I don’t know if that’s the case here, but it happens more often than not,”

Most recently (while discussing gun violence) in his broadcast on the morning of Friday, April 5, 2013 Scarborough seems to have implied that he assumed early on that the perpetrator of the Newtown, Connecticut mass shooting of December 14, 2012 would be found to have a "certain condition" that we are left to interpret to mean an Autism.  The suspect in that shooting, Adam Lanza, is purported to have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome among other things.

Here is what Scarborough said, “The second Mika and I heard the news that there was a shooting in Connecticut, I said, ‘you watch. This kid is going to have a certain condition,' I won’t say it here on the air because people will kill me for saying it.”

Here is a link to the clip on youtube.com:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzE4Uj_ws4s

Read a bit more about how Scarborough has inaccurately suggested a link between Autism and violent acts to his massive television audience here: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/ass-burger-syndrome-joe-scarborough-falsely-links-autism-to-mass-shootings-again/

At one point it appears Joe Scarborough was convinced that Autism is caused by thimerosal in vaccines based on a discussion he had with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on June 22, 2005 as well.  Here is a bit of what Scarborough had to say back then, "There's no doubt in my mind — maybe it's two years from now.  Maybe it's five years from now.  Maybe it's 10 years from now.  We are going to find out Thimerosal causes, in my opinion, autism."

Here is a link to the full transcript of that discussion:  http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8243264/

The Associated Press adds advise for writing about mental disorders to AP Stylebook after reports of Adam Lanza's conditions

The Associated Press announced it is adding guidance for journalists reporting about people with mental disorders, particularly when they are involved in violent crimes like the Newtown mass shooting on December 14, 2012 involving the suspect Adam Lanza who was reported to have Asperger syndrome among other things.  The changes include guidelines which help to prevent the creation of misleading connections between a diagnosis and violent behavior, and to avoid reporting a diagnosis without a proper source.  Read more about it at wsu.edu here: http://news.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=35744

Comorbid psychiatric disorders may be more common with Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism than recognized

A search of published studies from 2000 to 2011 looking at the occurence of other disorders along side Asperger syndrome and High Functioning Autism that was recently reported indicates that other comorbid psychiatric disorders might be much more common than previously recognized.  For example obsessive compulsive disorder was found to be strongly associated with Asperger syndrome.  Although the DSM-IV-TR excludes a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) if there is an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, there was likewise a strong association shown between the two.  Tic disorders and Tourette Syndrome were also shown to be strongly associated with this population.  It is suggested that difficulties recognizing and expressing feelings and emotions make diagnosing comorbid psychiatric conditions more difficult in this population.  Read more about it at empr.com here:
http://www.empr.com/psychiatric-comorbidities-in-asperger-syndrome--too-often-unrecognized/article/276086/1/