You think Cho had some kind of autism? His peers never heard him spoke until that Wednesday rant on video.?

Answer 1

I am skeptical. I think it is more likely this is an example of misdiagnosis.

He was not diagnosed in early childhhood so there is a question as to whether he was mis-diagnosed. If unsocial behavior was due to autism, it would start at a very early age & get a bit better as the child made attempts at social interaction. If the unsocial behavior was due to mental illness, the early childhood might have been normal, but would be very likely to get much worse as time went on, especially around puberty. And as someone pointed out, his rant proved he COULD talk, he just choose not to. That points to mental illness more than autism.

He was clearly mentally ill. Either the family was unwilling to admit that & choose to claim he was autistic instead, OR he was BOTH autistic AND mentally ill.

But autism was not to blame for this tragedy.


Java j - That kind of thinking has been disproven for many MANY years! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Bettelheim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_mother
Even the "father of autism" Dr. Leo Kanner, recanted his former belief in blaming the parents, by 1969!

Answer 2

It's funny to read the responses as almost nobody here knows a damn thing about autism. Your assumptions and stereotypes highlight your ignorance. People are looking for a simple reason why someone would do what Cho did. Problem is there is no simple reason-there never is when things like this happen.

Answer 3

He was autistic. He was diagnosed at age 8 when he first entered the country.

"According to his great-aunt, Cho was diagnosed with autism some time after arriving in the United States at age 8, although it is unclear whether the label was accurate. Cho's flat emotional affect was evident through middle and high school years, during which he was bullied for speech difficulties."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cho_Seung-hui
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre

Answer 4

You have to understand that he moved to America when he was 8. He couldn't speak English, he couldn't communicate, and he couldn't make friends because of this. This is probably the first step of what would turn out to be his crazy mental so-called illness. And even after he learned English and could speak it, he didn't, because by then, his quiet and shyness was etched almost completely into his personality and character and himself. I think that if he was born in America, things could have turned out different for him. I don't think he suffers from any mental illness at all, I just think he had a tiring childhood. He was also teased at school because of his so called accent, but I believe that's because he didn't speak english so often, therefore couldn't get rid of his korean one he had since he was eight.

Answer 5

I can't believe the entire country is pointing at reasons other than the obvious. He was a victim of racist ridicule. I see some people on Yahoo saying they were teased which really is not accurately equatable to racism. Imagine, that you are black, and everyday people call you "******" 20 times a day, any time you try to speak or do anything. How are you supposed to be normal? You shrug off the 1st one, but not the rest. Now repeat that everyday of your life for 15 years.

Answer 6

Someone with autism doesn't just lose it all of a sudden when they're mad. Autism has to be treated in the early stages or else they're stuck with it. He was shy like people keep saying.

Answer 7

It sounds like he did. An uncle of his said that his family was worried when he was a child because he wouldn't talk. He didn't use the word autism. Maybe a clinical aproach wasn't taken and he was just made to feel stupid.

Answer 8

Autism covers a spectrum of disorders. Cho Seung-hui may have had the form of autism known as Asperger's syndrome.

Asperger's Disorder (Asperger Syndrome) is defined in section 299.80 of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) by six main criteria:

Qualitative impairment in social interaction;
o--- The presence of restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and interests;
o--- Significant impairment in important areas of functioning;
o--- No significant delay in language;
o---- During the first three years of life, there can be no clinically significant delay in cognitive development such as curiosity about the existing environment or the acquisition of age appropriate learning skills, self-help skills, or adaptive behaviors (other than social interaction); and,
o---- The symptoms must not be better accounted for by another specific pervasive developmental disorder or schizophrenia.

AS is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), one of five neurological conditions characterized by difference in language and communication skills, as well as repetitive or restrictive patterns of thought and behavior. The four related disorders or conditions are Autism, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified).

Dr. Theodore Millon, dean and scientific director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Personology and Psychopathology in Coral Gables, Fla. said, Mr. Cho’s taped rants, and his peers’ descriptions of him as a classmate, suggest a blend of severe and specific personality problems.

People with so-called avoidant personality disorder shun social situations because of a paralyzing dread of disapproval or criticism. Those with paranoid personality disorder nourish a deep distrust of others and see insults and malicious meanings in almost every interaction. Both are stubborn patterns of behavior that can begin in adolescence or earlier, and in his influential book, “Disorders of Personality” (Wiley, 1996), Dr. Millon identifies a blend of the two as “insular paranoid” disorder.

“Such people feel persecuted, deeply isolated, that the world rejects them, and they will often replace the real world with an inner one in which they act out their fantasies,” Dr. Millon said, adding that this inner world can be elaborate, a “pseudo-community” modeled after the real one in which they live. “The acting out usually stops there,” Dr. Millon said. “Only in rare circumstances do they confuse reality with this inner world.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/us/20psych.html

Anita Godfrey, president of the Mental Health Association of Broward County, said that many people recovering from mental illness lead productive lives. "Mental illness alone is not a predictor of violent crime," she said.
Godfrey noted that the onset of serious mental illness often occurs between ages 17 and 24. In many cases, the person refuses to believe he is ill and does not comply with treatment or medication.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-cmayocol19apr19,0,7571478.column

Answer 9

He could speak, he proved that. So for some reason he had chosen not to speek prior to the killing. It is not normal, thats for sure. But guessing won't help at all.

Answer 10

No, and I hate it when people always think that someone must have a problem because they aren't like everyone else.

I don't ever talk at school (in high school) myself, and I dislike it when I am forced to talk to people. Although it's not to the point that people wonder what my voice sounds like.