Spring Break
Asperger's explored: A piece of the puzzle?
Katrina Tupper
Issue date: 10/28/09 Section: News
Scott Hawkins, the victim in the Oct. 21 homicide, was known to have Asperger's disorder.
Kim Roberts, a psychology professor at Sacramento State, was able to describe Asperger's disorder and her thoughts on what may have happened behind the scenes between these two men.
Roberts said that Asperger's disorder is a social issue.
"We use to refer to Asperger's as the 'geek syndrome,' but obviously we don't call it that anymore," Roberts said. "Asperger's is on the disorder spectrum of autism, but cognitively, subjects suffering from the disorder are really bright and highly functional. They may not know how to interact in a normal fashion. Most importantly, they don't understand social cues and have a hard time reading or sympathizing with emotion."
Roberts said that clinical psychologists attempt to teach these social cues to individuals with Asperger's disorder. She said that although this technique can prove effective, it is difficult because social cues are so instinctual and instincts are hard to teach.
Roberts said the general code of appropriateness most human beings understand may be unknown to those with Asperger's.
"If someone shared the death of their pet with an individual with Asperger's, that individual might say, 'Well, it's just a dog,' not being able to empathize that it's not just a dog to that person, it's their dog," Roberts said.
Roberts said from what she understands, Hawkins was very bright and, although he did not have many friends, it seemed as if he was coping with Asperger's disease pretty well.
"I assume that Quran Jones (the suspect) didn't know how to deal with the symptoms of Asperger's," Roberts said.
Roberts said that many are not aware of the disease and may mistake the symptoms as "weird."
She said the strange mannerisms associated with Asperger's may have been an annoyance to Jones, but because of his newly found reclusive behavior, he may not have expressed these aggravations.
Roberts said witnesses have provided information of Jones' reserved behavior. She said that Jones was not getting the catharsis he needed because of this introverted lifestyle.
"Many of (Jones') friends said he was getting quieter and quieter as the year progressed and ultimately becoming a whole different person. That's a red flag for psychologists," Roberts said. "The ultimate problem there is that depression cannot be treated until the victim asks for help."
Roberts said that depression leads to chemical imbalances and that this may have caused Jones' outbreak.
"If Jones was depressed, clinically depressed, his serotonin levels, which enable happiness, were down and something probably sparked this annoyance towards Hawkins, which must have been building up inside of him for a while. This in turn builds up adrenaline and may have been the catalyst for Jones' instant rage," Roberts said.
Roberts said it upsets her that she wasn't able to help Jones ahead of time.
"When I heard of the incident it broke my heart," Roberts said. "I saw it on the news and thought, 'How could this happen?' There are psychologists all around here and campus and it's just too bad that we couldn't help ahead of time."
Katrina Tupper can be reached at ktupper@statehornet.com.
Kim Roberts, a psychology professor at Sacramento State, was able to describe Asperger's disorder and her thoughts on what may have happened behind the scenes between these two men.
Roberts said that Asperger's disorder is a social issue.
"We use to refer to Asperger's as the 'geek syndrome,' but obviously we don't call it that anymore," Roberts said. "Asperger's is on the disorder spectrum of autism, but cognitively, subjects suffering from the disorder are really bright and highly functional. They may not know how to interact in a normal fashion. Most importantly, they don't understand social cues and have a hard time reading or sympathizing with emotion."
Roberts said that clinical psychologists attempt to teach these social cues to individuals with Asperger's disorder. She said that although this technique can prove effective, it is difficult because social cues are so instinctual and instincts are hard to teach.
Roberts said the general code of appropriateness most human beings understand may be unknown to those with Asperger's.
"If someone shared the death of their pet with an individual with Asperger's, that individual might say, 'Well, it's just a dog,' not being able to empathize that it's not just a dog to that person, it's their dog," Roberts said.
Roberts said from what she understands, Hawkins was very bright and, although he did not have many friends, it seemed as if he was coping with Asperger's disease pretty well.
"I assume that Quran Jones (the suspect) didn't know how to deal with the symptoms of Asperger's," Roberts said.
Roberts said that many are not aware of the disease and may mistake the symptoms as "weird."
She said the strange mannerisms associated with Asperger's may have been an annoyance to Jones, but because of his newly found reclusive behavior, he may not have expressed these aggravations.
Roberts said witnesses have provided information of Jones' reserved behavior. She said that Jones was not getting the catharsis he needed because of this introverted lifestyle.
"Many of (Jones') friends said he was getting quieter and quieter as the year progressed and ultimately becoming a whole different person. That's a red flag for psychologists," Roberts said. "The ultimate problem there is that depression cannot be treated until the victim asks for help."
Roberts said that depression leads to chemical imbalances and that this may have caused Jones' outbreak.
"If Jones was depressed, clinically depressed, his serotonin levels, which enable happiness, were down and something probably sparked this annoyance towards Hawkins, which must have been building up inside of him for a while. This in turn builds up adrenaline and may have been the catalyst for Jones' instant rage," Roberts said.
Roberts said it upsets her that she wasn't able to help Jones ahead of time.
"When I heard of the incident it broke my heart," Roberts said. "I saw it on the news and thought, 'How could this happen?' There are psychologists all around here and campus and it's just too bad that we couldn't help ahead of time."
Katrina Tupper can be reached at ktupper@statehornet.com.
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