Identifying Information

Adam Lanza is a white male who lives in Sandy Hook with his mother. He is 20 years old. Adam has lived with his mother ever since his parents got separated when he was 9 years old. Growing up, Adam has attended multiple schools. There have been multiple episodes of home schooling which involved his mother and father. In the recent past, Adam attended the Western Connecticut State University. This was necessary as he was required to attain additional high school credits (Solomon 9).

Adam has no past record of employment. Since he no longer attends school, his days are spent in his house. He also spends a considerable amount of time in a local movie house where he is constantly playing the game “Dance Dance” (Solomon 10). Adam has his own room. When he is at home, Adam spends most of his time in his room. He has been known to prevent his mother from coming into his room when he was upset.

 

Presenting Concerns

Adam’s father is concerned that Adam has become withdrawn. Adam and his father no longer talk through e-mail as they sued to. The same is also evident between Adam and his mother. As opposed to having a face to face interaction, Adam and his mother speak through e-mail, despite living in the same house (Solomon 11). His parents are also worried that Adam lacks in common social skills. In addition, Adam fails to show emotion and empathy. His concentration is limited, a factor that reflects negatively in his performance.

In addition to his parent’s concern, his teachers have also expressed serious concerns with Adam’s behavior. In the fifth grade, a teacher observed that Adam had an increased interest in violence, which showed in his writing (Solomon 3-4). The teacher also observed that Adam was not normal, and that he was anti-social. Owing to these concerns, it is evident that Adam’s teachers and parents prefer a child who was socially competent, emotionally attached and one who does not have a fixation on violence.

 

Current Functioning:

 

Symptoms:

 

– Adam lacked social skills as a child. After growing up, the problem persisted.  He argued that he did not see a need for friends (Solomon 5). He does not like to make eye contact when speaking to people.

 

– He started having panic attacks when he joined middle school.

 

– He is emotionally detached from his parents.  He says that he would not feel sad if anything happened to his mother (Solomon 11). This demonstrates insensitivity and a lack of empathy.

 

– He is withdrawn. He prefers his own company. This has escalated to a point where he has become estranged from his father and has minimal interaction with his mother.

 

– When Adam was 9, a psychiatrist, Robert King, noticed that Adam was afraid of touching metallic objects such as doorknobs. His mother affirms this when she says that she spends a lot of tissues to hold doorknobs.

 

– His mother also notes that Adam lacks the ability to concentrate for long periods of time.

 

– During the later years of his teenage life, he became increasingly fixated on mass killings.

 

Strengths:

 

– Adam’s father considered him to have a good sense of humor (Solomon 4,8).

 

– Another obvious strength present in Adam was resilience. While this was not evident in all of his engagements, Adam would endure long hours dancing to “Dance Dance” (Solomon 10). He was set on learning all the moves in the game.

 

– When he was little Adam was known to have spent his savings to buy presents for children that were in need (Solomon 4). This demonstrates his generous and caring nature.

 

Developmental History

Adam’s history is filled with multiple events that left a lasting impression on his development. To begin with, Adam, albeit being a healthy child, did not develop speech abilities until he was 3. In addition, Adam’s parents separated when he was young. He went to live with his mother, despite the obvious close relationship he shared with his father. When he started attending Middle School, his daily schedule changed. When confusion kicked in, his parents decided to transfer him from his initial school and enroll him in a catholic school. Another important event took place when his parents decided to home school Adam.  While in Middle school, Adam was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a term he refused to become associated with (Solomon 5). Adam’s parent’s finalized their divorce in 2009, leading Adam to lose interest in his father.

 

Caregiver-family History

Before his parent’s separation, Adam grew up with both parents. After the separation, his mother became the sole care-giver. His mother decided to become a full-time mom so she could take care of her son. Her mother’s mental health has never been questioned. In addition to his mother, Adam continued to interact with his father and brother, Ryan. The two, were the only family member who remained a part of Adam’s life. For the past two years, however, Adam has refused to speak with both his father and his brother (Solomon 10). His father and brother never took on the role of the caregiver.

 

Family Relational History

Before his parent’s separation, Ryan claimed that Adam and their father were close. They always played Lego in the basement together (Solomon 3). At this point, Adam only has a sensory disorder. As aforementioned, Adam continually interacted with his father, even after his parent’s divorce. However, this changed as he grew older. The individualism aspect of the American culture is evident in Adam’s later life. He chooses to alienate himself from all his family members. He stops speaking to Ryan and his father. Despite living in the same house with his mother, Adam emails his mother, as opposed to speaking with her face to face.  He has even gone as far as to lock his mother out of his room.

 

Assessment of Strengths and Risks

 

Strengths

 

Risks

 

Biological

(Medical conditions, neuro-developmental Dx, overall health, etc.)

Besides a sensory   disorder that was diagnosed when he was a child, Adam is a healthy individual

The sensory disorder   poses risk. In addition, Adam has also been previously diagnosed with Aperger’s   which can co-occur with other psychological conditions.

 

Psychological

(Emotional and cognitive competencies and challenges, coping skills,   adaptive skills)

Adam prefers his own   company. He demonstrates independence, a clear sign of his coping and   adaptive skills.

On the other hand,   Adam’s self-alienation could be a sign of little to no social and emotional skills.

 

Interpersonal

(Family relationships, peer relationships, mentors, etc.)

Adam seems to enjoy a   good relatively good relationship with his mother.

Since his mother is   the only individual in Adam’s life, there is a clear lack of interpersonal   interaction in Adam’s life

 

Sociocontextual

(Physical home environment, childcare, community characteristics,   family circumstances, current services, etc.)

Adam lives in a   decent house. His mother is always around to help him with whatever he needs.

Owing to his parent’s   divorce, Adam has grown up in a single-parent setting.

 

Clinical Formulation

A large number of Adam’s unusual traits as a child, such as increased sensitivity, his lack of social skills and emotional attachment can be understood to belong to an autism diagnosis. As he grows up, Adam becomes increasingly obsessed and fixated on particular things. For instance he does not like the sound of his mother’s new heels. Obsessive compulsive traits in individuals are usually a sign of an underlying case of schizophrenia.

As a child, Adam’s speech is delayed. As he grows up, his parents separate and he is forced to grow up without his father. A misdiagnosis of Asperger’s leads the parent to seek other explanation to their child’s worsening condition. Adam’s mother chooses to home school Adam, as opposed to allowing him to interact with his peers.  All these and other factors can be sued to explain the poor outcome in Adam’s development.

 

Assessment of Risk

My main concern for Adam is that he may continue with his life without developing any meaningful relations with people, other than his mother. Adam will continue to remain at risk of experiencing a deficiency in his social and emotional development. If his condition is not addressed, Adam could remain both socially and emotionally handicapped for life. An additional concern is that Adam’s obsession with mass killings could represent an underlying condition. In the absence of social and emotional cognition, I fear that Adam may choose to act on his obsession.

 

Initial Steps and Treatment Recommendations

I recommend that both Adam and his parents take part in family therapy session. This would help Adam and his parents grow closer as a family. In turn, this will help Adam deal with his emotional and social deficits. In addition, I would advise Adam’s parents to reintegrate Adam into the community. Sending Adam to study amongst his peers will prevent him from being alienated. This will help him become more socially competent.

 

Works Cited

Solomon, Andrew. The reckoning, The father of the Sandy Hook Killer Searches for Answers. The New Yorker. Web. 5th Aug, 2015.

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