HARTFORD, Conn. -- A Hartford Courant/Frontline investigation into Newtown killer Adam Lanza led to a documentary that aired last night (February 19th) on PBS, revealing new information about his troubled life.
Lanza was diagnosed at a young age with sensory integration disorder, a medically controversial diagnosis indicating he had trouble coping with bright lights, loud noises and knowing when he was in pain.
Later on, he was diagnosed in middle school with Asperger's, a condition related to autism that makes social interaction challenging.
A friend of Lanza's mother, who he killed before going to Sandy Hook Elementary School to carry out the massacre, told Frontline that when Adam was just six years old, he didn't like to be touched, and would recoil or get upset if other kids touched him.
Richard Novia, who co-founded the tech club Lanza joined at Newtown High School, told Frontline that the teen would have what he called "episodes" in which he'd completely withdraw from the world, sometimes sitting in a corner, motionless.
