ASD Teenager With New Very Scary/ Dangerous Issues

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Hello,

My family and I are going through a scary and intense time with my 13 year-old ASD son. For the last couple months, he has become tormented by the sound of his five year-old sister's voice. Each time she speaks around him he screams continuously and has started to say he is going to kill her. He most recently told me he has been planning to stab her in her sleep. Because of this, my husband and I have been having our daughter sleep in our room with the door locked and the knives hidden.

To give you a little background, he has a twin brother who also has ASD. His twin is sensitive to sound, but not like this. Also, my son has struggled with sleep in a major way the last couple years and we have finally started to stabilize his sleep with 37.5 mg Seroquel at night. His symptoms started before taking this medication and his doctor was hoping we could address his symptoms by helping him sleep more.

We did bring him to the hospital for a mental evaluation on Monday after we caught him repeatedly hitting himself with a juggling pin. When he was hitting himself, he was screaming, "Get out of my body!" He believes that his sister possessed him and that she is a demon. He was screaming for help and seemed to have lost all touch with reality. Despite this, the hospital sent him away and the therapist who met with us at the hospital acted liked this all was common for someone with ASD. I was confused. Of course, by the time my son was at the hospital, he was totally fine and calm.

Yesterday, in the classroom, he heard a sound that reminded him of his sister and he ran out. They found him far from the school with his socks and shoes off, muttering about how he was going to kill his sister.

I'm open to the very real possibility that he has a serious mental health issue comorbid with autism, but I don't seem to be getting any answers. My son is going to see an ear doctor in a couple weeks because we did discover that he has tinnitus and I personally believe he may have hyperacusis. But I don't think this can fully explain his behaviors. We are also meeting at a Crisis Resolution Center tomorrow to look for more options, so I am hopeful about that.

My question is, has anyone out there ever experienced something similar? If so, what was the outcome? What steps should we be taking now? Thank you for any advice you have or for pointing out something that I may not be seeing.

I was a bit like him when I was a teenager. Don't assume the worst. Be patient. He might just be experiencing intense emotions. He almost certainly doesn't literally mean some of their things he is saying. He is just struggling xcoming to terms with some things. A little immature. I've been there!

Thank you so much for your response, it means a lot to hear this! I haven't been sure how literal his thoughts are, so it brings me much relief to hear he might just be experiencing some super intense emotions and maybe doesn't know how to handle them or express them. Maybe he doesn't realize how strong his words are? Teenage years are tough! Thanks again for your reply, it gives me a lot of hope!

Fifasy, if you don't mind me asking, what helped you most during this time in your life? Is there a certain thing you can remember that was done that helped you or was it a matter of time and patience?

fifasy is probably right that nothing will come of this and it's probably just him lashing out with extreme verbal language due to stress, but some autistics have been known to crack and do violent things (not a popular opinion to bring up here, but it does happen once in a while) so I'd keep an eye on him until the stress gets minimized.

I still don't think it hurts to get him screened for schizophrenia or anything that can cause these delusions. Better safe than sorry than it getting brushed off for attention behavior or as being very stressed out. If someone is so stressed out, they get delusional, it's very concerning. Even I don't start to hallucinate or get delusional when I am very anxious or stressed out. I told my mother how lucky she was that I wasn't a schizophrenic because what if it turned out I was and she had ignored the signs in my middle school years and high school when I kept trying to claim our dog was evil and had an agenda. That might have just been my anxiety there that gave me those thoughts. But still safe than sorry.

Thank you League_Girl and Aristophanes, I appreciate both your insights very much, it is so helpful. Leaque_Girl, I agree that it wouldn't hurt to get him screened for schizophrenia. I have wondered this myself and was kind of shocked when the hospital turned us away despite his delusions. I wish they could have observed him longer. I have been reading how there are biological links between schizophrenia and autism and how often schizophrenia can be missed because it mimics a few symptoms of autism (withdrawal, sleeping issues...) My son claims he can hear his sister's voice even when she is not around and it sounds like a million voices all at once. He really believes this and will cry because he can't make it stop. Currently, we are keeping him separated as much as possible from his sister and his doctor gave us the option to admit him to a Psych Ward in a nearby town if we feel it is time. We are just trying to figure out if that's really the next step we need to take. He does (mostly) fine when he is alone or at school, but he does have a bad episode daily and we never know when it's going to happen, so we are constantly on edge. I'm hoping we can get some direction from the people at the Crisis Center tomorrow.

Is there a chance your son took some drugs, mainly psychedelic drugs? This could be signs of schizophrenia which can develop around that age, and could either develop naturally or be set off by psychedelic drugs. As others have said, this doesn't seem ASD related at all. The additional sensitivity to your daughter's voice could be due to lack of sleep. When somebody has a lack of sleep, their senses can become more sensitive, and having ASD already means he has sensory issues. Combine the two and you have ultra sensitivity.

I hope you bring him to a psychiatrist.

The bottom line here is your daughter's safety.

She is young, small, vulnerable, and only has her parents to protect her.

I understand that it really sucks that the potential threat to her comes from another one of your children, but she still needs protection, and her safety still has to be the highest priority. It can't matter *who* is causing the threat. You really can't afford that qualification, because *she* can't.

Your son, once properly diagnosed, treated, and guided through this harrowing situation, will be able to forgive you later if you overreact at this time, and he comes through everything all right.

Your daughter, if she is harmed or worse, never will.

I am terribly, terribly sorry that your family has to face this.