The monster inside my son with autism...WTH?

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I know, I was trying to say that I think his ASD was probably relevant to this.

the article mentions he was put on psychiatric medications, wich are proven to cause violence.

Hm, that reminds me of the opening scene of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", where Mr. Hyde tramples over a little girl who happens to be blocking his path...

See, un autism related. His violence isn't linked to his autism, it's linked to something else.

Yes, but some NTs are violent due to their NT brains. You know who the most violent people on the planet are? They're not serial killers; they're NT two-year-olds. The only reason two year olds don't kill each other is that we don't give them guns.

I don't remember the exact numbers, but I remember reading up on a large-scale survey of violent acts committed by autistic people; all the numbers came out actually below the NT average--slightly below for Aspies, even lower for auties, and extremely low for profound autism (the kind where you need 24 hour care).

It's silly to say autistics are non-violent. We're human beings; and some human beings will be violent. The only way you can be non-violent is to be in a coma; and even then, you could still accidentally hit somebody while having a seizure or something.

We might be violent for different reasons. A NT teen might be violent because someone has been sleeping with his girlfriend; an autistic teen might be violent because someone has just poked him for the forty-seventh time and he can't take it anymore.

But to say autistics are more violent doesn't make any sense, because while we do have a great many more meltdowns, most of these aren't violent in an anti-social way--only a minority of them involve hitting another human being, and often because said human being is attempting to restrain us. Those meltdowns are outnumbered slightly or even significantly by the acts of violence that NTs commit.

We're not saints--and we can be downright evil. But so can NTs. (I don't think, incidentally, that decreased rates of violence by autistic people are due to any sort of moral superiority. I think we just have less opportunity, since we have less contact with other people.)

It's a fallacy to think that because an autistic person is capable of violence, it must be because he is autistic; it's even worse to focus on autistic violence and ignore the fact that NTs are violent, too.

Last edited by Callista on 29 Mar 2009, 1:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Why are so many peoples' hackles getting raised over this?

People seem to think that this article is an attack on anyone with autism, when it clearly isn't.

Unfortunately, when you have something as complex as a neurological disorder, not everyone is going to be exactly the same.

Some may, unfortunatly be violent. Luckily it seems to be a relatively minute number.

Personally, my heart goes out to the mother, and I will try my best never to be like her son.

If one person can grow up to become Ghandi, then another person can grow up to be Hitler.

as for a link to autism.....personally i'll have to believe that it could happen the same way. You've got some of us who'll get physically ill if they think about hurting someone else. Then there are some of us with a Rage inside. Boiling. Hidden.
Just waiting for something to set us off then before you know it, 20 people are dead.

no one ever said autism was all sunshine and rainbows.

I honestly think that the boy had other problems then just Autism (and possibly misdiagnoses). I think that he had schizophrenia regardless if he had Autism or not.

I don't know how many people are like me but I know if someone interfered with my routines I would immediately have a meltdown. I would scream and yell and throw s**t everywhere. The mom was always trying to interfere with her son. This isn't the best idea.

Last edited by reddingcal on 29 Mar 2009, 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Schizophrenia wouldn't make him violent either, though.

I don't think we can attribute this to an illness. Some people just make bad decisions.

It certainly doesn't help if he is already frustrated and angry. I guess I am a little biased because they Schizophrenics I've seen were very violent and psychotic.

*ahem*

That article linked to the following article:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/0 ... index.html

Apparently this man had "autistic catatonia", made MUCH worse by the psych meds they were giving him, the Abilify and the Geodon and the antidepressants, and they were giving him this junk because of kickbacks from Big Pharma. Fortunately, I never had such trouble with meds, but I know a lot of you have had bad experiences on meds. Geodon made me weepy and emotionally flat; conceivably it could make another person a raging animal.

I've known people like him who aren't autistic. People who think it's okay to use violence to resolve their issues. Like, if someone says something to them they fly off the handle, start kicking and punching, grabbing the person that pissed them off's shirt and dragging them to the ground. For some reason, certain people has got it thru their heads it's acceptable and honorable to duke it out. It's very common. It's one reason it's so scary dealing with people. You say something they don't like and they want to beat you for it? To me, that's insane.
I've seen plenty of violent people. That's my main message. People are too damn violent!! !

WOW. Every parent needs to read articles like this. I'm not going to jump on the corruption bandwagon, but I will say NEVER allow a professional to talk you out of what you KNOW is true and INTO something your instincts as a parent don't trust. Even well intentional professionals mess up, and none know your child like you do.

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But now I read the FIRST article, which apparently takes place after the above .... not so positive, not so clear. The path to that point was mangled; there isn't much point in discussing fault.

But I think she's right. She makes no conclusions, disclaims any specific theoretic connection; she seems to simply say that we need to know it's possible.

In that simple statement, I see truth.

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But I can't help but wonder the part the drugs played in all this. I am NOT giving any to my son and hopefully will never be tempted to. I can't help but wonder what part they played.

Last edited by DW_a_mom on 29 Mar 2009, 5:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have punched inanimate things but I only hit other people if they hit me first.

violence in autistics in general [not based on the story that is linked to],is very common when base it on Autistics in residential care and day centres-am experience it on a daily basis,through self,and others-though for self it's never random violence-maybe for the man in question,body chemicals and hormones could be causing problems as well?
in residential care-there is only one autistic am have known who does not have violence problems [a male aspie],it will be different for those who live in mainstream.

Am agree with what Sora has said,because it is very true-one persons experience isn't the spectrum,and it certainly isnt what am experience or those am live and have lived with.


It isn't just random violence that gets classed as violence [or the official name it gets in formal places- challenging behavior],it more often than not has a cause from autism clashing with a trigger from outside the person,by problems such as communication [examples-not being able to communicate something, someone filling in the communication instead of listening to the person or watching them for signs,someone not understanding self etc], not being able to express self-needs,wants,dislikes,if ill etc....
people who make changes to someones regular surroundings,staff changes,if a staff with a different skin colour comes on shift [am remember a severe aspie lady like that,she was only used to seeing white skinned people as part of her routine]....not understanding that when others are hurt they are hurt because are not the one feeling it,not understanding and processing the difference between object and living creature [eg, nothing personal but means anything can be at risk].
But..Autistics all over the spectrum who have violence problems are known to be violent towards themselves more than to others [thats if at all to others].