Is there a connection between violent behavior and autism or Asperger's? This is a highly controversial subject. There is currently a large population of individuals being diagnosed in the autism spectrum, currently it is listed as one in 68. To suggest that all of those individuals have violent tendencies based on the actions of a few could lead to detrimental consequences.
Yet there have been several high media cases involving men diagnosed with Asperger's causing wide scale violence.
In 2007 Michael John Anderson, then 18 years old, put out an ad on Craigslist for a babysitter and killed the young women who responded. He had Asperger's. Story Here
In 2009 a severely autistic young man beat his mother to death. Story Here
Peter Mangs killed a dozen people over a two year period in Switzerland. He was 40 years old and diagnosed with Asperger's. Story Here
There is Adam Lanza who in 2012 walked into Sandy Creek Elementary and tragically took the lives of 20 students and six adults. Story Here
Recently in 2014 a young man named Elliot Rodger went on a shooting rampage at UC Santa Barbara. Story Here
These are but a handful of high media stories. There are many more, and other families who are struggling with violence and Asperger's.
I have my own story about the connection between violence and Asperger's syndrome.
My son was hospitalized for the first time when he was seven. He had stolen a knife, possibly from the kitchen at his school, brought it home, stabbed up his bedroom, and then attempted to stab me. He was seven and small. It was relatively easy to stop him and transport him to the emergency room. They locked my son, my two daughters, and myself in a room together - even though he had just attempted to kill me.
Hours later they sent in a nurse to assess him. I sat, still with my two daughters, and listened to him describe how he planned on killing me. They then instructed me, without any escort or help, to transport him to a local mental hospital.
He stayed there a week. He came home with stories about playing Rock Band with the big kids, and being allowed to eat as much blueberry pie as he wanted.
A year later, as school was nearing an end, I was sitting in the drive through at McDonalds, waiting to buy them ice cream cones. My son started telling me how he was going to cut me apart piece by piece. We got the ice cream and called his therapist. I was reluctant to take him back to the hospital. He seemed to love it there a bit too much. However, at her insistence he was admitted to a different adolescent psych ward. She wanted to expedite some MRI scans.
Once again he stayed a week. Once again nothing changed when he was released. I vowed never to admit him to the hospital again, and came to terms that one day I would probably die at the hands of one of my children.
With therapy and a lot of patience and work things began to turn around. Over the next five years I began to let go of the fear of harm from my child. Life was not a constant struggle every single day.
However, even then there were concerns. My son was in sixth grade when Sandy Creek occurred. At the beginning of the year he had an in school suspension for bringing a weapon to school. Thankfully it was plastic and could not do any harm. A month before Sandy Creek my son's teacher sent him to the office because she discovered a notebook covered in drawings of guns. She was afraid that he could potentially shoot up his school. His application for therapy was expedited.
Yet even the concern of his teacher began to be forgotten due to his smiling face and his calm disposition, if he received everything that he wants.
Then puberty hit. Now we are back to hiding kitchen knifes (dull ones) in his bedroom. There are violent outburst with vacuum cleaners being thrown at my head. There are vague threats of "you will be sorry" or "you are going to regret that" because he knows that anything more specific will put him back in the psych hospital, and his childhood love of the place has turned into a teenage fear of being contained.
Do I think that my son could potentially do something? I hope not. I am working very hard with his support team so that nothing happens. Yet, so were many of the other families that had children that went the extra step and did the unthinkable.
The honest reality is that because my son is verbal and has an average intelligence he does not qualify for as many services as children who are lower functioning on the spectrum. In many ways I accept this. He does not need long hours of ABA therapy. Yet he, and other individuals with Asperger's who are prone to violence needs support specific to his needs. This support starts with the recognition that maybe there is a link between some individuals with Asperger's and violence.
No parent wants to stand up and say that they are afraid that their child may cause harm to another. I pray everyday that my son is not the one, and that there are no more. That people will stop being so concerned about the stigma and start fighting for the support. Isn't that what every family effected by ASD fights for everyday?
Is there a connection between violence and Asperger's? Research is starting to say yes, there is. Allely and collogues (2014) have even suggested that there may be an increased association with ASD and mass killers if other psychological traumas were also present. It has even been suggested by Fitzgerald (2010) that there should be a subset of Asperger's classified as Criminal Autistic Psychopathy. Yet there is still much research that needs to be conducted to be sure.
Considering any possible connection of violence and Asperger's will not stigmatize the entire autism population. It will not increase the incidents of violence committed by individuals with Asperger's. What it will do is start to fund research, to increase support, and help parents like myself go to bed without fear.
References
Allely, C. S., Minnis, H., Thompson, L., Wilson, P., & Gillberg, C. (2014). Neurodevelopmental and psychosocial risk factors in serial killers and mass murderers. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19, 288-301.
Fitzgerald, M. (2010). Autistic psychopathy. Journal of the American Academy Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 870.
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