Expert: Dr. Sharon A. Mitchell - 8/14/2010

Question
Me and my husband have a 16-year-old daughter with Asperger's syndrome. We're in our late 40s, I work for the local council, my husband works as a heavy goods vehicle driver.
On Tuesday I got a phone call off the leader of our local youth club informing me he found our daughter "high and struggling to stand up, let alone walk."

He told me he'd found male hormones and marijuana on her, and brought her home to us.

Me and my husband were shocked by this, our daughter's never been involved in anything like this before, she's always been a kind, pleasant girl.

We asked her who she got the male hormones and marijuana off and she told us it was this guy called Tim who regularly comes to the youth club.

As a result of this, we tried to show concern for her, rather than punish her, and got the police involved but they told us "It's not a major thing, unless it involves drink-driving or theft of motor vehicles legally we can't help. Take it to arbitration instead".

We found a few more amounts of male hormones stashed under her bed.

Our daughter told us she doesn't want a sex-change, she just got "high" off the male hormones that Tim had brought and gave out to a few youths in the youth club.

My husband is furious, and wants to confront Tim in person about this.

Our daughter feels guilty, and said to us she's only done it twice, and never again since, and said she wants help.

I'm not so sure about this - what's the best way to handle it?

Any advice you have would be appreciated.

[btw, I'm British]

Answer
Any parent would be worried upon learning that their child was experimenting with drugs.

This almost sounds like more of a parenting question than an autism/Asperger's question.

On the plus side, it sounds like your daughter is involved in a social life, while some other teens with Asperger's find this more of a struggle.

I would think that the managers of the youth club would not be pleased to learn that participants in their club are using the facility to deal drugs. I would suggest that you speak with them. Since the youth club leader called you, he must be concerned about stopping this sort of behaviour.

While many teens experiment with drugs, it still is worrying. Some young people who struggle with depression or other mental health issues may turn to drugs in an attempt to self-medicate. If you think your daughter may be depressed or have some other mood disorder, medical help may be in order. Depression is not unusual in young people with autism spectrum disorders.

Many people with Asperger's are rational and would appreciate a well presented argument on why it is not good to take illegal drugs. Giving her the facts on the dangers - for the body and mind, having her speak to those who could offer more details might help convince her this is not the behaviour she wishes to engage in.

About the male hormones, I'm afraid that I have no suggestions, other than to treat them like other drugs. I am not familiar with kids taking such hormones, other than steriods.

Best wishes,

Sharon A. Mitchell, B.A., B.Ed., M.A., PhD candidate
www.autismsite.ca