Expert: Dr. Sharon A. Mitchell - 1/25/2007

Question
Sharon-
Recently, a student with ASD was arrested with stabbing a classmate in school and has been charged with first-degree murder.  What can we expect for fallout in our schools?  How will parents react?  School committee members?  

Answer
What an awful situation for all concerned.

Was this a student in your school or are you asking for all schools/media coverage in general?

The fallout may depend a lot on how things are handled. If the stabbing is what is stressed, any diagnosis the accused student may have may not even be mentioned. Or possibly not mentioned until his defense attorney brings out that information at trial.

I have been unable to find any studies that show there is a higher level of aggression in people with Asperger's. That's positive. Yet young people with Asperger's and any autism spectrum disorder can become frustrated and angry. Actually, sort of like any teen.

Often in the adolescent years, kids with Asperger's (AS) realize that they are somewhat different from their peers. This can be a difficult time, leading to frustration, depression and some acting out.

I think this would be more prevalent when the emphasis at home and school has been on the student's academic potential. As parents, we may want people to focus on how smart our child is. As teachers, we're more comfortable dealing with academic issues. Only at our peril do we overlook the social training needs of such students.

When you think about the characteristics of AS, it is easy to see the social difficulties kids may find themselves in. Think about:
- sensory sensitivities
- weak auditory processing skills
- difficulty reading body and non-verbal language
- social awkwardness
- misinterpretation of social cues
- unique interests that may not fit with what is "in"
- weak gross motor skills
- being immature
- overly concrete in their interpretation of language
- trouble understanding sarcasm, innuendos and teasing
- weak executive functioning and central coherence

Such characteristics open a child to the possibility of being a victim bullying as well as not having the social skills to deal with the situation.

Noted AS researchers and authors Klin, Volkmar & Sparrow have this to say about the subject, “We have seen many individuals whose natural talents are wasted due to their untreated social disability and other weaknesses (e.g. inability to manage the practical aspects of independent living.”  (Asperger Syndrome (2002), p. 8.)

For some students, medications can help stabilize moods, alleviate some of the depression and address some of the attention and central coherence issues.

Goldstein has written excellent books on helping such kids with social skills: Skill-Streaming the Adolescent and Skill-Streaming the Elementary Child. (http://www.amazon.com/Skill-Streaming-Adolescent-Structured-Learning-Prosocial/d...)

So has Brenda Smith Myles but more for younger children in "Asperger Syndrome and Difficult Moments". (http://www.amazon.com/Asperger-Syndrome-Difficult-Moments-Practical/dp/193128270...)

Also for younger children is "Asperger Syndrome and Young Children: Building Skills for the Real World" (http://www.amazon.com/Asperger-Syndrome-Young-Children-Building/dp/1592330622/sr...)

Jeanette McCaffee, a physician and mother of a child with Asperger's has written a relevant, easy-to-use how-to-type manual called "Navigating the Social World". http://www.amazon.com/Navigating-Social-World-Individuals-Functioning/dp/1885477... It is also available on DVD.

Because of this stabbing, if parents are concerned about other AS students,it would help if you could talk about your school's bullying policies, the efforts toward safe schools and the social skills programs you implement.

And you might consider passing out well-researched, sound information on just what Asperger's is. Here's a good general article on Asperger's: http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/as_thru_years.html

My sympathies in this sad situation.

Sharon A. Mitchell
http://www.autismsite.ca
_____________________________________________
As a follow-up, you might be interested in reading a recent Boston Globe article by Dr. Eileen Costello on this topic, called The Facts and Myths of Asperger's. She makes specific reference to the stabbing incident to which I think you are referring. Dr. Costello is also the author of an excellent book on "quirky kids".

You can read her article here: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/01/30/the_...

And, you can take a look at her book by pasting the following link into your browser window: http://www.amazon.com/Quirky-Kids-Understanding-Helping-Doesnt/dp/0345451430/sr=...

Sharon A. Mitchell