[acb-hsp] When Science Doesn't Count

[peter altschul]

When Science Doesn't Count
  Maggie Gallagher Dec 20, 2012
  When the press reported that Adam Lanza had Asperger's syndrome 
(part of the autism spectrum disorders) and other unspecified 
personality problems, the autism community swung into action in a 
way that is totally understandable.  The Associated Press' 
headline: "Experts: No Link Between Asperger's, Violence." The 
vast majority of autistic people are not violent.  Autistics like 
Temple Grandin, the professor who helped create humane strategies 
for the meat industry, remind us that many people with 
high-functioning also go on to live full, rich lives of value to 
themselves and others.  Grandin also reminded us that, for 
autistic people, "The principal emotion experienced by autistic 
people is fear."
  If you cannot read people's social cues, it's hard to tell who 
is a threat and who is not.  If you live in a world with social 
rules created by "neurotypicals" that make no sense, anxiety and 
fear are natural, perhaps inevitable, responses.
  But the suggestion that science has demonstrated there is no 
link at all between autism and aggressive violence is 
questionable.
  Google "autism" and "aggression" and you will suddenly be 
treated to a counter world the formal autism community claims 
does not exist: desperate mothers seeking help or respite from 
the violent behavior of large, aggressive, beloved autistic boys 
(and a few girls).  In the name of love and absent decent 
institutions for these troubled young adults, we are permitting a 
silent epidemic of domestic terrorism against women that we would 
not tolerate under any other banner.
  These are mothers.  Many are willing to sacrifice their lives, 
if necessary, to keep their beloved sons out of institutions that 
would terrify them.
  Consider an essay by novelist Ann Bauer.  She believed 
passionately that autism is a beautiful, mysterious 
neurodifference.  She wrote essays about her fierce love for her 
son Andrew and his beautiful mind.  Then in 2009, she wrote 
another essay, "The Monster Inside My Son," after learning about 
Trudy Steuernagel's murder by her 18-year-old autistic son, Sky: 
"I'm exhausted and hopeless and vaguely hung over because Andrew, 
who has autism, also has evolved from sweet, dreamy boy to 
something like a golem: bitter, rampaging, full of rage.  It 
happened no matter how fiercely I loved him or how many therapies 
I employed."
  Ann is an "official writer," but on the Web there is heartbreak 
galore.  One mother of an 11-year-old with high-functioning 
autism: "Over the last year he has evolved into a violently 
tempered child who seems to 'snap' when things (don't) go his 
way.  He is at a point now that he has pulled knives on us and 
our other child and has threatened to kill us. ...  I have no 
idea what to do and I'm in tears daily." Another mom: "He has 
bitten me, tried to strangle me, tried to sit on my younger son 
to crush him when he was an infant (18 months old) talked of 
shooting us, shooting our younger son in the eye with a bow and 
arrow, punched himself in the face so he got a black eye, threw 
large objects at us like our baby's sit-and-spin, kicked my 
husband in the groin area, aggressed toward babies in the park, 
punched me and my younger son while I was driving etc. ...  This 
is the short list." Yet another: "I have spent the entire evening 
feeling so alone.  Thanks for all your stories.  I am recovering 
from my son's outburst this evening.  The bruises from the last 
one were just starting to heal.  He has autism, and at 13, he is 
over 6 feet tall and 200 pounds.  There are pieces bitten out of 
my arms and hands, and my breast and stomach are full of red 
bruises.  His much smaller twin brother tried to get him off of 
me and got bit in the process.  I sent him out of the room so he 
would not get hurt any further.  My husband left us and a divorce 
is in the works." Enough anecdotes.
  The 19th European Congress of Psychiatry abstracts included one 
study of "autism and violence." Researchers in Morocco handed out 
questionnaires to families being served by handicapped centers.  
They found that 43.3 percent of families in this sample reported 
problems with aggression.
  According to another recent study, "The prevalence of and risk 
factors for aggression were examined in 1,380 children and 
adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASAID).  Prevalence 
was high, with parents reporting that 68 percent had demonstrated 
aggression to a caregiver and 49 percent to non-caregivers."
  The human cost of denying the relationship between autism and 
aggression is simply unacceptable.  Mothers need to know they 
should not allow themselves to be hit, beaten, bitten or 
threatened in their own homes.  And a mother like Liza Long, who 
is afraid enough to have developed a "safe" for her younger 
children in the event their brother goes berserk, needs to know 
her first obligation, her very first one, is to protect those 
siblings and give them a safe home.
  We need to give them better options than generalized 
overcrowded psych wards, jail and permitting violence against 
mothers.