Aggressive autistic children

My nine year old nephew, who has recently been diagonsed with mild autism is aggressive. His behaviour mainly happens at school and is often targeted from being bullied. He cannot control his anger and has no sense of humour and cannot handle jokes or being joked with. He often talks about stabbing and killing, which is very worrying. Any help or advice you can offer me will be greatly appreciated.

[Jessica L Thomason Sassi, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

Unfortunately, without information as to why he is engaging in this aggressive behavior, it is difficult to determine how to effectively reduce the behavior. In addition, I’m reluctant to give you any specific advice about trying to change his behavior, as it’s not unusual for changes in programs to result in at least initial increases in behavior severity or frequency.  
If he is receiving special education services (in many states, special education services cover a young person until they are 22 years of age), you could ask the school if they have a Behavior Analyst on their staff who might be able to help you address his behavior. If these problems are occurring at school, it’s likely that the school is already trying to address them – hopefully, that person would be willing to work with you to help solve these problems.
If the school is not providing help from a Behavior Analyst and you are interested in paying for and locating a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in your area, the BACB website has a local service provider directory at:http://www.bacb.com/consum_frame.html.   If he receives support through Medicaid, some of that Medicaid funding can be allocated to the services of a BCBA – I’d recommend contacting your Medicaid caseworker to explain your needs and ask for help in the process.
Best of luck to you and your family