Asperger Syndrome

[jellytot71]

my child has had threats of violence made to him by a child who suffers from Asperger Syndrome (which was only diagnosed at the age of 9) he is now 11 he has threatened to get a knife and kill him, bullies him and will not leave him alone. He attends a mainstream school which my 5 year old also attends. He constantly harrasses my son and comes out with inappropriate language e.g you f*** in the *** / you f*** in the butt. Should we be worried and if so what action do we take ?, the parents are not concerned about his language or actions and  say that our 5 year old needs to understand that it is because of his Asperger Syndrome that he acts inthis way.

[kanorshkan]

Well, I'm not a doctor but I don't think any 11 year old should be talking like that. Have you notified the school board about the child's actions? If you haven't yet you should immediately. And the parents should definitely be concerned about their child's actions. It doesn't sound like they're very good parents if they let him run around like a psycho threatening kids half his age. Like I said, I'd make sure the school knows about this and are monitoring that child.

[Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA]

No child should feel unsafe at school, and a diagnosis of Asperger's is not an excuse for this behavior. I recommend that you talk with your son's school and ask them to develop a plan for dealing with this situation.