Homicide Incidents Involving Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder as Victims Reported in the US News Media, 2000-2019.
Joseph Guan, Ashley Blanchard, Carolyn G DiGuiseppi and 2 others
PMID 33983521WHAT IT FOUND
US news reports described 52 homicide incidents involving children with autism.
Parents were the majority of perpetrators, and stress from caring for the child was the most common reported factor. These reports cannot show how often this happens.
Key findings
01US news reports identified 52 homicide incidents involving autistic child victims, including 4 homicide-suicide incidents.
02Parents were the majority of perpetrators, with mothers and stepmothers accounting for 28.8% and fathers and stepfathers 25.0%.
03Overwhelming stress from caring for the child was reported in 16 incidents where contributing factors were mentioned.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study used news media reports, so it may miss cases and may overrepresent incidents journalists consider newsworthy. The sensitivity of the search terms was unknown, so some eligible incidents may not have been found. The accuracy of the reported ASD diagnoses was not checked against health records. Race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status were not available from the reports. The reports did not provide the wider context of household violence, abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. The study describes reported cases and cannot show how often these incidents occur.
Declared interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these media counts as the true number of homicide incidents involving children with autism. The study searched news reports, which may miss cases and select stories journalists consider newsworthy.