I sincerely hope that the media stops heading toward the ASD connection - as there really is no connection. What I wonder, however, if AL had been heading into schizophrenia or even schizoaffective disorder (bipolar moods in combination with disorder of thoughts). He is at the typical age of onset....and early schizophrenia could be easily misdisgnosed as his ASD symptoms worsening: social withdrawal, lack of connection with others, lack of adherence to social standards. Though most people with thought-disorders do not become violent, there is a subset who do. One of my first jobs as a ciunselor was seeing adults trim a state mental hospital. Two of them had shot and killed their parents as young adults.
The lack of insurance coverage for mental health treatment is apalling. A child at risk is a great deal more likely to die from untreated mental illness than tetanus or dyptheria or enlarged tonsils (random covered treatments that popped into my mind).
Sigh.
