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. 2022 Apr;52(4):1673-1677.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05065-x. Epub 2021 May 13.

Homicide Incidents Involving Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder as Victims Reported in the US News Media, 2000-2019

Joseph Guan  1 , Ashley Blanchard  2 , Carolyn G DiGuiseppi  3 , Stanford Chihuri  4 , Guohua Li  5   6
Affiliations

Homicide Incidents Involving Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder as Victims Reported in the US News Media, 2000-2019

Joseph Guan et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Recent research indicates that children with autism are at increased risk of maltreatment. We examined news media reports on homicide incidents involving children with autism as victims in the United States between 2000 and 2019. Of the 52 victims studied, 47 (90.4%) were male. Age of victims ranged from 2 to 20 years (mean = 10.4 ± 5.3 years). Parents and other caregivers accounted for 63.5% and 13.5% of the perpetrators, respectively. The leading injury mechanism was gunshot wounds (23.1%), followed by drowning (19.2%), and suffocation, strangulation, or asphyxiation (19.2%). The most commonly cited contributing factor (47.1%) was overwhelming stress from caring for the autistic child. These results underscore the importance of supporting services for caregivers of children with autism.

Keywords: Autism; Caregiver; Homicide; Safety; Stress; Violence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Frequency Distribution of Autistic Child Homicide Victims by 5-Year Period as Reported in US News Media, January 2000 – December 2019
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Frequency Distribution of Autistic Child Homicide Victims by Age and Sex as Reported in US News Media, January 2000 – December 2019
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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