Reply #231: Are you sure he's harmless? [View All]

[bling bling]

I used to be a behavior therapist with autistic children. I worked with an 8 year old girl for a few months. I literally had to take a self-defense class so that I wouldn't get hurt. She was this tiny little thing but she was powerful, quick, and extremely aggressive. She bit me so hard one time it drew blood and I had to go get Hepatitis shots.

There is really no stereotypical autistic child. They span a wide range of characteristics. But it is a fact that many (not ALL, but many) of the lower-functioning autistic children can be violent towards others and towards themselves. I've know autistic children that slam their own heads against the walls when they're frustrated in order to get whatever it is that they wanted.