Bullying on the rise in aftermath of Parkland high school shooting

Experts say focus on mental health of accused shooter has negatively affected attitudes toward students with disabilities

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In the aftermath of the Parkland massacre, some students with disabilities are being taunted or callously pegged by others as being the next school shooter, parents and experts say.

“There’s been a lot of bullying going on in our schools,” said Kelly Busch, a South Florida advocate for children with autism.

School and mental health records show that Nikolas Cruz, who allegedly killed 17 and wounded 17 more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High on Valentine’s Day, was reported to have numerous conditions, including autism and severe behavioral and emotional problems.

Slapping Cruz with an autistic label has increased the angst of parents of children with the neurological disorder, who already struggle to foster acceptance and compassion for their children.

Experts say some people with autism, especially children, may find it hard to communicate or to control their emotions. They can experience “sensory overload,” or become frustrated when unable to express themselves and may become aggressive or irritated. Their outbursts — such as throwing a chair — occur in flashes, however, and typically are minor and over quickly. Premeditated acts of violence are not a symptom of autism.

Yet Valerie Herskowitz, of Jupiter, who has a grown son with autism, said she’s heard from parents that some students have asked autistic children: “Are you going to kill us?”

The desire by advocates to clarify publicly that people with autism are not inherently violent is a direct response to reports that Cruz, now 19, had autism.

His mother told state social service workers in September 2016, shortly after he turned 18, that Nikolas had autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, which makes it difficult for people to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors, according to records from the Department of Children and Families.

An earlier 2014 school psychiatric report stated that Cruz struggled with anxiety, behavioral and socio-emotional problems, and was openly defiant of authority figures. It cited the need to rule out “pervasive developmental disorder,” which is an autism spectrum disorder.

His mother, who died only months before the shooting, also told Broward sheriff ’s deputies that Nikolas had an obsessive-compulsive disorder and anger issues.

“He had many issues beyond autism,” and likely was a “very complex psychiatric case,” said Michael Alessandri, executive director of the University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, which provides services to people with autism and resources for school districts.

Often when children have many and varying symptoms and numerous diagnoses it indicates that professionals are “not quite sure what the kid really has,” said Alessandri, who will speak at the April 4 discussion.

Still, a few parents in South Florida have told the University of Miami center since the shooting that peers are bullying their children and that even some school officials are now reacting differently to certain behaviors than they had in the past, Alessandri said.

After the shooting a few children with autism across South Florida, Alessandri said, have been suspended and at least one was expelled from a private school for “a perceived threat” based on a wrestling video he made.

One child with autism, knowing Cruz possibly also had autism, was trying to process the shared condition and deal with his own anxiety over it by talking a little too much about the shooting — making his classmates and school personnel nervous, Alessandri said. The boy’s mother told Alessandri that school officials recommended he leave school temporarily to get care and treatment.