knives

[kerry]

my son was diagnosed last year he goes to scouts which he loves last week they were talking about knives they use them for camping .

My son said they were good for killing people the scout master was very
upset about this and spoke to me when i picked my son up they are aware of his aspergers and said that this was nothing to do with that and if does it again they will exclude him for one week

i had a long chat to him about the dangers of knives and that people did not like what he said and the possible outcome of his actions my son said he understands and has agreed to apologise at the next scout meeting have i done the write thing really not sure

kerry:hat:

[kittykat123123]

You should explain to your scout master that your son is prone to sudden outbursts that may be direct, after all, with all the media coverage on stabbings you could easily assume that knives are good for killing people. It was a misunderstanding, and he probably didn't realise at the time it was inappropriate. I guess it is good your son understand what he said was wrong, and has agreed to apologise.

[Kitten]

I think you have done the right thing. Asperger's or not, I think it's important for all children to understand the implications of the things they say. After all, how would he know what he needs to work on if no one ever told him it wasn't OK? If he said something like this in a public place as an adult, he may not be dealt with very sympathetically. An apology doesn't have to mean an admission of guilt, it can also mean that you acknowledge that you made a mistake. An apology can be a good way to smooth over a situation that has gone wrong, so it is a skill that may benefit your son to learn. It will also show the scout master that you have taken it seriously and spoken to your son about the dangers of knives - it may be important to have him on side in the future.

[wootlebug]

Make sure you son really does understand *why* what he said was wrong which may be hard. After all, someone with Aspergers might reasonably assume that knives *are* "good for killing people". He may understand that he has upset the scout master, but needs to understand why it was not an appropriate thing to say and why the scoutmaster was upset.

You child will have to learn (even if he doesn't understand) that there are some things you just don't talk about. I know from experience that even people trained in AS symptoms may become wary of someone who comes across more psychopathic than AS.