For those of you who haven’t turned on the TV lately, Chris Benoit, an internationally-known WWE wrestler killed his wife, his 7-year-old son and himself over a three-day period last weekend. The news broke on Sunday here in Georgia (the family lived in an affluent area south of Atlanta). But the details are now revealing that the son’s special needs had much to do with this tragedy.

Apparently Benoit’s son Daniel had Fragile X Syndrome, a genetically inherited cause of mental impairment and autism-like symptoms. The National Fragile X Foundation defines it this way:

fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common cause of inherited mental impairment. This impairment can range from learning disabilities to more severe cognitive or intellectual disabilities. (Sometimes referred to as mental retardation.) FXS is the most common known cause of autism or "autistic-like" behaviors. Symptoms also can include characteristic physical and behavioral features and delays in speech and language development.

Keep in mind that FXS is the most common known cause of autism…accounting for 1 out of every 2000 children; but current autism rates are 1 out over every 166 kids (so something else is causing autism as well…)

The irony that my blogmate just posted about curing autism in mice by using an enzyme that repairs the fragile x mutation is not lost on me!

So what to make of this all? Chris Benoit, a professional wrestler who had previously used steroids and was also prescribed testosterone, because of low levels that may have been connected to steroid use, did not have the “roid rage” that reporters first hinted at. Instead, over the weekend he killed his wife, before then taking his son’s life, and then finally his own…in a deliberate, planned fashion.

Speculation is that the stress of this child’s disability was squarely the cause. The couple was experiencing some tension, according to those near them. His wife wanted him to reduce the traveling and needed help with her son at home, some reports say. Others say that the couple was stressed about what school to put him in starting in the fall.

Hmmm…here in Georgia the bastion of fabulous special education options for children…I can’t fathom why they would be stressed about that decision. (Ok, too cynical, even for me!)

There’s all kinds of other wacky speculation on the blogs and comments about this one on the Atlanta Journal Constitution website…so if you want to see how ugly people can be, check that out.

But, back to the heart of the matter…it looks as if the stress of parenting a special needs child tragically got to this family. There’s also another report coming out of Canada that Benoit was approached by a Fragile X organization to be a spokesman for the disorder and refused. Hmmm…there was trouble brewing here for a long time.

One of the lessons to be learned is that money, fame, and apparent access to resources that perhaps an “ordinary” family might not have are not enough to outweigh the stressors of raising a special needs child.

Who knows what the real issues were. Was Benoit ashamed or in denial? Was he overwhelmed with the enormity of parenting his child? Was his wife overwhelmed and angry? At what point did the hopelessness set in?

All I can make of this from the facts presented is that a family who should have had more access to resources than perhaps most of us imploded possibly due to lack of support, understanding and help with their disabled child. It’s a tragedy for sure, and we can spend our energy debating Benoit’s character flaws. Or we can start discussing what it takes to learn from this very public tragedy about how many private hells families of special needs kids are living in as we speak.

Press Release from the Fragile X Foundation

Who is Chris Benoit? (If you're like me and not a fan of wrestling, you may be asking this question.)