CHICAGO - On a Saturday afternoon in March, Alex Spourdalakis, a 14-year-old boy with severe autism, sat in a darkened room at Loyola University Medical Center with his mother and godmother nearby.
In a hushed voice, Dorothy Spourdalakis told an autism care advocate who had come to offer help that she had been at her son's bedside around the clock for weeks. The only time she stepped out of the room, she said, was when he slept - in short catnaps.
"She was very calm," said Mary Kay Betz, executive director of the Autism Society of Illinois. "She seemed like a very caring, loving mother who wanted what was appropriate with her son."
Three months after that quiet visit, Spourdalakis' relatives arrived at the family's River Grove apartment to discover a grisly sight: Alex had been stabbed to death in his bedroom. His mother and godmother lay nearby after swallowing multiple pills in an apparent suicide attempt, according to officials.
The women survived and now face charges of first-degree murder.
Though no one condones the crime, experts across the country say the case serves as a shocking example of the toll autism can take on an entire family.
While the boy was not familiar to the public, his case was known in some autism circles, and photos of him - often strapped to a bed - appeared in videos and Facebook posts from around the world as people argued about treatments and causes.
The slain teen has become a celebrity of sorts for a group of critics who contend that hospitals routinely ignore other physical issues they contend are at the root of the autism.
The criticism is flatly rejected by medical experts, autism researchers and advocacy groups that maintain the predominant form of treatment - early diagnosis and intervention - offers the best chance for improving a child's progress and outcomes.
Still others say the case spotlights a need to make more resources available to families caring for someone with developmental disabilities. Because of limited state resources, such families can face a 141/2-year wait to receive assistance at their home through the state Department of Human Services, advocates say.
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Slaying of boy with severe autism leaves community searching for answers