One succeeded (or failed) halfway: she killed her son, but she lived. The Chicago-area mother stabbed her boy, a very large teen of 200 plus pounds, after a dose of pills failed to do the job in an earlier attempt. The child’s 24-hour caregiver (his godmother) was also involved – she stabbed the family cat. Then both women took a dose of pills intended to put them to sleep permanently and lay down next to him. They left a detailed three-page letter, describing their plight with the severely-disabled and sometimes violent young man. But they didn’t take enough and were revived. Both have been charged with murder.

The second mother, this one in Michigan, tried to go more gently into darkness. She used two charcoal grills as the fatal weapon (for the carbon monoxide they produce. Carbon monoxide is a poison produced by cars and burning fuel, which we all breathe a bit of daily). It didn’t work. She and her daughter were discovered, passed out, after being reported missing. The mother is recovering; the teen is suffering from the toxic exposure, and may be brain-damaged. Or further neurologically damaged than was already inflicted by autism. Or by the causes of autism. But what are the causes of autism? (Is it, in this case, considered to be an unimportant question?)