Asperger’s/ Autism Spectrum Disorder and Undue Influence

Over two decades ago, a family asked me for help with a young woman who was being recruited into Kip McKean’s shepherding/discipleship group called the Boston Church of Christ*. This case was particularly interesting because the young woman I was told had Asperger’s Syndrome (currently subsumed under Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the DSM V). She had not been through the “counting the costs” indoctrination at that time. She hadn’t been baptized yet and was open to meeting with me and learning about cult mind control. She was young and highly intelligent, but I learned very quickly that I had better start learning more about how she understood herself and how to communicate effectively with her. Being a “neurotypical” (a term aspies use for non-aspies), my sense of reality needed orientation.