A Childhood Marked by Red Flags

This chapter reviews the grim developmental trajectory of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, focusing on how the many professionals who evaluated and interacted with him over the course of his childhood missed multiple signs of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) despite the numerous “red flags” apparent in his developmental delays and bizarre behaviors. As the authors contend, Cruz’s FASD should have been identified and addressed with appropriate interventions early in his childhood, which could have averted the senseless tragedy in 2018. Instead, as he matured and the missed opportunities for diagnosis kept accumulating unheeded, the behavioral symptoms of his disability were increasingly misinterpreted as willful misconduct—a circumstance common to most children who grow up with undiagnosed FASD.