The Accidental Discovery :: My Sibling is a Sociopath
PART 1: Events Leading up to the First Red Flag.

 

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Synopsis (full series) :: This is the detailed story about how I discovered, at the age of 50, that my oldest sister is a sociopath. Due to the story’s length, I broke this into multiple parts, but the time covered is actually a few weeks over the second quarter of 2003. Even though she exhibited signs of problems over her entire life, it all came down to one little accident — the first red flag — and how I was determined to find where it led.

Synopsis (part 1) :: Part #1 provides a brief background as to what led up to the first red flag. I raised my son and daughter as a solo parent since pre-school. Now in middle-school, my son (who I’ll refer to as DK for his privacy) had become the target of bullies, and with the school in denial about any bully problem, I decided to find an alternative for him on my own.

Target Audience :: Anyone interested in learning more about those with the personality disorders, commonly referred to as sociopaths. More specifically: those who are suspicious of someone they’ve known for a very long time, such as a member of the family. This may help identify the signs and to avoid making the mistakes I made — mistakes that led to my character being destroyed, and becoming a pariah.

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From his pre-school years, my son DK showed a strong knack for logic, intelligence and wit … well beyond his years. That was supported in his annual test scores, the national testing meant to compare students nationwide, by age and grade.

He consistently scored in the top 1% in both science and mathematics, and the top 10% is just about everything else. DK had read more books by the time he hit middle school than I’ve read in my entire life. And in sixth grade, he was invited to attend our state university’s Saturday School for the Gifted.

It was about the time he started middle school, when I noticed his friends were not coming around as they had. I casually asked on multiple occasions, but each time he avoided any real discussion about it, and I saw no reason to push it … at least not with him.

Considering his personality type, I suspected he had been targeted by bullies, and that was eventually confirmed.

After the school’s ongoing denials about the bully problem — except for one brave teacher — another incident occurred in March, 2003, that had been witnessed by a volunteer (parent) on lunch duty. It would be tough for them to continue to deny it.

The biggest shock was when school administers implied the fault was his (i.e., the victim), and he should get help. It was a Tuesday, and I told his counselor that I would be taking him out of school for at least the remainder of the week, and hopefully more, while he and I considered our options.

Next, Part 2 shows what a red flag looks like …