STANTON, California, USA: A single mother who tried to kill herself and gave anti-anxiety pills to her five-year-old autistic son pleaded guilty to child endangerment on May 23. She was ordered to spend a year in a live-in counselling facility.

Heidi Shelton, 38, left a suicide note giving all of her assets to autism research after she ingested Xanax at her Stanton home on December 8, 2002. She then gave her son, Zachary, a handful of the anti-anxiety pills. She later told a nurse that Zachary "would be better off with God."

Shelton and her son survived after being rushed to a hospital and treated. Deputy District Attorney Karen Schatzle dropped a charge of attempted murder because of insufficient evidence.

Al Stokke, Shelton's lawyer, said on May 23 that Shelton is extremely remorseful over the incident.

Stokke argued during a preliminary hearing that Shelton had snapped under the weight of trying to raise Zachary. Besides autism - a nervous-system disorder that affects the way an individual processes information - the boy had also been diagnosed as having attention- deficit disorder.

Zachary is now being cared for by his grandmother. He is behaving better with new medication, Stokke said.

Shelton, Stokke added, had vowed to prove that she would never do anything to harm Zachary and would maintain her physical and mental health.