We4
08-14-2003, 10:16 PM
Justin is 4 and autistic, with verbal apraxia (speech disorder) and SID (sensory issues).
In the past few weeks I've been noticing more and more tantrums.....and it's to the point where he kicks, hits, scratches, pulls hair and bites me when I try to say, get him to go potty (before he wets himself AGAIN!), or try to divert his attention away from say, him wanting pop to coming with me into the livingroom, and also he's suddenly throwing these tantrums at the mere SUGGESTION of a bath, (once he's in there and settles down he won't get OUT, so why the tantrum?!)
I'm at a loss for coping mechanisms/strategies on how to deal with this. I should also add that at 4 years and 2 months old he's 53 pounds, 42.5 inches tall and strong as I don't know what. I thought that perhaps by getting him into his room for some quiet time might help...you know, wait until he's done with his tantrum and quiet, then go in and talk to him....but I can't hold him while he's freaking out and doing that kung fu move (aka arms straight up and slides right out of my hands/arms!)....never mind getting him UP the stairs and into his room. Time out only works sometimes (they have more luck with him at school with it), and short of sitting on him to keep him sitting down on the bottom stair for time out, it isn't going to work for us.
He starts school the 26th so we need to get some kind of handle on this now, yk? Can you imagine him pulling this on the AM of his first day back to preschool with the bus waiting?! EEKS! I'm already worried about it!
Our bedtime ritual used to consist of a nice, long, warm bath, getting him in his pj's and reading him any where from 1 to 25 books (all short books!) ending with his Good Night book (that's when he knew I was DONE reading to him for the night), but he's so all over the place it's not working! Add to that his current unwillingness to take a bath our whole bedtime ritual is gone!
UGH! I'm making an appt with his ped, because I'm wondering if he doesn't have some food allergy issues (namely tomato allergy since I started using my homemade/canned pasta sauce on his bagel pizza's instead of that overprocessed stuff I used to get at WalMart). A simple blood test should tell us something, but it will be a few days just to get him in, IF we can get him in anytime soon, and it'll be HECK to get him pinned down for a blood draw (first one since he was say, 5 days old?!)
HELP! Justin truly doesn't understand some things, and while I do make allowances for some things, tantrums as violent and aggressive as this are NOT something I will accomodate, yk?
SUGGESTIONS would be most welcome! Esp if you also have a special needs child. (or not!)
Thanks!
In the past few weeks I've been noticing more and more tantrums.....and it's to the point where he kicks, hits, scratches, pulls hair and bites me when I try to say, get him to go potty (before he wets himself AGAIN!), or try to divert his attention away from say, him wanting pop to coming with me into the livingroom, and also he's suddenly throwing these tantrums at the mere SUGGESTION of a bath, (once he's in there and settles down he won't get OUT, so why the tantrum?!)
I'm at a loss for coping mechanisms/strategies on how to deal with this. I should also add that at 4 years and 2 months old he's 53 pounds, 42.5 inches tall and strong as I don't know what. I thought that perhaps by getting him into his room for some quiet time might help...you know, wait until he's done with his tantrum and quiet, then go in and talk to him....but I can't hold him while he's freaking out and doing that kung fu move (aka arms straight up and slides right out of my hands/arms!)....never mind getting him UP the stairs and into his room. Time out only works sometimes (they have more luck with him at school with it), and short of sitting on him to keep him sitting down on the bottom stair for time out, it isn't going to work for us.
He starts school the 26th so we need to get some kind of handle on this now, yk? Can you imagine him pulling this on the AM of his first day back to preschool with the bus waiting?! EEKS! I'm already worried about it!
Our bedtime ritual used to consist of a nice, long, warm bath, getting him in his pj's and reading him any where from 1 to 25 books (all short books!) ending with his Good Night book (that's when he knew I was DONE reading to him for the night), but he's so all over the place it's not working! Add to that his current unwillingness to take a bath our whole bedtime ritual is gone!
UGH! I'm making an appt with his ped, because I'm wondering if he doesn't have some food allergy issues (namely tomato allergy since I started using my homemade/canned pasta sauce on his bagel pizza's instead of that overprocessed stuff I used to get at WalMart). A simple blood test should tell us something, but it will be a few days just to get him in, IF we can get him in anytime soon, and it'll be HECK to get him pinned down for a blood draw (first one since he was say, 5 days old?!)
HELP! Justin truly doesn't understand some things, and while I do make allowances for some things, tantrums as violent and aggressive as this are NOT something I will accomodate, yk?
SUGGESTIONS would be most welcome! Esp if you also have a special needs child. (or not!)
Thanks!