Question about stimming and severe tantrums with self injurious behaviors

[Guest guest]

-Hey, and welcome. First, call Babies Cant Wait...you will be able

to get services such as speech, occupational therapy(hopefully with

emphasis on sensory integration), and physical therapy. Your

daughter will be tested, and given the services they think best

serve her needs. Unfortunately, Babies Cant wait ends at the age of

3...so do not let anyone drop the ball or be slow about services.

Call every week and check on status of you daughters case, although

writing a letter is a habit you want to begin now. Letters keep

people moving. Once she ages out of babies cant wait, she will be

referred to the public school system, but we wont talk about that

yet.

Aggression to self: You can stop it without meds in most cases.

Children who cannot communicate thier needs effectively get

extremely frustrated, so helping with communication is key.

Learning to identify what precedes that behavior will help stop it,

but until then, try redirection. When the behavior is occuring, get

a favorite activity and try to engage your child. I would sit

behind my daughter, give her backwards hugs that were firm(this can

comfort our kids), and get her involved in something else. My

daughter liked to be massaged with deep pressure on her thighs and

hips, so i would include that. Redirection can work so well, but it

works best when you use your child's interests. My dd lined up

things as well, and everything had to be perfect...Heaven forbid a

label or toy was not in order! A few things to do all through the

day to help your daughter not need to do these things....

bouncing on the bed...a great game when mom and sis are involved,

and it gives her sensory system a great workout.

swinging....swing time for us was also work on language time. i

started with one word...i used verbalization, sign language, and a

picture of the word...it took many months to get that first

verbalization, but before that dd could sign the word, and had

started trying to communicate non-verbally more.

Playdough, gooze, flour and water.....all activities that do

something special to our kids sensory systems. It is amazing how

many lessons can be in a simple, flexible medium.

Diet: Red Dye was the first thing we removed. It is in everything

from brownies to mac and cheese and of course the obvious sweets.

Within 3 days we noticed a huge difference in our child's behaviors

that interferred with day to day life. Milk and wheat can all be

offenders, as well as sugars, preservatives, and other addivtives.

Remember meds contain the same crap. Type in allergen induced

autism, or Casein/Gluten free diet. Read a lot and ask questions

before you decide what to remove, but do the dye now. If it is an

offender you will know fast.

Keeping your daughter engaged in something is crucial. She cannot

direct her own play so much at this age, so she needs direction.

And, please, research Clonidine. I'd like to say a little about the

brain, and while it is my own opinion, my own pediatrician agrees.

Childrens brains grow and route neuronal connections the most during

the first three years. It doesnt go down too much after that, but

does decrease in intensity. If a drug is used in children this

young to correct problems, it will change the way the brain is

growing. The brain is amazing and will reroute when something is

awry. Clonidine is actually for blood pressure. I feel like your

doctor may not have told you. Sometimes, meds are the only

alternative, but i hate doctors who only treat with medicine, and

dont tell parents everything they need to know about the services

they can find.

I know you are scared, overwhelmed, sad, and unsure. But, my dd is

nine. We began treatment at 20 months. She is verbal(wayyy

verbal), conversational(though we still have our moments), talented,

and very unaggressive(and she did bang her head at 20 months), and

she is the light of my life. She is brave and strong, and has

worked hard to join me through the confusion of her brain's assault

by the world. We've come along way, and you will too!

hugs,

scarlett

-- In autism , " Ana bisciaio "

<ana_bisciaio@y...> wrote:

>

> Hi, I am fairly new to autism and this group. I live in

marietta,ga.I

> have a two year old daughter that was diagnosed with autistic

> disorder by two doctors,one a developmental pediatrician,and the

> other a phsycologist.Jasmine has been put on clonidine to help her

> sleep and to stop the headbanging.The medicine was helping for a

> while,but now all this week she hasn't been sleeping much.She is

> having frequent and severe tantrums with headbanging and

biting.She

> also has been stimming alot lately.She will line up

> pictures,cars,blocks etc.She is also trying to spin the wheels on

any

> toy that she can find that has wheels.She has also been aggressive

to

> her one year old sister.Any advice?

[Guest guest]

Ana bisciaio wrote:

Hi, I am fairly new to autism and this group. I live in marietta,ga.I

have a two year old daughter that was diagnosed with autistic

>disorder by two doctors,one a developmental pediatrician,and the

>other a phsycologist.Jasmine has been put on clonidine to help her

>sleep and to stop the headbanging.The medicine was helping for a

>while,but now all this week she hasn't been sleeping much.She is

>having frequent and severe tantrums with headbanging and biting.She

>also has been stimming alot lately.She will line up

>pictures,cars,blocks etc.She is also trying to spin the wheels on any

>toy that she can find that has wheels.She has also been aggressive to

>her one year old sister.Any advice?

>

>

These actions are typical for an autistic child her age.

There is a disturbance in the sleep control mechanism in most people

with autism (see http://www.autistics.cc/AspSleepNeuroStudy.html ).

Things that can help with sleep are:

a. melatonin, a " natural " substance you might want to ask your doctor about

b. using a routine or schedule to get the child emotionally ready for

bed every night

The head baning is " likely " to be caused by unpleasant things the child

can't get away from: like excessively bright lighting, loud noises or

noises that are in a sound range that happen to annoy her a lot.

Autistic children are know for their sensory needs and sensitivities.

Some like to be cocooned or squeezed, and some find any kind of pressure

painful.

Lining up toys and playing with them " mentally, not physically " is very

typical and she will probably do it for some time. As she matures and

learns, she will learn to manipulate toys in other ways. Spinning is

the same -- a strong early interest that usually dies out as the child

becomes able to cope with more of her environment as she matures.

Patty

http://www.autistics.cc

[Guest guest]

I think you need to establish a communication system w/ your daughter asap.

Pls look at www.pecs.com . I would be glad to share any info w/ you about

this program.

Nina-LaGrange

706.845.7970