Re: Needing help with destructive behaviors

[Guest guest]

When my son, who is now six was younger, probably close or at the same age as your son, he also shredded the walls and picked at stickers and paper and anything else. Once he actually licked a hole through the drywall. Like your situation, there was no starting point for him to make eating and shredding the wall an easy task. Our SLP who also teaches a sensory seekers class suggested we get thera putty and put small things like jacks in it for him to pick out. She said if we didn't have access to thera putty to get silly putty and chill it after we put the jacks in it. Cold silly putty is harder to work with. Every time we saw him heading toward the walls we redirected him (hand over hand at first) to the putty. It didn't take long for him to seek out the putty and leave the walls alone. Eventually we did

start to put discreet sensory "stations" around the house for him so when he is seeking he knows which area to go to. I remember it wasn't easy finding putty that I felt wouldn't be toxic to him, but then again I tend to worry alot. I hope this can help you. Oh and another thing we moved on to during that phase was clothes pins. The plastic clothes pin. We would put them on a plastic coat hanger and let him move them from that hanger to another hanger and then back again. Apparently it does something for him, he still seeks that out when he has a high sensory seeking day. Best of luck to you.

Beth Lohan

From: Cheryl <zander_research@...>Subject: Needing help with destructive behaviorsautism Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 3:51 PM

Hi everyone, I was hoping to get some insight on things to try. Myh son will be 3 next month and he has been diagnosed PDD-NOS. One of the issues we have been having with him is he feels the need to pull stickers off of things and pick at anything along those line. Recently he has started pulling the wallpaper off the walls. I am not sure how he gets to it because it is not like there are any tears there already.I remember watching a show where the family had 6 Autistic children and the walls in one of the rooms was shredded because the kids had torn them apart basically. I remember thinking "wow! how dodes that happen?" Well, unfortunately now I get it. I was wondering if any of you have had this type of problem and if you were able to stop it from happening. If so, how? We are renting the house we live in and, I hate to say it, but my son is going to cost me a fortune when it comes time to move out and fix all the things he has destroyed.

I would like to try and keep it to at least a minimum if I can. I know that might sound horrible because I know a lot of the things he does are not his fault but at the same time I can't just sit by and let him destroy everything.If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them as we are kind of at a stand still with therapy at the moment. He has speech, OT and an EI but we are on a waiting list for him to get ABA which could be 2 or 3 years from now. I can't wait that long I was hoping to find something to do now.Thanks so much!Cheryl

[Guest guest]

Hey Cheryl,

Just how long are his nails ?! We went through a stage where every mosquito bite

was guaranteed to get infected because he'd scratch and pick at them, and so we

finally cut them down till the last possible drop of nail was left ( no white at

the top, plus a bit more...). Maybe if his nails are short enough he won't be

able to grasp the paper so well.

What about putting stuff on the walls that he can't stand ? If you catch him

peeling the paper, put some ketchup on that part of the wall, or perhaps shaving

cream ( my oldest at one point couldn't stand " messy " textures ). Hopefully

he " ll hate it enough to back off.

We went through our own fun with " construction " , lol. He loved hammers, tools,

etc. I walked into his room one day to find he had banged a hole in the wall by

his bed. The next time I caught him with a hammer, he was heading for his room

and saying " bang, bang " !

Other people lock up their gold and money, we have a locked trunk which over the

years has held carving knives, hammers, pliers, batteries...anything that we

needed to lock up from the kids !

Good luck, and sorry that I couldn't be more of a help.

-Alyssa

>

> > Hi everyone, I was hoping to get some insight on things to try. Myh

> > son will be 3 next month and he has been diagnosed PDD-NOS. One of

> > the issues we have been having with him is he feels the need to pull

> > stickers off of things and pick at anything along those line.

> > Recently he has started pulling the wallpaper off the walls. I am

> > not sure how he gets to it because it is not like there are any

> > tears there already.

> >

> > I remember watching a show where the family had 6 Autistic children

> > and the walls in one of the rooms was shredded because the kids had

> > torn them apart basically. I remember thinking " wow! how dodes that

> > happen? " Well, unfortunately now I get it. I was wondering if any of

> > you have had this type of problem and if you were able to stop it

> > from happening. If so, how? We are renting the house we live in and,

> > I hate to say it, but my son is going to cost me a fortune when it

> > comes time to move out and fix all the things he has destroyed. I

> > would like to try and keep it to at least a minimum if I can. I know

> > that might sound horrible because I know a lot of the things he does

> > are not his fault but at the same time I can't just sit by and let

> > him destroy everything.

> >

> > If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them as

> > we are kind of at a stand still with therapy at the moment. He has

> > speech, OT and an EI but we are on a waiting list for him to get ABA

> > which could be 2 or 3 years from now. I can't wait that long I was

> > hoping to find something to do now.

> >

> > Thanks so much!

> > Cheryl

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Bye labels and put them on empty glass containers. Let them sit a few hours to

dry, and then give him the containers to peel off the labels. The better they

stick, the harder to remove, the greater sensation he gets. Any thing that you

can stick and peel will do the trick. You have to be pretty firm on the

boundaries. I would give him a small toy chest full of stick and peel things.

Then make a picture social story about what he cannot peel and what he can.

Stay firm to the rules, and redirect him frequently to the toy chest to peel.

You may also want to try packing noodles. The press and pop may also satisfy

his sensory needs.

Bill

>

> Hi everyone, I was hoping to get some insight on things to try. Myh son will

be 3 next month and he has been diagnosed PDD-NOS. One of the issues we have

been having with him is he feels the need to pull stickers off of things and

pick at anything along those line. Recently he has started pulling the wallpaper

off the walls. I am not sure how he gets to it because it is not like there are

any tears there already.

>

> I remember watching a show where the family had 6 Autistic children and the

walls in one of the rooms was shredded because the kids had torn them apart

basically. I remember thinking " wow! how dodes that happen? " Well, unfortunately

now I get it. I was wondering if any of you have had this type of problem and if

you were able to stop it from happening. If so, how? We are renting the house we

live in and, I hate to say it, but my son is going to cost me a fortune when it

comes time to move out and fix all the things he has destroyed. I would like to

try and keep it to at least a minimum if I can. I know that might sound horrible

because I know a lot of the things he does are not his fault but at the same

time I can't just sit by and let him destroy everything.

>

> If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them as we are

kind of at a stand still with therapy at the moment. He has speech, OT and an EI

but we are on a waiting list for him to get ABA which could be 2 or 3 years from

now. I can't wait that long I was hoping to find something to do now.

>

> Thanks so much!

> Cheryl

>