Re: agressive behavier

[Guest guest]

- hi, my son sounds quite similar to yours. He is 6, non verbal, autistic with severe learning disabilities. We have just got into the pinching and biting when he cannot get his own way or make his needs understood. We are lucky as he seems only to do it to us but to be honest both our arms are covered in bruises.

We haven't medicated yet apart from melatonin for sleep, but would consider it if things got worse.

No advice really - just to let you know you're not alone!!!

agressive behavier

Hi Im new to the group but I think this group could be a helpful one to me.My son is 5 and has sever autism he is non verbal.Lately he has ben more hyper than normal with more aggressive behavier.He has ben kicking the dog when she goes by his food and scratching family member or throwing bad fits when he doesnt get what he wants.We are seeing a dan Dr. but I still wonder if its time for somthing like ridiline(not sure of the spelling) I just have concerns hes to young and wonder if I should give the Dan doc time to help.Any body out there have to medicate so young?Any opinions welcom.

[Guest guest]

Hi

I am also new to the group. My son, who just turned 6 on March 4th,

was diagnosed last May with Asperger's Syndrome with OCD & ADHD

tendencies, Sleep Terror Disorder, and is recently being diagnosed

with a Anxiety Disorder. I know, it seems a little much for so young.

I have always been very hesitant about using the medicines, especially

since he was and is so young. But it got to the point last year where

he was getting very violent and doing dangerous things that you would

normally worry about with a 2 year old (like climbing out a second

story window, taking Grandma's medicine, and pulling a 19 " TV on his

head). Thank god, we were very lucky that he wasn't seriously hurt in

any of the situations. But it did finally make me give in to the

medicines. He has a really great doctor that really works with us.

We started him on Focalin XR at 5mg. It is supposed to last 12 hours,

however, our son has a very fast metabolism. After several weeks the

doctor changed it to twice a day. This really made a difference. We

did have to change it to 10mg twice a day after about a month, but it

has been a night and day difference. Things that I didn't even expect

to be affected by the medicine were (chewing on everything). All of a

sudden, he was so loved by all the teachers at day summer camp and

during Kindergarten this year. We are now seeing some regression and

he is having more anxiety problems, but his doctor isn't ready to

change his medicine or dose. Instead he persuaded us in starting a

really low dose of anxiety medicine to see if it had any affect before

messing with the Focalin.

I will worn you that eating becomes a bigger deal than it may already

be with these medicines. We have to make sure he eats breakfast

before he takes his medicine and then really push him to eat during

the day. It completely takes away his appetite until about an hour

before bedtime, then he wants to eat continually. I have also heard

that that their bodies get use to the medicine after a certain period

of time and then they have to be switched to another medicine for

awhile. I am afraid that this might be what is happening with my son.

I wish you the best of luck and hope this helps.

Thank you,

Sossity

>

> Hi Im new to the group but I think this group could be a helpful one

> to me.My son is 5 and has sever autism he is non verbal.Lately he has

> ben more hyper than normal with more aggressive behavier.He has ben

> kicking the dog when she goes by his food and scratching family member

> or throwing bad fits when he doesnt get what he wants.We are seeing a

> dan Dr. but I still wonder if its time for somthing like ridiline(not

> sure of the spelling) I just have concerns hes to young and wonder if

> I should give the Dan doc time to help.Any body out there have to

> medicate so young?Any opinions welcom.

>

[Guest guest]

Sossity-- What a cool name first off! My son will be 6 on the 20th of March! We too have had problems with meds working for a time and then either a tolerance is built up, or a strange side effect happens--quite maddening really, but we press on to find the combo that will work best for our son with autism, ADHD-NOS, and verbal apraxia become a productive member of his peer group. Best wishes to you on your journey! Pam in ILsossityl wrote: Hi

I am also new to the group. My son, who just turned 6 on March 4th,was diagnosed last May with Asperger's Syndrome with OCD & ADHDtendencies, Sleep Terror Disorder, and is recently being diagnosedwith a Anxiety Disorder. I know, it seems a little much for so young.I have always been very hesitant about using the medicines, especiallysince he was and is so young. But it got to the point last year wherehe was getting very violent and doing dangerous things that you wouldnormally worry about with a 2 year old (like climbing out a secondstory window, taking Grandma's medicine, and pulling a 19" TV on hishead). Thank god, we were very lucky that he wasn't seriously hurt inany of the situations. But it did finally make me give in to themedicines. He has a really great doctor that really works with us. We started him on Focalin XR at 5mg. It is supposed to last 12 hours,however, our son has a very fast

metabolism. After several weeks thedoctor changed it to twice a day. This really made a difference. Wedid have to change it to 10mg twice a day after about a month, but ithas been a night and day difference. Things that I didn't even expectto be affected by the medicine were (chewing on everything). All of asudden, he was so loved by all the teachers at day summer camp andduring Kindergarten this year. We are now seeing some regression andhe is having more anxiety problems, but his doctor isn't ready tochange his medicine or dose. Instead he persuaded us in starting areally low dose of anxiety medicine to see if it had any affect beforemessing with the Focalin.I will worn you that eating becomes a bigger deal than it may alreadybe with these medicines. We have to make sure he eats breakfastbefore he takes his medicine and then really push him to eat duringthe day. It completely takes away his appetite until about

an hourbefore bedtime, then he wants to eat continually. I have also heardthat that their bodies get use to the medicine after a certain periodof time and then they have to be switched to another medicine forawhile. I am afraid that this might be what is happening with my son.I wish you the best of luck and hope this helps.Thank you,Sossity>> Hi Im new to the group but I think this group could be a helpful one > to me.My son is 5 and has sever autism he is non verbal.Lately he has > ben more hyper than normal with more aggressive behavier.He has ben > kicking the dog when she goes by his food and scratching family member > or throwing bad fits when he doesnt get what he wants.We are seeing a > dan Dr. but I still

wonder if its time for somthing like ridiline(not > sure of the spelling) I just have concerns hes to young and wonder if > I should give the Dan doc time to help.Any body out there have to > medicate so young?Any opinions welcom.>

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[Guest guest]

When you are working with young, nonverbal children, you often get strong

emotional

reactions, because they do not have many other means to communicate. It is very

important to work on teaching a mode of communication, so the child learns to

communicate what he wants, and to communicate frustration. I would work

closely with a

speech pathologist who has experience with autism. I would focus on teaching

alternative communication like pictures, gestures, sign, etc. to find the method

that

matches your son. Once the child becomes more capable of communicating,

behavior

problems often calm down.

bill

>

> - hi, my son sounds quite similar to yours. He is 6, non verbal,

autistic with

severe learning disabilities. We have just got into the pinching and biting

when he cannot

get his own way or make his needs understood. We are lucky as he seems only to

do it to

us but to be honest both our arms are covered in bruises.

>

> We haven't medicated yet apart from melatonin for sleep, but would consider it

if things

got worse.

>

> No advice really - just to let you know you're not alone!!!

>

> agressive behavier

>

>

> Hi Im new to the group but I think this group could be a helpful one

> to me.My son is 5 and has sever autism he is non verbal.Lately he has

> ben more hyper than normal with more aggressive behavier.He has ben

> kicking the dog when she goes by his food and scratching family member

> or throwing bad fits when he doesnt get what he wants.We are seeing a

> dan Dr. but I still wonder if its time for somthing like ridiline(not

> sure of the spelling) I just have concerns hes to young and wonder if

> I should give the Dan doc time to help.Any body out there have to

> medicate so young?Any opinions welcom.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi I am new to the group as well. We have a daughter

that is 5will be six in a couple of weeks.

A little about her.

She is totally deaf. She cannot wear hearing aids they

don't help she had a cochlear implant til last sept.

The internal device went bad. We had her reimplanted

and now it bothers her.

She has some vision problem born with a catatact and

has a lens implant now. Not sure of her vision we

feel like she sees fine.

She has mild cerabal palsey.

Delayed mylein which in most cases is caused by cp.

Feeding issues failure to thrive however she is doing

much better. Never did we have the feeding tube. I

kept her off with the help of a feeding clinic. This

part leads into a long story I will leave it out.

Autisum we just found out a year ago. She to is doing

the biting of her hand and pinching of herself. She

went through the phase of climbing and falling with

all the black and blue marks.

She again has no language, signs, pictures or

communication board, She cannot relate a picture to

the actual picture. Ex. Toliet on a card she cann't

point the toliet out in the house.

We are waiting for the dr. to call us back she

mentioned prozac for her autisum. I disagreed

strongly and told them the specialist said paxil.

Does anyone have their child or children on this.

She is still in diapers.

She is still on a bottle.

She is very loving and caring. but when she gets mad

watch out. I to went through getting the bruises.

They taught me some holds that work.

Right now I am getting some help through the school.

It is called Fapt Family assisted planning time or

something like that. That is helping a whole lot.

Check and see if your social service dept has that.

Not to many people know about it. Took me 5 years to

learn about it. Also a school pycholigist should know

about it too.

Twilla

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

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[Guest guest]

Thanks bill for the advice - he does use PECS but only to request his wants - outbursts often occur when he cannot have his 5th cake or go outside because its raining ect. So alot of the time he can request what he wants but is tantrumming because he cannot have it. I cannot see him capable enough to be able to communicate his frustration any other ways but any suggestions are greatly received.

Thanks again

(mother to - 6 yrs old, autistic, non verbal with severe learning disabilities)

agressive behavier> > > Hi Im new to the group but I think this group could be a helpful one > to me.My son is 5 and has sever autism he is non verbal.Lately he has > ben more hyper than normal with more aggressive behavier.He has ben > kicking the dog when she goes by his food and scratching family member > or throwing bad fits when he doesnt get what he wants.We are seeing a > dan Dr. but I still wonder if its time for somthing like ridiline(not > sure of the spelling) I just have concerns hes to young and wonder if > I should give the Dan doc time to help.Any body out there have to > medicate so young?Any opinions welcom.>

[Guest guest]

, these are just some of the things that sometime work with Karac. i.e. You can't have another cupcake, but you can have an apple. You can't play in the rain, but you can play in the bathtub. I also have a mini-tram in his room, an ab-lounger, and a stationary bike in his room, and a punching bag that he uses to let off steam. I also have a pallet between his bed and the wall where he can calm himself down. Karac is now 15, but when he was 6 I had a long box that a hot water heater came out of for him to crawl into with a pillow and blanket; that worked beautifully. Since the emotions tend to be in the right brain I sometimes can get him into the left brain reasoning part by having him count or spell (I have started teaching Karac to spell some of the three letter words). If it is not raining, he can go outside and play with a basketball until he gets over his frustration or he can go in his room until he calms down. Karac likes music and sometimes turning on the radio to his favorite station or giving him his ipod works. I save the ipod for special times.

I am a strong believer in prayer, and I have taught Karac to pray a simple prayer, "God help me to be calm" or "God help me to feel better" depending on the circumstance. That always seems to work. One of the reasons may be that it gets him into the left side of his brain.

None of this may have any relevance for your situation, but I just want you to know that I care and if I knew of anything that would help I would gladly share. Pat K**************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home. (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001)

[Guest guest]

I have a 4 year old who has been diagnosed with autism, I read your message and one thing stood out and you said when she is mad you have to watch out and they taught you how to hold her. From my experience with violence I have been taught not to hold the child during that time but to leave the child in a room where they cannot hurt themselves or in my sons case he used to lay on the floor and kick. I was told to walk away and make sure to keep anyone away during the tantrum but still keep a close eye on him. This seemed to work and now he has only mild tantrums. Restraining should always be the last resort, when restraining if your adrenalin is going there is always the possibility of being to rough and not even realizing and thats how accidents can happen. That information I

learned in a class I took at my sons school. I hope my advice can help. Take care.

Re: agressive behavier

Hi I am new to the group as well. We have a daughterthat is 5will be six in a couple of weeks. A little about her. She is totally deaf. She cannot wear hearing aids theydon't help she had a cochlear implant til last sept. The internal device went bad. We had her reimplantedand now it bothers her. She has some vision problem born with a catatact andhas a lens implant now. Not sure of her vision wefeel like she sees fine. She has mild cerabal palsey. Delayed mylein which in most cases is caused by cp.Feeding issues failure to thrive however she is doingmuch better. Never did we have the feeding tube. Ikept her off with the help of a feeding clinic. Thispart leads into a long story I will leave it out. Autisum we just found out a year ago. She to is doingthe biting of her hand and pinching of herself. Shewent through the phase of climbing and falling withall

the black and blue marks. She again has no language, signs, pictures orcommunication board, She cannot relate a picture tothe actual picture. Ex. Toliet on a card she cann'tpoint the toliet out in the house. We are waiting for the dr. to call us back shementioned prozac for her autisum. I disagreedstrongly and told them the specialist said paxil. Does anyone have their child or children on this. She is still in diapers. She is still on a bottle. She is very loving and caring. but when she gets madwatch out. I to went through getting the bruises. They taught me some holds that work. Right now I am getting some help through the school. It is called Fapt Family assisted planning time orsomething like that. That is helping a whole lot. Check and see if your social service dept has that. Not to many people know about it. Took me 5 years tolearn about it. Also a school pycholigist

should knowabout it too. Twilla____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo. com/r/hs

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[Guest guest]

Hi, I am new to the group too. I have 2 kids with autism. My son is 10 and has severe autism and severe behaviors and my daughter who is 11 has mild autism with mild behaviors but with emotional/learning problems. My son did exactly the same thing at your son's age and up until now. My husband and I are very thorough so we knew it wasn't that we were consistent enough, so we decided a couple years ago when my son was 8 to start making him sit on the couch when he started acting up due to the fact he couldn't get his way. It sounds very simple and like it wouldn't work, but it has really helped. We constantly redirect him to stop throwing a fit or screaming. He hates to HAVE to sit in one spot and he has to be good, stop throwing fits, no screaming for 5-10 minutes straight before we allow him to get up. When you first start doing this, it can take an hour or two, but as time goes on and your son understands

that he will not be able to get up until he is calm, the time will get less and less. Actually, a special doctor at Children's Memorial Hospital we were seeing recommended this. Now, at 10, he still has tamtrums because well, he has severe autism and he will always not understand fully, but we are able to handle them. Occasionally still have to put him in a hold so he doesn't injure himself by hitting himself, but the couch idea works great. It's padded so he can't hurt himself. Also, I wanted to let you know my son had head banging and severe self-injurous behavior since age 2. He has a chemical imbalance and severe autism frustration. There was no other option. He would have severly hurt himself if he was not put on medication. The meds needs to be watched and monitored as he gets bigger and as he changes. He been all tons of different ones. Like the doctor in Chicago said, you have to find the right

"cocktail" of meds for your child if they have severe self-injurous behavior and nothing else works. The meds along with very consistent procedures and ABA at school. I cannot describe everything we have tried and done in one paragraph, but I hope this helps. I would see a recommended psychiatrist who can regularly see your son and monitor his meds. They are skilled at this. We just loved the doc we see at Children's Memorial. Crista wrote: Thanks bill for the advice - he does use PECS but only to request his wants - outbursts often occur when he cannot have his 5th cake or go outside because its raining ect. So alot of the time he can request what he wants but is tantrumming because he cannot have it. I cannot see him capable enough to be able to communicate his frustration any other ways but any suggestions are greatly received. Thanks again (mother to - 6 yrs old, autistic, non verbal with severe learning disabilities) agressive behavier> > > Hi Im new to the group but I think this group could be a helpful one > to me.My son is 5 and has sever autism he is non verbal.Lately he has > ben more hyper than normal with more aggressive behavier.He has ben > kicking the dog when she goes by his food and scratching family member > or throwing bad fits when he doesnt get what he wants.We are seeing a > dan Dr. but I still wonder if its time for somthing like ridiline(not > sure of the spelling) I just have concerns hes to young and wonder if > I should give the Dan doc time to help.Any body out there have to > medicate so young?Any opinions welcom.> From Crista

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[Guest guest]

Thank you Crista for the advice - short time outs in his bedroom work and he stays up there because we have a stairgate - I think we may have to get more consistent on this one.

agressive behavier> > > Hi Im new to the group but I think this group could be a helpful one > to me.My son is 5 and has sever autism he is non verbal.Lately he has > ben more hyper than normal with more aggressive behavier.He has ben > kicking the dog when she goes by his food and scratching family member > or throwing bad fits when he doesnt get what he wants.We are seeing a > dan Dr. but I still wonder if its time for somthing like ridiline(not > sure of the spelling) I just have concerns hes to young and wonder if > I should give the Dan doc time to help.Any body out there have to > medicate so young?Any opinions welcom.>

From Crista

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[Guest guest]

- I just have to tell you you desribed my son exactlly!So I

know what your going thru!-- In

AutismBehaviorProblems , " "

wrote:

>

> Thanks bill for the advice - he does use PECS but only to request

his wants - outbursts often occur when he cannot have his 5th cake

or go outside because its raining ect. So alot of the time he can

request what he wants but is tantrumming because he cannot have

it. I cannot see him capable enough to be able to communicate his

frustration any other ways but any suggestions are greatly received.

> Thanks again

>

>

> (mother to - 6 yrs old, autistic, non verbal with

severe learning disabilities)

> agressive behavier

> >

> >

> > Hi Im new to the group but I think this group could be a

helpful one

> > to me.My son is 5 and has sever autism he is non verbal.Lately

he has

> > ben more hyper than normal with more aggressive behavier.He

has ben

> > kicking the dog when she goes by his food and scratching

family member

> > or throwing bad fits when he doesnt get what he wants.We are

seeing a

> > dan Dr. but I still wonder if its time for somthing like

ridiline(not

> > sure of the spelling) I just have concerns hes to young and

wonder if

> > I should give the Dan doc time to help.Any body out there have

to

> > medicate so young?Any opinions welcom.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Yes However with her she would bang her head and if

you put a pillow under it or a blanket to protect her

head she would move it. So leaving her in a room where

she could get hurt was not working. With her cochlear

implant if she falls or bangs her head she could cause

internal bleeding and mess the internal device up.

She also likes to climb. She would do this when she

was mad and angry and having her tanturm. She would

fall purposedly as well.

What class did you take? Sounds good.

We do not restrain her. There is a differnt. My

adredilian dosen't get pumped either. I don't get mad

easily.

I might note as well taht her behavior has been much

better now we can redirect her and she calms down much

quicker. We distract her with toys and lights.

We are involved in many state funded programs

They seem to help out with info, and suggestions,

comments, ideas.

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[Guest guest]

Hi,

I live in Florida and it was my experience that the psychiatrists don't like to prescribe ritalin or any other ADHD drug until they are 6 years old. Your son is clearly displaying violent behavior and intervention is imperative! I remember my son's 5th year as a counting down year until he could be prescribed ADHD meds when he turned six. I didn't hesitate on the possible side effects because his behavior was so out of control and we were both miserable. I don't know what state you live in or if the age is different on a state by state basis. My son also has bipolar and because his father had it I was looking for symtoms of it for quite a while. He was not old enough to take the meds until he turn 10. My doctor was so kind and started with the bipolar meds 4 months before his 10th birthday. He had been in 4 elementary schools, expelled several time and suspended more times than I could count. It's not alwa

ys easy to find the drug that works the best. Ritalin for example comes in two forms: a short acting pill that only lasts for a few hours, which means if your child is in school he'll have to go to the nurse every day to take it (we started out with this plan); the other type of ritalin is a time released capsule. Since my son couldn't swallow a pill at that point they had to be manually mushed into a powder for and then taken with applesauce, It was a whole big production. If you do go down the road of using meds and your boy can't swallow a pill, the best investment you can make is to buy a morter and pestal which they used years ago. I would put wax paper in it and the pill on top so once it was in powder form it was easy to transfer it to a teaspoon of applesauce. One of the problems with ritalin (besides the fact that it kills the appitite) is it often has a rebound effect once it wears off. He would become extremely hyper and needed to take meds to fall asleep. One of my happiest days was when my son learned how to swallow a pill. I felt like a pharmacist for years. Also, not all ADHD meds can be mashed up so that's an extremely important question. The way I decided on whether or not to use ADHD meds was I spoke with the head of the children's psyciatric wing in a hospital. He told me the only criteria should be is whether or not his education is being effected by not paying attention, getting into so much trouble that he's removed from the class, etc. In our case, it wasn't even a close call. He could barely function as he was running into walls, not listening to anything or anyone, he couldn't even sit down in a seat, his mind was running a million miles an hour and he absolutely had no focus. It is a big step and shouldn't be taken lightly. Google ADHD meds and get as much info as possible so you can make an informed deci

sions.

All my best wishes,

Judie

West Palm Beach, FL

Mom to , 11, asperger's, bipolar and more

-------------- Original message --------------

Hi Im new to the group but I think this group could be a helpful one to me.My son is 5 and has sever autism he is non verbal.Lately he has ben more hyper than normal with more aggressive behavier.He has ben kicking the dog when she goes by his food and scratching family member or throwing bad fits when he doesnt get what he wants.We are seeing a dan Dr. but I still wonder if its time for somthing like ridiline(not sure of the spelling) I just have concerns hes to young and wonder if I should give the Dan doc time to help.Any body out there have to medicate so young?Any opinions welcom.