Child with Impulsive Aggression

Hi K.,

Go onto the Future Horizon website:

https://www.fhautism.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?search=actio...

and check out the two workbooks written by Dr. Tony Attwood, both of which are called Exploring Feeling: Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Manage Anger, and Exploring Feelings: Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Manage Anxiety. I attended Dr. Attwoods conference last year and thought that it was a very good proactive way for helping our kids -- all kids, disability or not -- learn to recognize and deal with their feelings in a positive, productive way.

I hope this helps.

L.

2 moms found this helpful

Hi! I am a step mom to a high funtioning 15 year old boy who is autistic. This year at his IEP we were introduced to something really neat that your son may already do in school, but may not. We have a book called "social stories". We liked it so much at school that we implemanted it here at home as well. Anytime there is a unappropriate behavior, sit down with hom and write the behavior, why it is inappropriate it and what the consequences are to that behavior. Eventually he should be able to fnid the correct "story" for the behavior he demonstrated that what not appropriate. I think it is great, but it is something you have to stick to....oh, and he draws a picture after the story. He has all kinds from not touching himself in public, to not yelling, etc.Is your son high funtioning? Ours is, and he is very capable of following instruction, he is a typical teen and tries to get away with as much as possible. I think because of the autism they are allowed to get away with more, people think "well he is autistic", but i don't believe that to be the case. He should be instructed just like any other child in the home. It gets hard, puberty is extremely tough! Especially with boys.............

1 mom found this helpful

I worked with DD adults in a behavioral day program and have a pretty darn good idea of what you are going thru! Does your son have a TBS worker? TBS stands for Theraputic Behavior Specialist. They are social workers who work one-on-one with a client (child or adult) on behavioral issues. Since your son is autistic he will have behavioral issues his entire life, they will change but there will always be something. If he doesn't already have a TBS worker look into getting one (contact the county, they usually provide this service for free or very low cost), they can help both of you a lot. Another thing I found with the clients I worked with, many of whom had not received very much treatment, some were in their 40's and older so they were simply warehoused for most of their lives. Anyway, they didn't have the skills to express emotions and would act out in various ways insted, usually negatively. I worked a ton on teaching them the words for emotions and how to use them. I also found some baby sign language flash cards with emotions on them. This worked wonders. Some had an easier time with signing their feelings rather than speaking them. I think I found them at Barnes & Noble. I found the best way to prevent an incident was to watch for signs, when they were beginning to become agitated, and intervene then. Have him talk about his emotions and help him put it into words. Then talk about how to handle these emotions. Working with DD people (kids and adults) requires a LOT of talking, about half of what you say gets thru, so talk, talk, talk. Good luck and hang in there!!!

Keep your head up i know it's hard. Consistency is the key.

I have a 7 year old son with PDD-NOS and he is sometimes aggressive. I have no solutions, but since you say your son immediately regrets it, maybe he just needs frequent reminders and practice until he gets the hang of controlling his emotions. If you've been able to handle him for the last 10 years, you should be able to get through this, too. Good luck and God bless you.

Hi K.,
I feel for you. My nephew has the same. Could your son's meds be off or no longer effective for him? Could his higher level of testosterone (if truly pre-pubescent) be affecting his chemistry and therefore the efficacy of his meds? Maybe it's time for a check up w/ the doc.
Good luck to you. You have some good replies from other moms.

Homeopathy is really helpful. Go to www.bluedominoes.com as they have great book suggestions and you can order or just check them out from your library. My son was helped out EXTREMELY by a remedy called androctonus - unbelievable. There are a couple of recommended homeopathy books aimed specifically at children with ASD and ADHD.

Also, there is a group on yahoo hosted by Dr. Luc. It's more of a blog, but you can email questions and he responds. He is an MD as well as a homeopath and specializes in behavior - particularly ADHD and ASD. He has several books as well - you can just google Dr. Luc and it'll bring up his page so you can sign up for either the yahoo or his blog stream.

Also, there is a doctor (MD) in Old Town that specializes in Infoceuticals that has helped a number of children with ASD.

Good luck to you.