Son Hits Himself - May Be Asperger's What to Do

I'm assuming he has other symptoms that make you assume aspergers. If he has self injuorious behavior please consider he may be in pain. How are his bowel movements? He should be having them every day A. they should be chestnut brown A. formed. Melillo wrote a book called Disconnected Kids A. Kenneth Bock wrote a book called Healing The New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, Asthma, ADHD, A. Allergies. Reading these books can help you. But is it also a good idea to see a developmental ped.

I checked your history A. saw on the other question that he is school age. All the symptoms you listed in the two questions definitely say to me that he should be evaluated. If he is in elementary school, they should be your first resource. Speak to the school counselor or his teacher. Find out what needs to be done to get him an evaluation for any possible learning disabilities or autism spectrum disorders. I only really know about younger kids, when they are under 3 you go through the state's early intervention program. If he is in preschool, you should still talk to the teachers or director there. When you say "no one seems to know what to do" who are you referring to? Because if teachers don't know what to do, they don't know their job very well. They should at the very least be able to point you in the right direction. If your son's teacher doesn't know, go to the principle or vice principle. I know it is summer right now, but contact them anyways.

Another resource is your son's pediatrician. They can refer you to a Developmental Pediatrician. If none of his doctors or teachers can even figure out how to get him evaluated, find new ones.

Go to your state's .gov website A. see if you can find any information on that. I found information on our states website for my sister, but again, that was for under age 3, I didn't look for anything older than that.

I hope you are able to get your son the help he needs, if he needs it. Good luck to you.

If you have a suspicion that your son has a developmental disablity like Asperger Syndrome or any other ASD, you should seek out an evaluation before you try to diagnose him yourself.

With so little information it is difficult to point you in the right direction, but you cannot go wrong with a Developmental Pediatrician, found at children's hospitals, who will do a full, indepth evaluation that will miss nothing. If your son is older, in his early teens or so, then you could try a psychiatrist A. a neuropsychologist too, but especially for very young children, a Developmental Pediatrician is the best choice.

One caution; if you are describing a true Self Injorous Behaviro (SIB) A. you think your son could hurt himself when he hits himself, then make a crisis appointment with a Board Certified Child psychiatrist right away. That appointment will not be to diagnose Asperger syndrome, but to protect him from dangerous behavior.

You truly need an evaluation that will take many different people ( some possiblities: speech therapists, OT's, PT's Nuerologists, genetisicists, ENT's Audiolgists, psychologists) to diagnose an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. It is not done with one quick trip to any one doctor with a few short statements. It will take many hours of evaluation.

Depending oh his age, he may qualify for public services. Before age 3 State Early Intervention programs may assist you, A. after age 3, school districts are responsible. You should not use public services to replace a private evaluation A. treatment. Get a full private evaluation for your son A. know more about his condition A. what he needs than any public agency, then supliment his program privately after you find out what schools will give you. Never know less about your son than any school district.

Start with a Developmental Pediatrician.

M.

OK, can't resist...what color is his BM? I have one aspie who is 18 A. a child with a more severe ASD who is 11. We have been to Developmental Pediatricians, psychiatrists, speech therapists, neuropsychologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, vission therapists, developmental optomitrists, geneticists, psychologists, educational specialists, schools for kids with ASD's, social skills groups, hippo therapy, play therapy, cognative behavioral therapy, A. we participate in the AGRE program (Autism Genetic Research Exchange) A. not one repuatable professional has ever asked what color thier BM's were...sorry, that is a bunch of ____@____.com

Just because he hits himself, doesn't mean he has an autism spectrum disorder. There are many reasons why children do things considered "self-injurous" behaviors. You need to first contact your local Family Voices chapter A. find out who the state Family to Family Health Information Center is A. who the state Parent Training A. Information Center are. These are 2 federally funded organizations in every state to help parents like you sift through the issues A. facts A. provide direction A. guidance on how to navigate the systems of health care A. education in your state. You can go to the national family voices web site www.familyvoices.org A. click on the map of the US at the right. This will give you your contact for the state family voices chapter. They should have the information. If you do not get the information you need, you can call the national family voices office A. they will assist. What you will probably need is a medical evaluation for diagnostic purposes A. then a school evaluation for educational program development. Students with self-injurous behavior diagnosed are entitled to certain extra education to help with behavior modification, etc. Good Luck. Please post again on how you're doing.

I don't know how old your son is, but some children do this as part of their development when they are working through sorting out how to behave A. react when upset. Our emotions are a lot to process. Some adults don't even know how to effectively process or express their emotions. Without knowing his age, I couldn't really tell you if you should be concerned, but if he's still very young I would wait until you do any diagnosis if this is the only issue you are seeing.

Has he been evaluated by the Early Education Office of the school district. Federal law requires that every school district provide evaluation, diagnosis,A. treatment of any child from birth on who may have or is having difficulty being successful in school.

My grandson A. granddaughter have both received services from an office that is called the Multnomah County Intermediate Education Service District. You can find the office for your district by looking in the government pages of the phone book in the county section, by asking the school counselor or principal, or calling the school district office.

All of this service is provided without charge.

If it is a sign of either boredom or being too excited, then try replacing it with a different habit. My son would hum A. chew his shirt collar. The school gave him a springy necklace(called chewelry) that he could chew on instead of the other behaviors. The school has him take breaks away from the class to deliver copy paper or shelve library books. Whenever we go somewhere that he's going to have to sit still, I bring toys A. snacks A. send him on frequent trips to the water fountain.

If it's a sign of anger or frustration, then he might need help with expressing anger appropriately or communication skills. My son gets help with this at school through the counselor A. speech therapy. Even though his speech A. vocabulary are clear now, he still needs help with communicating(pragmatic language). He has a chart with picture symbols of how to tell if something is a "big fish problem" or a "little fish problem" They made another chart A. a "social story" for him that described why he might get angry, that other kids A. teachers would be upset if he yells or hits, A. what he could do instead. I don't remember what language the school used to describe this, but I'll sometimes tell my son that if hits other kids when he gets mad, he'll get in trouble. So we need to "make a plan" for what to do next time. He always comes up with the right answer for what he should do next time, but still can't think of it in the crisis moment.

These strategies helped a little bit, but it was really the ADHD meds that made a bigger difference. When he takes it the humming stops A. he's able to remember the "plan" fast enough. When the med wears off the humming A. other behaviors come back.

How old is your son A. why does he hit himself? I worked with special needs children. You are not giving enough information about other behaviors or issues that also would point to aspergers.

Usually kids hit themselves when they are very frustrated that they can't communicate something. Or a similar frustration.

But also, lots of little kids hit themselves when they are frustrated that don't have special needs.

that's not much info to go on. My daughter hits herself sometimes when she's really upset, I do the same thing, only it's banging my head into the wall (not in front of the kid, though, dont want her getting any ideas). That doesnt necessarily mean aspergers if it's the only symptom.

Observe if its something that he eats or something that sets him off. My oldest step son does this after he has has sugar, which is rare, or if he gets frustrated. Usually we ignore the behavior or dad begins to sing to him as a distraction, other things make it worse. But finding what distracts them when they act out is best. Talk to his therapist if he has one, they may be doing something already that works.

After re-reading your post, has he been diagnosed? Talk to your pediatrician A. local school district regardless of age, they offer early intervention usually.