Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello everyone, I have finally got round to joining this forum on the advice of my sons consultant. My son is 7 and was diagnosed quite quickly during his first year at primary school. Until this point we just thought he was quirky lol. He is high functioning and does ok at school, struggles to form friendships with his peers but has really good relationships with teachers and us at home as well as an amazing bond with his two younger sisters. He has problems sleeping and is on melatonin to help with this.
I have 2 questions really, the first is regarding his sleep issues. at his last appointment he was taking 4mg beforw bed, we advised that he waa now going to sleep with very little issue but was getting up everyday between 2am and 5am this was for the whole day he would not go back to sleep until following bed time. We have now been told to increase the meds by 2mg every 2 weeks until he is on 10mg. He is currently taking 6mg and goes to sleep faster at night but it doesn't seem to have helped him stay asleep. He is still up at silly o clock. Does anyone know if this will improve with the increase in meds?
Secondly, he has begun in the last 3-4 weeks suffering from rages. The smallest thing can set him off. He then is like A whirlwind screaming throwing things and last night bashed a hammer down in inches away from his sisters head. Today when I went to collect him from school found him being restrained by a teacher due to trying to lash out. Apparently someone had knocked him with either a chair or table and he justs went loopy. he then ran away from me and refused to walk home. It took me telephoning his dad at work to talk to him to get him to move off the playing field. These instances are becoming increasingly common and I just don't know what to do anymore.
I have his sisters who are 5 and 3 to think of as well as a very unexpected pregnancy which is taking its toll. I have no help with him other than weekend when daddy isn't working.
Me and hubby have decided that we will so our best to not treat him any differnet from his sisters , we are trying to raise a little boy who will function perfectly well in society on his own and be independent.
If anyone managed to get through my story well done and any advice would be welcome. x
Thanks again, I will have a read x
I found an australian site that talks about this
fedup.com.au/.../introduction-to-food-intolerance-3
Their diet aims to exclude a number of chemicals (natural and artificial) that they believe cause behavioural issues. I believe that this is similar to the Feingold diet which is an american diet for helping behavioural issues.
my own experience is that i have discovered that i am allergic to apples courtesy of Oral Allergy Syndrome. I'm peeved by this as i have a beatiful big apple tree in the garden and i can no longer have apple crumble. It's a bit disconcerting that healthy things like apples can be practically poinonous for some people!
His behaviour changed during the school holidays so all meals were prepard and eaten at home nothing new that I can think of. It is a useful to know that foods could be a trigger though and I will look at starting a food diary to see if anything triggers a mood change. Thanks for the suggestion
If his behaviour changed abruptly then has his diet changed? Has he started to eat or drink something new? Food additives, ingredients and some particular foods can have an effect on some children/adults with autistic disorders
Thanks so much for this response, I will look at these pages as suggested. I guess it is more difficult to understand the sensory element than what I though. it could make sense, especially as he had a mini meltdown earlier just a few minutes after a wasp flew past his ear which I know he really doesn't like. I have to admit I am starting to regret not looking into this site sooner, I think it may just save my sanity.
Meltdowns can have quite a small trigger but represent a build up of stress over a longer timescale. There are theories that suggest a narrower bandwidth for coping with stresses, but also environmental stress is important.
Some stresses can be unresolved issues going back weeks, months or years, that he continues to process in his head. That reduces the threshold for coping for current issues.
But you may find it useful to see what things stress him out most. On the NAS website under Living with Autism, you'll find an option "Understanding Behaviour", and under this you will find "The sensory world of autism". On page 4 of this section you'll find the various senses or senstivities discussed under whether hypo (under-sensitive) or hyper- (over senstive).
Sometimes the pressures come from things you wouldn't readily anticipate were a problem. With sound = predictable sound is easier to deal with than unpredictable, so a sound that goes suddenly on or off might be worse than continuous sound for some, for others sound from different directions acting together may be harder to deal with than one source of very loud sound.
Therefore stress in school is often about numbers - other kids moving around, lots of people talking at once, differences in the way peers engage conversation - some touching or peering to get attention, different smells, sudden movements or sudden loud noises. All these experiences add up, pushing the individual on the spectrum nearer and nearer breaking point - a melt down. And do watch out for bullying, subtle bullying could involve toying with his sensitivities or sudden reactive responses.
Additionally some children will try very hard to avoid meltdowns in front of their peers, which may lead to worse explosions, or explosions in the comparative safety of home.
Thanks for your response, the school are amazing and I cannot fault them at all, they were the one to pick up on his issues, he is in a regular class but has a 1-2 teacher with another more severe little boy with autism. His rages started about 2 weeks before the end of the school holidays. He has moved into another class and has just started KS2 which he was really worried about, the the school and teachers spent 6 weeks before the hols introducing him to the new environment getting him to write a story and take pictures which he looked at over the hols too. The school are expecting a regression and take each day as it comes. We have a hand over session at the beginning and end of school just to update how his morning/evening/day has been. I don't think he is being bullied, there is one boy in his class that there have always been issues with but only as far as they do want to like each other but they just clash and can't really get along but my son does have a couple if friends which he now plays with.
His rages may be simple anxiety but I can't get him to tell me how he feels or what sets it off when it is happening, when it's gone it's gone and he is back to being my boy again. I am starting to get concerned though regarding the use or potential use of weapons. I know he wouldn't intentially hurt anyone but when his mood changes he is unpredictable.
Hi - I'm going to be upfront . I don't think you can treat him the same as any other little boy because he isn't, is he? His autism must be taken into account + he'll always have some issues relating to the social/communication side of things, even if he is independent. Many of our children experience loads of stress at school, hold all that stress in + then let it all out when they get home. Sometimes, of course, they can't hold it in + so have a meltdown or similar at school or whilst elsewhere. So I'd be asking the school how they are taking his autism into account? Has he any support at school. Would they know if he was being bullied (it can be subtle)? On top of that he may, obviously, be tired. I've no experience of melatonin but others who post here will be along to comment.