Aspergers and "meltdowns"

Hello I just wanted to hear others experience of how their teenagers behave when they get really stressed/anxious and have what seems to be known as meltdown?

With our son it seems to have happened in school but not at home and the child they describe sounds so different to the usual one we see.  He gets so angry that his eyes roll in his head and he makes threats and shakes.  In his previous school (he is now in a special medical unit) he would get put in an isolation room where he would then try and self harm to gain control and so he would not hurt anyone.  He would also write bad things down about revenge and what he would like to do to people who had bullied him.

This is scary and I worry that one day he will hurt himself or someone else, it does not happen often but even in the place he is now there have been a couple of days where he has been anxious about things and something has set him off.  He can't remember afterwards what has been said or not said, but he doesn't want it to happen.  Teachers say they have not seen behaviour like this before but from reading about Aspergers and Autism it would seem that a meltdown like this is fairly standard?

(our son is 13).  I would be really interested to hear others experience of these meltdowns and what they do about them.  It doesnt happen often and doesn't go on for long, ususally ends with tears and worries and feeling very low.  I want to learn how to try and make sure it doesn't get that far.  He now has a quiet room to go in break times so he can avoid social pressures and when he has something happening like a CAMHS appointment that day he does not go into school.  What we really want is to find some help for him where he can learn about what triggers these episodes so that he can recognise for himself if its going to happen and remove himself from the situation before anything occurs.

thanks for listening!

Parents
  • hi - Daisygirl gives good advice.  What support does your son get at the unit?  I would have thought a unit that was experienced and well trained in autism would have at least a reasonable idea of why he was getting upset and would be suggesting ways to avoid that.  You say he's ok at home so I presume it must be to do with his educational environment.  My son used to be in an environment that wasn't autism-friendly.  He used to get very stressed and sometimes hurt himself to relieve the pressure.  Sometimes he could tell you why he was upset and other times not.  The staff, mostly, weren't of any help or made things worse.   Most of the time they couldn't say why he'd got upset.  They didn't know how to help him.  He's now in a much different environment with staff who understand autism and how it affects him as an individual. Things have much improved for him.  Take a critical look at that unit??

Reply
  • hi - Daisygirl gives good advice.  What support does your son get at the unit?  I would have thought a unit that was experienced and well trained in autism would have at least a reasonable idea of why he was getting upset and would be suggesting ways to avoid that.  You say he's ok at home so I presume it must be to do with his educational environment.  My son used to be in an environment that wasn't autism-friendly.  He used to get very stressed and sometimes hurt himself to relieve the pressure.  Sometimes he could tell you why he was upset and other times not.  The staff, mostly, weren't of any help or made things worse.   Most of the time they couldn't say why he'd got upset.  They didn't know how to help him.  He's now in a much different environment with staff who understand autism and how it affects him as an individual. Things have much improved for him.  Take a critical look at that unit??

Children
No Data