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URGENT HELP NEEDED - Out of control what do we do?

paulponty
over 6 years ago

Its getting worse. Today hes smashed in the wall by throwing a huge computer chair at it. Hes smashed the wardrobe door off the hinges.

We've tried and tried, but any attempt to even speak to him results in literally going from 0 - 1000 in a second. Hes shouts screams and punches the walls.

Today he went for my wife. Next step is going to be the police. We've been here before a month or so ago - took him to A&E out of desperation - they did nothing. All the useless tossers at CAMHS have done is tell us its bad parenting and to ring the police.

Hes 14 a big lad. As I've said before, hes got OCD and possible Aspergers. We've tried it all but he just does what he wants. Hes told his mother he wishes she were dead quite a few times. Last week he told me he was going to ring social services and tell them I was hitting him so I'd get arrested. I just just see it all heading down the slope into oblivion at the moment and he doesnt see it, doesnt care, or doesnt register.

I can't go near him at the moment but hes just a danger at the moment at times - We're so on our own because there is no-one to help!

Parents
  • over 6 years ago
    paulponty said:
    I can't go near him at the moment but hes just a danger at the moment at times - We're so on our own because there is no-one to help!

    Consider perhaps the information via the following link:

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/3507054/Singh_et_al.__2011_._A_mindfulness-based_strategy_for_self-management_of_aggressive_behavior_._._._Research_in_Autism_Spectrum_Disorders.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1515561010&Signature=dGWh7cKWuKmTBlHtYCxE2C8i81I%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DMindful_Parenting_Decreases_Aggression_a.pdf

    Another consideration that has worked for a number of male teenagers on the spectrum ~ is a punching bag, in order to serve as an alternative and healthy focus for the aggression. 

  • over 6 years ago in reply to Deepthought

    Thanks link doesnt work but I'll google it and see if I can find it.

    Yes was womndering about punch bag to be honest....

  • over 6 years ago in reply to paulponty
    paulponty said:

    Thanks link doesnt work but I'll google it and see if I can find it.

    .
    I tried to find another link myself, but could only find abstracts (simplified summations) of it, with Purchase PDF options. Although I know extremely little or next to nothing about computing, it might perhaps be that you do not have the appropriate PDF reader on your device. All the same, here is a 'copy-and-paste' job involving the most salient portions of the PDF.
    .
    .
    ABSTRACT
    Some individuals with autism engage in physical aggression to an extent that interferes with not only their quality of life, but also that of their parents and siblings. Behavioural and psychopharmacological treatments have been the mainstay of treatments for aggression in children and adolescents with autism. We evaluated the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based procedure, Meditation on the Soles of the Feet, in helping three adolescents to manage their physical aggression. This procedure required the adolescents to rapidly shift the focus of their attention from the aggression-triggering event to a neutral place on their body, the soles of their feet. Incidents of aggression across the three adolescents ranged from a mean of 14–20 per week during baseline, 4–6 per week during mindfulness training, including zero rates during the last 4 weeks of intervention. Aggression occurred a rate of about 1 per year during a 3-year follow-up. Our results suggest adolescents with autism can learn, and effectively use, a mindfulness-based procedure to self-manage their physical aggression over several years.
    .
    © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
    .
    .
    Prior to the intervention, the mother of each adolescent met with the senior author for a day during which they were taught the procedural steps of Meditation on the Soles of the Feet (Singh et al., 2003), and the steps for training their child with autism. The mothers were also instructed to practice the procedure themselves for a month prior to teaching it to their child.
    .
    .
    Table 1
    Training steps for Meditation on the Soles of the Feet procedure.
    .
    1.) If you are standing, stand in a natural rather than an aggressive posture, with the soles of your feet flat on the floor.
    .
    2.) If you are sitting, sit comfortably with the soles of your feet on the floor.
    .
    3.) Breath naturally, and do nothing.
    .
    4.) Cast your mind back to an incident that made you very angry. Stay with the anger.
    .
    5.) You are feeling angry, and angry thoughts are flowing through your mind. Let them flow naturally, without restriction. Stay with the anger. Your body may show signs of anger (e.g., rapid breathing).
    .
    6.) Now, shift all your attention fully to the soles of your feet.
    .
    7.) Slowly, move your toes, feel your shoes covering your feet, feel the texture of your socks, the curve of your arch, and the heels of your feet against the back of your shoes. If you do not have shoes on, feel the floor or carpet with the soles of your feet.
    .
    8.) keep breathing naturally and focus on the soles of your feet until you feel calm.
    .
    9.) Practice this mindfulness exercise until you can use it wherever your are and whenever an incident occurs that might otherwise lead to you being verbally or physically aggressive.
    .
    10.) Remember that once you are calm, you can walk away from the incident or situation with a smile on your face because you controlled your anger. Alternatively, if you need to, you can respond to the incident or situation with a calm and clear mind without verbal threats or physical aggression.
    .
    .
    Intervention
    Following baseline, the adolescents were individually taught the mindfulness procedure by their mothers. Initial training was conducted during a daily 30-min training session for 5 consecutive days. During these sessions, the adolescents were seated comfortably in a soft chair, with their feet flat on the floor, and hands resting gently on their thighs. They were instructed to close their eyes to increase concentration and narrow their focus to the present moment. Then their mother provided the instructions in a calm and soft voice, taking them through the steps outlined in Table 1. This involved teaching the adolescents to shift their attention from the emotion (e.g., anger, fear, frustration) or other triggers that normally preceded the aggressive behaviour to a neutral object—the soles of their feet. They were encouraged to practice the procedure at other times, at least twice a day, with the help of their mothers, as necessary. This practice did not require the presence of any trigger for their aggressive behaviour, but they were encouraged to use the procedure especially when such a trigger to their aggressive behaviour was present. Once the adolescents had learned the basics of the Meditation on the Soles of the Feet procedure, they were given an audiotape of the instructions (recorded on their iPods) to use for self-practice. During the mindfulness training phase that followed the week of intensive training by their mothers, each adolescent was required to practice the technique at least twice a day with their mother and to use it whenever an incident occurred that could elicit aggressive behaviour. Formal training was terminated when each adolescent did not engage in aggressive behavior for four consecutive weeks
    .
    .
    Follow-up
    Following termination of formal training, each adolescent was periodically reminded by his parents and siblings to continue practising Meditation on the Soles of the Feet in an effort to maintain meditation stabilization, which is a state where the ‘‘mind engages the object of observation of its own accord’’ (Gyatso, 1999, p. 59). They were given no further instruction. Given our extensive experience teaching and using this procedure, we anticipated the participants would become so attuned to their environment and their interactions that the mere occurrence of an unpleasant situation with their parents or siblings would automatically evoke mindfulness, rather than aggression or some other maladaptive behaviour. Follow-up data were collected for 3 years following termination of the intervention to assess maintenance of treatment gains.
    .
    .
    Results
    Fig. 1 presents baseline >(diagrams not here included)<, mindfulness training, and follow-up data on physical aggression for each of the three adolescents. During baseline, Mike, Chris, and Steve exhibited an average of 14, 20, and 16 aggressive acts per week, respectively. During mindfulness training, their aggressive acts were reduced to an average of 6.3, 4.1, and 4.7 aggressive acts per week, respectively, with 0 during the last 4 weeks of intervention. During follow-up, Mike, Chris, and Steve engaged in 4, 3, and 3 aggressive acts in the 3-year period.
    .
    .
    Discussion
    We investigated the effectiveness of Meditation on the Soles of the Feet
    as a self-management strategy for physical aggression by three adolescents with autism. The three adolescents were able to learn and use this mindfulness procedure to manage their aggressive behaviour towards parents and siblings. The multiple baseline design used in this study enables us to infer, with some degree of confidence, a causal relationship between the mindfulness procedure and the reduction in aggression. Introduction of mindfulness training with the first adolescent did not result in decreased aggression in the second and third adolescents and, similarly, introduction of mindfulness training with the second adolescent did not result in decreased aggression in the third adolescent. While the data show a clear and sustained decrease in aggression during mindfulness training, the changes over time were variable within and among the adolescents, and effective control of aggression took between 23 and 30 weeks to reach the criterion of no aggressive incidents for four consecutive weeks. However, once the adolescents achieved self-control of their aggression, they had only one or two aggressive incidents during each of the following 3 years.
    .

Reply
  • over 6 years ago in reply to paulponty
    paulponty said:

    Thanks link doesnt work but I'll google it and see if I can find it.

    .
    I tried to find another link myself, but could only find abstracts (simplified summations) of it, with Purchase PDF options. Although I know extremely little or next to nothing about computing, it might perhaps be that you do not have the appropriate PDF reader on your device. All the same, here is a 'copy-and-paste' job involving the most salient portions of the PDF.
    .
    .
    ABSTRACT
    Some individuals with autism engage in physical aggression to an extent that interferes with not only their quality of life, but also that of their parents and siblings. Behavioural and psychopharmacological treatments have been the mainstay of treatments for aggression in children and adolescents with autism. We evaluated the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based procedure, Meditation on the Soles of the Feet, in helping three adolescents to manage their physical aggression. This procedure required the adolescents to rapidly shift the focus of their attention from the aggression-triggering event to a neutral place on their body, the soles of their feet. Incidents of aggression across the three adolescents ranged from a mean of 14–20 per week during baseline, 4–6 per week during mindfulness training, including zero rates during the last 4 weeks of intervention. Aggression occurred a rate of about 1 per year during a 3-year follow-up. Our results suggest adolescents with autism can learn, and effectively use, a mindfulness-based procedure to self-manage their physical aggression over several years.
    .
    © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
    .
    .
    Prior to the intervention, the mother of each adolescent met with the senior author for a day during which they were taught the procedural steps of Meditation on the Soles of the Feet (Singh et al., 2003), and the steps for training their child with autism. The mothers were also instructed to practice the procedure themselves for a month prior to teaching it to their child.
    .
    .
    Table 1
    Training steps for Meditation on the Soles of the Feet procedure.
    .
    1.) If you are standing, stand in a natural rather than an aggressive posture, with the soles of your feet flat on the floor.
    .
    2.) If you are sitting, sit comfortably with the soles of your feet on the floor.
    .
    3.) Breath naturally, and do nothing.
    .
    4.) Cast your mind back to an incident that made you very angry. Stay with the anger.
    .
    5.) You are feeling angry, and angry thoughts are flowing through your mind. Let them flow naturally, without restriction. Stay with the anger. Your body may show signs of anger (e.g., rapid breathing).
    .
    6.) Now, shift all your attention fully to the soles of your feet.
    .
    7.) Slowly, move your toes, feel your shoes covering your feet, feel the texture of your socks, the curve of your arch, and the heels of your feet against the back of your shoes. If you do not have shoes on, feel the floor or carpet with the soles of your feet.
    .
    8.) keep breathing naturally and focus on the soles of your feet until you feel calm.
    .
    9.) Practice this mindfulness exercise until you can use it wherever your are and whenever an incident occurs that might otherwise lead to you being verbally or physically aggressive.
    .
    10.) Remember that once you are calm, you can walk away from the incident or situation with a smile on your face because you controlled your anger. Alternatively, if you need to, you can respond to the incident or situation with a calm and clear mind without verbal threats or physical aggression.
    .
    .
    Intervention
    Following baseline, the adolescents were individually taught the mindfulness procedure by their mothers. Initial training was conducted during a daily 30-min training session for 5 consecutive days. During these sessions, the adolescents were seated comfortably in a soft chair, with their feet flat on the floor, and hands resting gently on their thighs. They were instructed to close their eyes to increase concentration and narrow their focus to the present moment. Then their mother provided the instructions in a calm and soft voice, taking them through the steps outlined in Table 1. This involved teaching the adolescents to shift their attention from the emotion (e.g., anger, fear, frustration) or other triggers that normally preceded the aggressive behaviour to a neutral object—the soles of their feet. They were encouraged to practice the procedure at other times, at least twice a day, with the help of their mothers, as necessary. This practice did not require the presence of any trigger for their aggressive behaviour, but they were encouraged to use the procedure especially when such a trigger to their aggressive behaviour was present. Once the adolescents had learned the basics of the Meditation on the Soles of the Feet procedure, they were given an audiotape of the instructions (recorded on their iPods) to use for self-practice. During the mindfulness training phase that followed the week of intensive training by their mothers, each adolescent was required to practice the technique at least twice a day with their mother and to use it whenever an incident occurred that could elicit aggressive behaviour. Formal training was terminated when each adolescent did not engage in aggressive behavior for four consecutive weeks
    .
    .
    Follow-up
    Following termination of formal training, each adolescent was periodically reminded by his parents and siblings to continue practising Meditation on the Soles of the Feet in an effort to maintain meditation stabilization, which is a state where the ‘‘mind engages the object of observation of its own accord’’ (Gyatso, 1999, p. 59). They were given no further instruction. Given our extensive experience teaching and using this procedure, we anticipated the participants would become so attuned to their environment and their interactions that the mere occurrence of an unpleasant situation with their parents or siblings would automatically evoke mindfulness, rather than aggression or some other maladaptive behaviour. Follow-up data were collected for 3 years following termination of the intervention to assess maintenance of treatment gains.
    .
    .
    Results
    Fig. 1 presents baseline >(diagrams not here included)<, mindfulness training, and follow-up data on physical aggression for each of the three adolescents. During baseline, Mike, Chris, and Steve exhibited an average of 14, 20, and 16 aggressive acts per week, respectively. During mindfulness training, their aggressive acts were reduced to an average of 6.3, 4.1, and 4.7 aggressive acts per week, respectively, with 0 during the last 4 weeks of intervention. During follow-up, Mike, Chris, and Steve engaged in 4, 3, and 3 aggressive acts in the 3-year period.
    .
    .
    Discussion
    We investigated the effectiveness of Meditation on the Soles of the Feet
    as a self-management strategy for physical aggression by three adolescents with autism. The three adolescents were able to learn and use this mindfulness procedure to manage their aggressive behaviour towards parents and siblings. The multiple baseline design used in this study enables us to infer, with some degree of confidence, a causal relationship between the mindfulness procedure and the reduction in aggression. Introduction of mindfulness training with the first adolescent did not result in decreased aggression in the second and third adolescents and, similarly, introduction of mindfulness training with the second adolescent did not result in decreased aggression in the third adolescent. While the data show a clear and sustained decrease in aggression during mindfulness training, the changes over time were variable within and among the adolescents, and effective control of aggression took between 23 and 30 weeks to reach the criterion of no aggressive incidents for four consecutive weeks. However, once the adolescents achieved self-control of their aggression, they had only one or two aggressive incidents during each of the following 3 years.
    .

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