Helping with meltdowns

Hi, I want to offer my advice but also with caution as I’m aware that different methods would work better with different age groups. My 2 year old daughter isn’t diagnosed yet, she has her first autism assessment appointment next Tuesday. She can have meltdowns though, she had one this morning. Kicking, wailing, shaking her head (she does this as a stim) and pulling her hair out in clumps. I went down the deep pressure route. As she is still quite small I grabbed her and sat her in front of me with her back to me (admittedly the fact that she has global hypotonia makes this easier, don’t think I could have managed it if she’d been going rigid!) and bear hugged her from behind but wrapping my hands under to apply deep pressure to the top of her upper arms at the same time. The deep pressure is something I was taught by her OT as a response to stimming but it also works for meltdowns as the deep pressure gives proprioperception feedback which apparently helps to calm them. It works with her anyway. She calmed down reasonably quickly, I could tell that she was sort of still trying to meltdown but the deep pressure was keeping it contained. When I myself meltdown, I just need to be on my own for as long as it takes for me to calm down. Any interference from anyone else just further aggravates me. As an adult I can usually reflect afterwards and see what has triggered the meltdown, sometimes this proves useful for knowing what to avoid to reduce future incidence of meltdowns. However, I understand that reflection and understanding might be more difficult for a child. However, if she is able to reflect and try to see the triggers that led to the meltdown then it could help to avoid some meltdowns in the future. I’ve just read what Emma was saying about deep pressure helping with her meltdowns and actually I was thinking a couple of weeks ago that I could see how I might benefit from a weighted blanket, I might see if deep pressure helps with my meltdowns too.

Hi, I want to offer my advice but also with caution as I’m aware that different methods would work better with different age groups. My 2 year old daughter isn’t diagnosed yet, she has her first autism assessment appointment next Tuesday. She can have meltdowns though, she had one this morning. Kicking, wailing, shaking her head (she does this as a stim) and pulling her hair out in clumps. I went down the deep pressure route. As she is still quite small I grabbed her and sat her in front of me with her back to me (admittedly the fact that she has global hypotonia makes this easier, don’t think I could have managed it if she’d been going rigid!) and bear hugged her from behind but wrapping my hands under to apply deep pressure to the top of her upper arms at the same time. The deep pressure is something I was taught by her OT as a response to stimming but it also works for meltdowns as the deep pressure gives proprioperception feedback which apparently helps to calm them. It works with her anyway. She calmed down reasonably quickly, I could tell that she was sort of still trying to meltdown but the deep pressure was keeping it contained. When I myself meltdown, I just need to be on my own for as long as it takes for me to calm down. Any interference from anyone else just further aggravates me. As an adult I can usually reflect afterwards and see what has triggered the meltdown, sometimes this proves useful for knowing what to avoid to reduce future incidence of meltdowns. However, I understand that reflection and understanding might be more difficult for a child. However, if she is able to reflect and try to see the triggers that led to the meltdown then it could help to avoid some meltdowns in the future. I’ve just read what Emma was saying about deep pressure helping with her meltdowns and actually I was thinking a couple of weeks ago that I could see how I might benefit from a weighted blanket, I might see if deep pressure helps with my meltdowns too.