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Dealing with Meltdowns

NAS74975

Hi All, I am a mum of a 7, nearly 8 year old little boy who received a diagnosis of moderate Autism in February of this year shortly followed by an ADHD diagnosis highlighted during his ASD assessment. I am new to this and finding my way around the support available but its slow. I am having particular difficulties implementing effective methods for dealing with the extreme meltdowns that occur where they can last at times for a good 1 to 2 hours usually due to tiredness or hunger. I am finding it increasingly difficult to keep my composure during these episodes and was looking for some helpful hints tips advice and/or guidance on how to deal with them. I have tried being stern (they will often result in my son reusing to eat breakfast, get dressed, brush his teeth etc which makes us late for school) and I have tried the softer approach in the hope of calming/pacifying him but neither seem to work and I really struggle. Has anyone had any similar experiences they could share that might help me during these times? 

Parents

  • Hello ,

    I'm sorry to hear that you have had to deal with your son's meltdowns. This must be really difficult for you to cope with. You may like to have a look at the following page from the NAS on autism meltdowns with some useful strategies for parents:

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/behaviour/meltdowns/all-audiences

    All the best,

    ChloeMod

  • in reply to Chloe Mod

    Hi. Sorry to piggy back on this one, and I genuinely don't mean to sound rude, but is there actually any advice for how to DEAL with a meltdown and help the individual calm down? For example, my daughter woke up at 2am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep because her 'hair was uncomfortable' - this escalated into a full blown meltdown very quickly. She didn't want a cuddle. She didn't want to be left alone. She just wanted to pull her hair out. After some discussion, we established that she was probably hot and dehydrated (sleeping in a fleece jumper and currently refusing to drink) but refused to remove the jumper and reiterated that she finds drinking uncomfortable (she struggles with interoception). 2 hours later she calmed down. Any thoughts on what else we could have tried? 

Reply
  • in reply to Chloe Mod

    Hi. Sorry to piggy back on this one, and I genuinely don't mean to sound rude, but is there actually any advice for how to DEAL with a meltdown and help the individual calm down? For example, my daughter woke up at 2am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep because her 'hair was uncomfortable' - this escalated into a full blown meltdown very quickly. She didn't want a cuddle. She didn't want to be left alone. She just wanted to pull her hair out. After some discussion, we established that she was probably hot and dehydrated (sleeping in a fleece jumper and currently refusing to drink) but refused to remove the jumper and reiterated that she finds drinking uncomfortable (she struggles with interoception). 2 hours later she calmed down. Any thoughts on what else we could have tried? 

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