Published on 12, July, 2020
My 3.5 yr old is currently non-verbal and awaiting assessment which we started at year ago but has took until recently to get him on a waiting list to actually have his assessment as my local nhs changed how they do their assessments.
he is currently not attending any nursery even though he should be as they feel he needs support but can’t get any extra funding for this.
main problem the now is his temper, the littlest thing at the minute sets him off, we are hit, bit, kicked, scratched things thrown at his, he screams stomps.
any advice on how to handle this?
Have you got a safe place to put him? Say a play pen where he can't hurt himself or anyone else. Pop him in there while the meltdown passes. There really is nothing you can do while it is in full swing.
Then perhaps later try and figure out what overloaded him and think about what might make that easier. It's difficult if he isn't speaking, but if he understands speech ok, see if he can indicate what he didn't like. There should be an obvious difference between toddler didn't get what he wanted (naughty - needs not to get his own way), and toddler was stressed out by something in his environment or a change to routine or something related to Autism (distressing melt down, deserves some sympathy). I'd make a note of them all for your assessment.
I'd also explain putting him in his playpen, or wherever you'd got, isn't about punishing him and you're not upset with him, you just don't want him to get hurt or hurt anyone else while he's upset. When it's over you can frame it 'come out if you're feeling better', rather than 'you can come out if you are going to be good'.