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Aggressive behaviour. HELP PLEASE?!?!??

sarahb84

Hi all. I'm looking for any advice or suggestions about my 4 year old son. He was diagnosed ASD January 13. He is non verbal and has limited understanding. We have been using pecs and signing now for a few months, which he is responding really well to. But his aggressive behaviour is getting worse. Anything sets him off and he'll go for anyone. It was a poor 8 month old boy the other day. I was mortified!!! He seems ok, he might be smiling or cuddling and then he'll clench and grind his teeth, then he grabs/pinches/pulls hair/bites/digs in his nails. There's no real warning signs, it's like a switch is flipped. 

My other half, me and my eldest are all covered in scratches and bite marks. 

Anybody had any similar experiences? Or know of any techniques to help please. 

  • A behaviour log is useful. Track what situational factors trigger violent behavour and avoid them untill the child can be taught coping strategies in a controlled and safe manner.

  • Thanks for your advice Longman. Smile I'll give these pages a visit. 

  • Given he is non-verbal he has limited means of telling anyone that something is distressful or painful.

    Also if he perceives things being done to him as painful, he may feel the only way to convey that is to inflict pain back.

    If you can, try to establish what kind of sensitivity he has. On the web pages go to "Living with autism" then "understanding behaviour" then "the sensory world of autism" and on the third page from the sequence for that section you will find a list of sensitivities.

    The list is subdivided whether the individual is hyper or hypo sensitive. Hyper is over-sensitive, hypo is under sensitive. The list works through sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, balance, body awareness and synesthesia.

    Regard the various grabs, pinches, pulls as an attempt to communicate to you he is distrressed. Try to work out what you were doing at the time that might induce pain or distress.

    Get advice on what to do to alleviate causes of distress. If you ask about specific sensitivities there will almost always be people on the forum who come forward with experience and advice. Sometimes I suspect a broad open question floors everyone (as every child with autism is different, so broad common ground is difficult), so explore a bit to work out what in particular makes your child aggressive, and then ask more direct questions.