Struggling with behaviour of 10 yr old son

I'm really struggling with the behaviour of my 10 yr old son (recently diagnosed asbergers). When he feels unsafe/unhappy/stressed/can't get his own way, he goes into 'lockdown' mode and i'm finding it increasingly difficult to draw him out of it. Sometimes I just leave him be and give him time to 'come out' of it at his own pace but often this is not possible. For example when we: have to get to school/appointment/work or when he is actually putting himself in physical danger.  It is impossible to reason with him when he is like this and I don't know what to do anymore. Can anyone offer any help or advice please?!

Parents
  • By lockdown due you mean he retreats into either some very focussed activity like computer games, or that he simply withdraws and tries to shut out everything else? Or alternatively is he actually "switching off"?

    It may be that his safe environment is one that depends on excluding everything else and just concentrating on this own thoughts.

    Some people's reaction to environmental stress is more introspective than the usual propensity to anger or meltdown, and are more likely just to bottle it up, and shut down dealing with the outside world.

    Also some people experience fading out or absent periods as a response to sensory overload. This looks sometimes like epilepsy but isn't, and just involves an apparent lapse in consciousness or appearing to sleep all the time.

    You might need to clarify what lockdown involves in your son's case.

Reply
  • By lockdown due you mean he retreats into either some very focussed activity like computer games, or that he simply withdraws and tries to shut out everything else? Or alternatively is he actually "switching off"?

    It may be that his safe environment is one that depends on excluding everything else and just concentrating on this own thoughts.

    Some people's reaction to environmental stress is more introspective than the usual propensity to anger or meltdown, and are more likely just to bottle it up, and shut down dealing with the outside world.

    Also some people experience fading out or absent periods as a response to sensory overload. This looks sometimes like epilepsy but isn't, and just involves an apparent lapse in consciousness or appearing to sleep all the time.

    You might need to clarify what lockdown involves in your son's case.

Children
No Data