Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi just wanted to hear from other parents. I am really frustrated at the moment. My 9 year old who has Autism hates school hates his teachers. He tells me that he has no friends and everyone treats him like a baby. If i tell him to do something even simple like brush his teeth we have a major arguement he just says no. If i ask him he starts arguing with me and says no im not doing it and it ends up a battle and then me shouting at him and him crying and 20 minutes later him then brushing his teeth and apologiseing. If i ask him to eat his dinner he says no im not eating at the table i want to eat in the living room so that he can watch TV. I give him a choice and say you either eat it in the Kitchen at the table or you go hungry simple. He then starts arguing with me saying no im eating here in the living room and thats it! This carries on and I end up shoutinga nd feeling absoutely drained and gulity for shouting. It seems that he does this for everything and I dont know what to do. It breaks my heart that he talks to me in a horrible tone of voice and then lies and says you said the other day that I could do whatever it is that he wants to do. You are horrible you are nasty to me. You never listen is what I get from him. When he calms down I ask him about his behaviour he then apologises and then the next day it starts again. I have punoshed him by grounding him and not letting him watch TV etc which he then says yes mummy I know Im grounded today and he complies to the punishment. I think im just frustrated any help appreciated!
Your son sounds so similar to mine. Mine is now 11yrs old but still exhibits the same traits you describe.
Is your son aware that he is different and what his diagnosis is? Often I've found that this acknowledgment gives openings for better explanations of why things happen, and methods for him to try to fit in with his peers, which if your son is like mine.. He is desperate to do, but doesn't understand why others manage it and he can't.
I've sometimes found listening without the requirement to probe or ask questions is quite comforting for him and he opens up more as he leads the conversation.
We're still struggling to make the correct distinction between disciplining for bad behaviour, and giving him the space to cool down to avoid a violent meltdown. What we currently do is let him have his space after he's stormed off in anger for misinterpreting or disagreeing with us - and then a couple of hours later discuss what happened with him to see what could be done differently.
We've just asked the school about an ehcp, and they're referring it to their senco. He struggles to keep focused in class, and is constantly having problems and fights with other kids. Unfortunately he makes himself an easy target and kids know he'll react to things.
If they won't support us applying, we'll do it ourselves anyway.
Hope that helps a little, sometimes knowing others are experiencing similar things to you can make a big difference!