Seeking Moms of Special Needs Children

Hi M.
I have a 5 yr old who has fortunatly stopped the head banging, there are protective head gear that you can get specially made by the hospital so when he is having an episode and throwing himself about he cannot damage his skull, they sometimes call them a skull cap, they make them in nice colours now, and they look a bit like a boxing helmet, and have a strap under the chin. It does make you feel awful to begin with to make the child wear it, and does seem to antagonise the situation, But belive me when I say Ethan only did this for 6 months tops, then we didnt need to use it anymore. Theres loads of other techniques; one being firm pressure, where you lay on the child with your entire body weight stopping them from being able to move, which again sounds quite monsterous, but "under sensitive" autistic children like the pressure and it calms them. The only other thing you can do is monitor the situation leading to a meltdown, find out the trigger and try and remove the trigger or at least be ready for the reaction, just dont get your head in the way, Ethan has nearly broken my nose a couple of times. How old is your boy? I have a friend in the States that is in contact with EI and she may have a contact I could forward to you? I am in the Uk and its slightly different here. my msn is ____@____.com if you want to talk to me direct.
All the best, E. xxx

It DOES get better, thinking of you.

You might want to post your question on one of the Autism group listserves through Yahoo! Commonbonds is a Massachusetts based Autism group and a great resource. There are others, just do a search on Yahoo! Feel free to contact me if you have any problems finding these groups and I'll forward the info to you. Best to you,
-J.

My son, 6 has autistic tendencies, due to his brain anomoly. When he has "fits" we use deep pressure A LOT!! Also, I agree with the idea of looking for the triggers. The more we have discovered about our son and his triggers and ways to avoid them, the easier life has been for him. We have him on a sensory diet at home, and he is in OT and Speech both privately and at school.
Also, we have an 11 month old who head bangs when she is tired, and our ped. said that it is a fairly normal reaction and just doing what you are doing to stop him from hurting himself is the best you can do.
Also, try giving him "heavy work" to do when he seems overstimulated. We have our son do "bear crawls", "wheelbarrow walks", "frog jumps", yard work, moving chairs, ect. to help him calm down and find his balance in his "motor".

I wish I could remember the name of the medication. I saw a show. 20/20 a long time ago there is suppose to be a new med. to help autistic children. My ex brotherinlaw has an autistic child. Ask a DR. that specializes in autism. re; Boston MASS. is the best.

I have two with PDD- 5yo and a 3yo boys. My 5yo son wasa total head bangger when he was 16mo til 2ish. I got his diagnosis at 25months and at this time his nero put him on medication (TENEX) for anxiety and this completely stopped the head bannging and decreased the tantrums; made them easier to handle. I also had Early Intervention and Building Blocks at my house helping him progress and teaching my "tricks" to control his behaviors.
I found the deep pressure and although it sounds crazy swaddling worked great. I just took a big blanket and swaddled him in it just like I did when he was an infant and then held him in it tightly as I rocked him and clamed him down. It almost always worked. They also reccomended putting him in a safe place (play pen or something) that he cannot hurt himslef in and just letting him finish and do what he feels he needs to do in there where he is safe. If possible; when he was totally out of control and I was exhauted and alone I would just starp him and the baby in the car seat and go for a long nap ride! LOL My 3yo was a newborn at the time and he was totally colic and has milk allergy that was undiagnosed so it was such a hard time in my life at that point...UGHHHHH
I totally feel for you and know exactly what you are going through! If you have Early Intervention and autism therapists ask them for advice and you should also talk to your neuro!!

hi i understand what your going through my daughter used to do the say stuff..there isnt much i could do but to be strict with her seems to help more than being kind i dont get it but it works with her she is older of course she didnt show signs until she was 3 years and then she just blew up and 5/6...they do has her on ritilan i beleave it helps i dont old enogh to take stuff. and dont let them put him on depakote it makes them worse i hope i helped

Hi M.:
My daughter, now 12, did this when she was young. No warning with her though--she'd do it on cement floors too! After talking to her neurologist about this I found out there is a type of seizure that exhibits itself like this--repetative things like head banging, running around in cirlces, etc. What caught my eye was your sentence about him not being done until he was done. That just sent up a warning that it might be something he has no control over like a seizure. Best of luck to both of you!