Talk to a behavior specialist. Your school district should be able to provide one to evaluate your son as part of his "free and appropriate education." They might be able to give you some better answers than you are likely to get on Y!A. Also, try contacting some of the Autism parent support groups for some ideas. Beware that while many of the parents are good, you will also run into some very bitter, angry people in those. Just ignore them, and find the parents that aren't semi-autistic themselves. They are much easier to deal with.MY SON HAS PDD NOS AND SEEMS TO BE GETTING WORSE?
Has he been seen by a Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician? If not then I would make an appointment with one as soon as possible. The best doctor's I have found for my son have been at a teaching hospital. Keeping to a strict picture schedule works for him and helps to decrease his meltdowns and rages. Here is how I made our schedule:
1. make a list of all the things he does including infrequent activities too.
2. group these things into categories such as outings and appointments, chores, morning routing, evening routine, daily activities, no school day activities, active activities etc.
3. go online to http://www.google.com; click on images on the top of the page.
4. enter the name of the activity such as child brushing teeth and you will easily find pictures of what you are looking for. I found most of my pictures online either on google or the website such as his school's website gave me a picture of his school which I copy and pasted to a Word document.
5 copy and paste to word. Below the activity write a simple 1-2 words to explain what it is.
6. Print and cut all the pictures out.
7. Buy some laminating paper. They have this cheap at WalMart.
8 Laminate the pictures/words
9. Buy some velcro
10. Stick one side of the velcro to the back of the picture and one to the wall or door where you have enough room to put the picture schedule.
11. We have our morning routine (wake up, get dressed, breakfast, brush teeth, meds) and our evening routine (bath, pajamas, grace and dinner, brush teeth, read book, bedtime) on regular paper taped to the wall because these do not change.
At night before he goes to bed I let my son help me pick activities for the next day if he is in the mood, if not I do it myself combining activities from all the areas with atleast 2 active activities and 2 chores. His school sent home some work for the summer and his sensory diet which helps him alot. If your son does not have one I would request one through getting OT or PT sensory integration services at his school. The schedule along with the sensory diet help alot. How does your son sleep? If he has issues then a weighted blanket might help him as it does my son. My son is also on medications that help him control his body and reduce the frequency of his rages considerably. My son has other diagnoses along with his PDD-NOS including Bipolar for which he sees a psychiatrist. If your son gets to the point where you feel he is a danger to himself or others you may need to get him hospitalized in a child psychiatric unit. You may also want to consider taking him to a child psychiatrist who can tell you if he thinks meds would help your son. It is normal for children with any Autism Spectrum Disorder to have ups and downs because they do not understand the world around them. It is confusing and very unfair to them. It is also easily overstimulating which causes them to act up as well. My son has always been very easily overstimulated by lights, noise, crowds, certain foods, certain clothing etc. He also has a high anxiety level. If you study your son you will most likely learn what caused him to act up. Try to keep a log of his behaviors when he acts up. What was going on prior to the incident, where were you, what was the environment like, what happened, what did you do, what was the result... this way you can find out a possible reason for him acting up. Sometimes I have no clue why my son acts the way he does, but most of the time I can figure it out by studying him. I would be happy to give you more support and answer any more questions you might have. Feel free to email me.
No comments:
Post a Comment