This morning has been launched into orbit with the assistance of both Emmett and Elliott. That right, we had a huge heaping helping of meltdown from both boys.
Elliott was melting down over having to change into clean pants for school. Emmett on the other hand melted down over……well, I never did figure that out.
Both Emmett and Elliott self-injured and that was unpleasant to say the very least.
After Elliott was on his way to school, Emmett spent the next 30 minutes screaming as loudly as he could. He hits this extremely high pitched note that just makes my brain feel like it’s going to explode.
I was thinking we could share our stories about screaming kids. Perhaps we might learn that we aren’t alone.
My son Logan screams every night when he has to go to bed and mostly every morning when he has to go to school. I swear the neighbors must think Im a horrible dad
@Securityfiles. I know how you feel. Hang in there.
Around age 5, my oldest girl would run through the house–sound asleep–screaming and running into things. She would keep going until I could catch her and take her to use the bathroom. After that she could go to back to bed and stay there until she woke up later on in the morning. When she was very little (age 18 mo-4 yrs) she would scream and beat her head on the floor. Her little sister did this also when she reached 15 mo and it continued until she was 6. There was no stopping the screaming once it began. It had to run it's course. The older boys mostly coped by playing in another room with the door shut.
Just out of curiosity, do Emmett and Elliot self-injure as a way of sensory seeking, or is it something they learned from Gavin?
@Random Aspie Teen It something they learned from Gavin. They never did it before they saw Gavin do it and the do exactly what he does. Very good question. Thank you. 🙂
I usually try to send my son to his room until he calms down. The latest thing we have been doing is giving him an herb called Ashawagandha, that helps with stress. He's usually calm within about 15 minutes or less. I am suprised it works so well. A naturopath who treats autistic kids recommended it to me last week. thank God for small victories.I have also heard good things about Rescue Remedy, which is similar, a homeopathic remedy. My grandma with dementia and Alzheimer's has similar meltdowns at night, and it's been helping reduce them.
@rebeccamagliozzi that's awesome. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Boy2 doesn't have a Mute button. He simply has three volume levels: Loud, Louder, & Loudest. At bedtime he routinely keeps up Boy1, or wakes up Boy3. My wife and I are currently trying a "Whisper" technique, where we just whisper to him, so that hopefully he will figure out that there are more Volume Options. The problem is that when we talk to him, he is being to loud to hear us. It is very frustrating.
Thanks,
itsgoodtobeadad
@ItsGoodToBeADad @itsgoodtobeadad that's really interesting. I would be interested in knowing how the whispering technique works.
@Brianne Lynn I totally get that. 🙂
@TheraNicholeLedet what a great way to handle that. 🙂
For us, it's more like screeching vs screaming. With my 4 yr old, I hold him until he calms down. With my 6 yr old, I tell him to do it in his room because it upsets my 2 yr old.
When my son does this I do one of 2 things. Either I send him in his room till he calms down (as a way to get away from any adverse sensory issues) then he comes out and we talk about why it happened and try to work out a plan for how to keep it from happening. This usually works but he is almost 8 and high functioning and verbal. But if we are out of the house or he is melting down out of sadness and I know whet the problem is I try talking to and hugging and showing him I love him till he has calmed down.