Gavin just had a helluva meltdown. This was by far, the worst one we have seen in about 9 months.
He dropped his sucker and instead of just asking for a new one, he chose to through a fit. I tried to defuse it before he went nuclear but it was just to late. He completely lost it and was screaming like someone was ripping his finger nails off or something.
This lasted for a solid 20 minutes. Then, as quickly as it began, it ended.
Now he’s acting as if nothing had happened. That is one of the most frustrating things for me. The moment that Gavin ends the meltdown, he moves on. Everyone else is still trying to process what just happened and Gavin just picks up and moves on as if the meltdown never happened.
We never get any type of closure or resolution and that takes its toll. Does that make sense?
Any of you wonderful people out there experience anything similar? If so, does it drive you crazy, or is it just me?
**Thanks for reading**
-Lost and Tired
Please join our Community Autism Support Forum
Posted from WordPress for Android so please forgive the typos. Auto-correct and I don’t get along very well.
Have you tried using something like the 5 point scale to help him label his emotions. I made one for a child in my class. Labled feelings he may have tired, anxious, frustrated, angry/upset. emergancy etc.
then for each feeling, I wrote then for each emotion, how he may feel or look like or why (ie, i am upset becaues something is different, I don't feel well, I want to hit, etc) then what he can do to help him, (ask for help, use relaxation we made for him to help regulate emotions, use a weighted item, sit on hands etc) each thing for what he can do is related to how he feels, and how to help get out of that, for 'emergancy" we tell him he cannot pick that as that is a state that we will tell him if he is in it as he is 'out of control' , he sometimes tries to pick this and he will calmly say 'emergancy'
,
we started by saying when he was upset, oh look you ____ and move the closepin to that one, then talk about why he felt like that and what he can do as per the chart.
then we started asking him,
it is getting better, i understand it may be harder for gavin do to his dual diagnosis but it may be something to try.
try googling 5 point scale
the child i worked wit hand made it for had 6 points, one was tired then happy then the 'angry emotions' were next
they can vary wit
reply to this or send me a message if you don't understand
One thing that worked for me was a "head hug" – I'd pull him into my shoulder with my arms around his head (gently, of course) to help minimize the noise and sight stimulation. Just a minute or two made a big difference, but yeah, you have to be on the alert and know when your child needs that before things get out of control.
Thank you for the insight 😉
When you diffuse a situation with your sons, what does that entail? We're really new to this diagnosis and I'm working on ways to help my son from reaching the tantrum point. I've tried the squeezing the occupational therapist reccomends (as a way for external stimulation of the senses) but if I don't get to that early enough, he still melts down. I'm looking for some other ways to avoid a tantrum if possible.
Gosh, I\’m likely the wrong one to ask about this because Gavin is kinda unique.
However, it helps to understand why your child is melting down. If it\’s sensory related, that can be addressed.
I would suggest you posted this question in the support forums. This is a great question.
Complete get what you are talking about! It's absolutely exhausting!!!!
My recent post Ten Years Ago – On Pins and Needles
Thank the gods it doesn't happen often, but my 13yo Aspie/HFA has had a couple like that this school year. High pitched screaming, crying, cursing, growling and glaring… and yeah, 20 minutes is about right too. The he's over it and that's that. Sometimes there's nothing else to do but wait him out. At least at school they can get him into the Dean's office before he completely melts down, so he doesn't disturb the others kids too much. : / Good luck, hopefully Gavin will find more productive ways of letting off steam as he grows older.