Well, it was bound to happen. I had hoped it wouldn’t happen but deep down I knew it would. Gavin had his first massive tantrum since returning home. He made it about a week and 3 days.
As per his usual MO, this tantrum was the result of being held accountable for his actions.
Basically, he wasn’t listening and was ignoring me while I was call for him. We know he heard me because he responded but not by bring himself down the stairs in order to speak with me.
When he did finally show up, I learned that he was doing something that he had just been told not to do.
It’s already been a rough morning and so we informed him that there were going to be consequences for not listening and for ignoring me when I called him down.
That was it.
That was all that happened.
All he has to do is eat oatmeal for dinner, which he likes, he just doesn’t like being told what to do.
He launched into a fairly massive tantrum. He punched, kicked and hit himself, over and over again. He stomped his feet and hit the floor as well. I kept very calm and reminded him of his coping skills.
The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes, before he got himself under control.
This has definitely been worse but at the same time, we hadn’t experienced any of this for 7+ months now.
As you all know, this type of thing can be very destabilizing for the other boys. That said, it was over and done with pretty quickly.
While I wish this hadn’t happened at all, Garvin deserves credit for getting himself under control so quickly.
As soon as Gavin was back under control and the dogs felt safe, they both went over to him and nuzzled up to him so that they could help him to feel better. 🙂
This site is managed almost exclusively via WordPress for Android. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. 😉
Visit the My Autism Help Forums
To reach me via email, please Contact Me
