I have a 3 year old son whom I am struggling with behaviorally. He has Mitochondrial Disease, Epilepsy, Autism, Sensory processing disorder, global developmental delay, he is non-verbal and other health issues.
Up until the last month or so it has not been that bad but recently his behavior has gotten to the point where I'm ready to pull my hair out!
A few examples of recent behavior:
He'll walk up to the curtains and pull on them. They can easily pull off the rod so I tell him not to pull on them and move him away. He runs back and pulls on them again. I pick him up and move him again. Sometimes I will distract him with something else, other times I get frustrated with his behavior and raise my voice and tell him he needs to stop. I don't know why I do this, it doesn't work. @@
I will bring him to me to get dressed. He will go limp. I pick him up and start to put his shirt on and he goes limp again. I pick him up again. This is CONTINUAL. He has low muscle tone and is nearly impossible to pick up from the floor once this starts because he just hangs off my arm. So then I might lay him down and he'll whip his body back and forth to do what he can to get away. Other times he's fully compliant and it is not a sensory issue in terms of putting clothes on, I can tell it's a "this is a fun game" issue.
He tends to think all of this is very funny. He thinks we're playing a game or that I must think it's funny. He understands but yet he doesn't. He does things more for my attention. I do not think he realizes cause and effect. I think sometimes he knows he should stop the behavior but cannot.
He has issues with energy and fatigue which actually manifest themselves as hyperactivity some of the time. I will fold laundry and walk away to put something away and come back and he's thrown all the laundry all over the room. I walk over to him and tell him to stop and he goes limp, reaching behind him to try to get more laundry to throw. It just never ends.
There are many issues at play here. There's neurological dysfunction which causes developmental delays. There's autism which prevents him from correctly understanding my facial expressions/tone of voice some of the time. There's 3 seizure medications affecting his brain and who knows what else is going on in his little brain. There's the fact that he cannot communicate his needs.
The hardest thing is that some days he is not like this at all and some days he is. The problem is that these days where he is this way are getting more and more frequent. There's nothing he really enjoys to keep him destracted other than playing with trucks and even that doesn't last long. He does not like to color, will not watch tv, does not enjoy any fine motor activities, etc...
I just don't know where to turn. Behavioral problems are huge in both Epilepsy and Autism. I feel like I'm at a loss as to how to really discipline him or even react to his behavior because it's so hard to know how his brain works.
Up until the last month or so it has not been that bad but recently his behavior has gotten to the point where I'm ready to pull my hair out!
A few examples of recent behavior:
He'll walk up to the curtains and pull on them. They can easily pull off the rod so I tell him not to pull on them and move him away. He runs back and pulls on them again. I pick him up and move him again. Sometimes I will distract him with something else, other times I get frustrated with his behavior and raise my voice and tell him he needs to stop. I don't know why I do this, it doesn't work. @@
I will bring him to me to get dressed. He will go limp. I pick him up and start to put his shirt on and he goes limp again. I pick him up again. This is CONTINUAL. He has low muscle tone and is nearly impossible to pick up from the floor once this starts because he just hangs off my arm. So then I might lay him down and he'll whip his body back and forth to do what he can to get away. Other times he's fully compliant and it is not a sensory issue in terms of putting clothes on, I can tell it's a "this is a fun game" issue.
He tends to think all of this is very funny. He thinks we're playing a game or that I must think it's funny. He understands but yet he doesn't. He does things more for my attention. I do not think he realizes cause and effect. I think sometimes he knows he should stop the behavior but cannot.
He has issues with energy and fatigue which actually manifest themselves as hyperactivity some of the time. I will fold laundry and walk away to put something away and come back and he's thrown all the laundry all over the room. I walk over to him and tell him to stop and he goes limp, reaching behind him to try to get more laundry to throw. It just never ends.
There are many issues at play here. There's neurological dysfunction which causes developmental delays. There's autism which prevents him from correctly understanding my facial expressions/tone of voice some of the time. There's 3 seizure medications affecting his brain and who knows what else is going on in his little brain. There's the fact that he cannot communicate his needs.
The hardest thing is that some days he is not like this at all and some days he is. The problem is that these days where he is this way are getting more and more frequent. There's nothing he really enjoys to keep him destracted other than playing with trucks and even that doesn't last long. He does not like to color, will not watch tv, does not enjoy any fine motor activities, etc...
I just don't know where to turn. Behavioral problems are huge in both Epilepsy and Autism. I feel like I'm at a loss as to how to really discipline him or even react to his behavior because it's so hard to know how his brain works.
