Need advice w/aggressive behavior

[liamsvoice]

My 6yr old non-verbal autistic son aggression has gotten really bad. I`ve had him home from school since last wens(bc behavior) This past weekend was the worst yet!! The scratching,biting,hair pulling,hitting was worst yet. Im covered in bruises. The only way to calm him down was ride him in the car. With the aggression came insomnia(worse than usual). We swappeded his meds 11days ago. He was on Respirdone but it didnt really work after almost 2yrs. the weight gain from it makes him almost my size and very hard to control. I think i can control him bc im his mom if that makes sense. He was on new med abilify for 11 days. I didnt give it sunday or today.  IIii

[FarmerBeth]

It's hard to tell what is going on with his behavior in relation to the meds if you don't stay on it long enough.  My son isn't violent or nonverbal, I'm actually speaking from working in a healthcare background, sometimes with psychiatric patients, and some of those patients having been kids.  Behavior changes during the first two weeks of taking a med are really common, and should fizzle out by a month.  I would take him to the pediatrician immediately to discuss whether the behavior is related to med change, med not working, med not in system long enough, adverse reaction, etc.  A lot can happen.  I really don't recommend withdrawing or changing the meds without seeing your doctor.  Also, it's early in the school year for many places.  Could he be having adjustment problems from school?

[treehugger86]

Welcome to the forum! I'm more of a lurker, than I poster . . but I thought I would give a go at a response. It sounds as though you are in a difficult position. Here are my thoughts:

My first thought, in agreement to the above response, is that it is possible that your son is adjusting to the change in medications, or the change in routine. I would definitely consider speaking with his physician. That bring said, I am also wondering whether you are connected with a behavioural consultant or interventionist. These individuals are trained to doing Functional Behavioural Assessments, and to develop and implement behavioural plans to directly address a child's need. Most behaviour serves a function, and it is important to determine that function (i.e. attention, communication, sensory, etc.), in order to be able to directly address your child's needs (especially, given his inability to communicate verbally), and hopefully, teach an alternative, or replacement behaviour, that is more appropriate and functional. What kind of support system do you have? Does your son have a communication system or device? What services does the school offer?

It is difficult to offer concrete advise without knowing more details about the situation. I would work on looking for behaviour patterns (i.e. Do these behaviours occur at a certain time of day, or during transitions?), and I would also reach out for some support. I'm sorry, I wish I had more to offer in response.