Gee whizz!!! what does it take???

[shazzarooney99]

I am bloody fed up! i am sick of being battered and bruised!,we dont have a diagnose, however basically been told son has spd, had a letter from Cahms saying he needs and Asd assesment, went into school showed them my war wounds, they even phoned Cahms themselves!

What the hell does it take? to get any help at all? i am so blood fed up! i have another war wound from this evening as well as losing lots of my hair! when will someone wake up and listen?

Went Gp this evening, there is nowhere else for her to refer us too! we have the pead in 2 weeks and im afraid they are going to get it full throttle!

Sorry really needed to vent, really pissed off!

[fairgame]

I know exactly how you feel it's really hard. DS used to meltdown and attack me several times a day and there was no help from anyone even with a diagnosis. The only help I was given was from the inclusion teachers at his school who showed me how to restrain him in a blanket wrap.
It's got loads better as he has got older and now he rarely has meltdowns at all. Over the years I have kind of tuned in to him and know how to keep him calm. But between the ages of 4 and 8 he was awful and completely unmanageable.
There are some books that might help such as the explosive child and I used one on challenging behaviour by the national autistic society.
You could try for respite but it will depend on where you live as to what the criteria is.
You could try social services they might be able to assign you a family support worker.
I hope you have a better day with him today

[OneInEight]

Bucket loads of sympathy...

In truth CAMHS were as much use as a chocolate tea pot for my ds's.

What has made a difference is (I) Appropriate support at school - so I would recommend focusing your energies on this and (ii) Us learning how to handle them.

Our biggest breakthrough was accepting the challenging behaviour was due to anxiety and recognising that we needed to try and reduce their stress levels.

You do not need a diagnosis to start using ASD strategies at home so worth starting now and seeing if they help. Simple things like giving ds2 five minute warnings to turn the computer off etc help rather than demands that he do things immediately.

Sometimes it is difficult to see the trend above individual incidents so I would recommend starting a diary so you can monitor if different strategies help or not.

[shazzarooney99]

Thanks for the replies guys, apparently for Cahms Autism is not a mental health condition. Are any of your children medicated for this? because i have been thinking about it, i am so fed up of being on pins all the time.

[OneInEight]

Some people have some success with medication but it is not a miracle cure and actually made things worse for ds2. You would have to go via CAMHS (or paediatrician) as our GP told us he couldn't prescribe anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds to a child. ds2 didn't get on with fluoxetine due to strong mint taste and risperidone although is meant to be an anti-psychotic made him psychotic even though he was on very low dose.

[shazzarooney99]

Thanks one xx

[cansu]

Ds has had success with risperidone. Helped massively witj calming him down and with reducing aggression.

[shazzarooney99]

Thanks cansu xxx

[MilkshakeMonkey]

I can't offer any great advice, but just want you to know your not alone.

DS, 5, has no diagnosis (currently in the system), had a 1.5 hour meltdown this morning which has left me with bruising and has drawn blood with a bite (and me crying in the bathroom afterwards)

School holidays are usually hard work for us. The first few days were ok - the odd small meltdown some hitting but not bad by his standards. Not sure why today is more difficult. It's made harder by no one to contact in school hols.

I have been on training on restraint, but it doesn't stop it from happening. He's quick, I can't always protect myself in time.
I'm using ASD techniques like sand timers, then and now cards, coloured behaviour zones (only just starting since school broke up). Hoping these will help.

Take care