5yr old picking on his older special needs brother

[Lifeisshort123]

My 5yr old has recently started to call his brother who is 15 and has severe special needs (Severe autism, hearing impairment, developmental delays and down syndrome.)
He has began to call his older brother names such as 'dummy' and 'retard' he has also started to torment him including pulling his pants down and running away, throwing things at him, opening the door whilst he is in the bath and throwing toys at him just to name a few of the things. I am unsure on what to do, I don't know how to stop him. I'd appreciate any views/advice on what to do! Thank you.

[Lifeisshort123]

I have tried everything I can think of but he doesn't seem to see a problem with it I've tried taking his favourite toy away for a week, no sweets for a week, no TV for a week, time outs and I'm just lost on what to do..
I don't know if anyone else has experienced this sort of thing and could give me some advice on what worked for them. It's getting worse and worse and It's not fair on my SN son.

[LaContessaDiPlump]

Why don't you know what to do?
How is that helpful zzzzz?

I'm sorry op, I haven't been in your situation but my 5yo DS does unkind things like this a lot sometimes too and it is so hard to stop him. If I explain rationally he ignores me, if I try to be nice he ignores me, if I shout he laughs, if I threaten he laughs - basically if I give him the oxygen of attention then he does it again. The only thing I've found that works is consistently telling him to stop ONCE (with a warning of consequences) and then dragging him upstairs to his room and locking him in. Once he's been in there for a while then he starts to realise that I'm not joking and that this behaviour is not f*ing acceptable.

Sorry, I've annoyed myself by remembering all the times he's hurt his little brother on purpose

op, it is horrible to deal with. I imagine your older DS also gets upset

[LaContessaDiPlump]

x-posted

I think your punishments are far too long. Week-long timeout means nothing at that age. I leave my DS in his room until he realises that he's trapped in there and starts to cry. From bitter experience, I can tell you that he will NOT take the message of 'Stop fucking hurting your brother' on board before that point. Believe me, I have tried to be Gentle Mummy. It does not work with my DS.

I should add the caveat here that I don't smack/hit (whichever word you prefer) and don't intend to, ever.

[Lifeisshort123]

LaContessaDiPlump I never thought of it like that as I thought the longer he was punished the more likely he would be to stop. It gets to the point where you just want to give them the message haha. I am going to try the leaving him in his room until he releases what he has done is unacceptable. I don't know where he would have learnt such cruel word from as we certainly don't use those words in our household. I've always wanted my children to be kind and accepting of others especially the elderly and disabled ect. How long would you leave a 5yr old in his room for a time out/reflection time?

[Lifeisshort123]

zzzzz He doesn't do it to me much, sometimes calls me names such as 'fatty' ect. I usually take toys away from him or put him in time out but he doesn't burst in on me in the bath or anything like that. He doesn't bully his other siblings either.

[Lifeisshort123]

zzzzz It seems to be in the evenings and late afternoons, usually 2pm and onward. I don't know where he would have leant the word as we never say it and he is only in reception at school so I doubt he learnt it there either.
We have already had an incident today which nudged me on to posting for some advice.

[Lifeisshort123]

zzzzz That's a great suggestion, I have been writing down the more severe sort of incidents but not really keeping to it. I think keeping some sort of record of what he is doing before the incident happens is a good idea and might unlock some clues to why he is getting so annoyed/aggressive towards his SN brother. I try to keep him as busy as I can but sometimes it can be challenging as I have 4 other children including one with special needs. I think I need to come up with a system or routine of some sort to be able to cope with the rest of the school holidays.

[LaContessaDiPlump]

I see where you're coming from now zzzzz - sorry for the face.

I agree that he is probably doing it in response to being tired, hungry, or perhaps just simply bored. He knows he'll get a response if he upsets his brother (and he will have picked up on the fact that you may well be a bit more protective of his older brother too, which adds jealousy into the mix), so unfortunately that makes his brother a target. Given the hour of the day, I'd suggest he may be tired - my DS is certainly worse in the evenings and it does help me to mentally view it as not entirely his fault if it happens at those times, because he's just sleep-crazed. Still not an acceptable way to behave though, obviously.

I tend to leave DS1 in his room until he starts crying, which depends on how tired he is - sometimes it takes 2 minutes (if that), sometimes up to 10.

He has probably learnt such words at school, from the TV, in passing on the street..... you can't prevent it, sadly. Try not to take it to heart (easier said than done)!

[notgivingin789]

This is a fear of mine if DS gets a sibling. If I have another child; from an early age, I would teach my child about disabilities; take them to play places, where there would be children with special needs. But maybe this won't work and the child would still be calling DS names.

[Lifeisshort123]

I think its always a good idea for children to mix with special needs children and typically developing children. I have four other children, two of which are 4 & 5. My 5yr old has recently started to have problems with my special needs D's but my 4yr old dd is very sweet with him and went to a nursery which had children of all abilities. She is about to start school and I hope she would never call anyone with disablities especially names or think of them as any different than her. I am very disappointed in my son's behaviour but if you have another child I think it is very important that you give him/her lots of chances to mix with special needs children. I also avoid using the word 'disabled' in front of my children.

[WannaBe]

I would be questioning whether he's being given a hard time at school for having a disabled brother, something which is sadly not uncommon. Additionally, if ds1's needs are significant then he may feel some resentment.

[Lifeisshort123]

I hope he hasn't been having a hard time at school especially at his age. He doesn't seem to be aware of what extra needs his older brother has apart from that he is a little different to him. He has not said anything about other children saying anything about this brother.

[Lifeisshort123]

I haven't spoken to the school as it has only started in the past 3/4 weeks but I wonder if it would be worth talking to him about his brother or showing him a video like you suggested. If I tell him what he is doing is not acceptable he laughs..

[WannaBe]

But he will have learned those words from somewhere.
Yes I would have a word with the school.

[Olympiathequeen]

Perhaps it could be simple attention seeking behaviour? If that's possible maybe do more things with the younger child, and if possible arrange for the boys to do things they can manage together. Swingball? Kerplunk? Those types of games if possible?