DS 5 - Sensory Issues and mild autism

[mewmewpower]

Hello out there, is there anyone out there can provide some coping strategies with a challenging 5 yr DS! We are now being referred to someone to find out whereabouts he is on the spectrum, she said that it is likely he is very mildy autistic. I can't begin to write down everything as the list is as long as my arm.....he is a huge risk taker, I was cringing the other day in the playground when he decided to swing his scooter round and throw it, he's ran in the road and he's a little monster going to bed, he continues to get out of bed and wakes in the night. In addition to this he does have sensory and balance issues. He struggles to make friends at school as they say they won't play with him because he is always naughty....I do feel him....is there anyone in a similar situation that has good strategies/advice on how to deal with this behaviour. We have tried the bottom step, sticker charts, rewards....but he just says he doesn't care. By the way EVERYTHING is done on a timer - getting dressed, having breakfast, eating lunch, eating snacks, eating dinner, getting changed for bed. Help! :(

Can't really provide any coping strategies sorry, but I'm sure there will be someone popping on to provide some advice either tonight or in the morning.

Our DS2 is 4yo and can be quite challenging as well. He's not as much a risk taker as he simply doesn't recognise or comprehend danger at all.

As far as dealing with the behaviour, I think so much depends on each individual child. DS2 has specific rewards that work well for him... sometimes... but not always. I think you just have to keep trying things until you find something that works. I know that's probably not horribly helpful. DS2 loves having some time on the laptop, so good behaviour is awarded with a small allotment of laptop time, which we add up during the day, and he is allowed in the evening before bedtime (with us supervising).

Is there any activity or thing that your DS really enjoys or wants to do that can be used as a reward?

I have no great pearls of wisdom am afraid, have only hadDS' diagnosis confirmed today and he sounds very different to your DS but I know where you are coming from when there are lots of behaviours which need addresseing...where do you begin?

We've been advised to tackle one or two things (or even one thing, if it's particularly challenging) at a time, until we find a strategy that works before moving onto a new issue. And we have to revisit certain things when he goes through a period of regression.

In addition, we and pre-school are doing lots of work with him on learning skills, in a way which means he is doing a lot of stuff "right" and the boost to his self-esteem seems to have made him more compliant at other times (I think he is less anxious).

To do all of this we have had a lot of help from the communication and interaction team (ours is the early years part of the service, DS is 4)...we had no diagnosis and got this help by getting our HV to refer us to the LA's Early Years Forum which put us in touch with this team...is this something the people helping you at school/via paed etc could do...they have been great at suggesting areas to tackle and how.

That's all a bit woolly, but am just really venturing along the path my selh.

HTH

If he has sensory problems (and he does sound a bit sensory seeking) then a sensory trained OT is your best bet. They can provide him with a sensory profile and give him what is called a "sensory diet" which is nothing to do with food but is some activities which will help calm down his system where it is in overdrive and wake it up where its a bit sluggish. I found the book "The Sensory Smart Child" really helpful. The best thing we ever bought was a trampoline for the garden. 100 bounces before school=1 chilled out little boy. (I have DS with dyspraxia, sensory issues and ASD traits).
HTH

I agree - a sensory diet sounds like a great idea. We had to go private for our OT but she really helped us. We already had a trampoline for the garden, but we got one for house and one for school which means he gets bounces on it before we need to do anything calm - bedtime, storytime, circle time etc and it does mean he is much calmer.

my ds has asd and verbal reminders about rewards didn't work with his behaviour. i sat him down and we asked what reward he really wanted out of probably 6 pictures choices of his obsessions he would choose 1 and i laminated quite a few to put in coat pocket, trouser pockets etc and if we saw any bad behaviour we just asked what's in your pocket, we found visual reminders worked better than anything else. when we saw the phsychologist next she couldn't believe the change in his behaviour and she reccomended this idea to lots of other parents. don't know if this will work for you but worth a try

Oddgirl

Is this the book?

Sorry-Ben10-dont know that one-I meant "The Outof Sync Child" by carol Kranowitz (am rubbish at doing links but is on amazon). I think she also wrote one called "The Out of Sync Child has fun".No idea where I made the other name up from!!

Strip his room of anything that could distract him. Plain curains, bedsheets, no toys.

And buy a trampoline

Good - I have the Out of Sync child has fun! I think I need a trampette for the cellar

The Out Of Sync books are great - would recommend them to anyone.

Hi mewmew I'm in the same boat as you.

The best advice I've had in my situation is if I was in an important meeting and school rang my mobile my anxiety levels would shoot up. For my DS if he's engaged in something (watching TV, drawing, building lego) and I tell him we need to leave for school his anxiety levels would shoot up exactly the same. If I try to get him to change without warning he'd go into a meltdown.

So to get him out of the house to school I give him a 10 minute warning, then 5 minute warning, then 2 minutes explaining what we need to do before we go, then we go. He doesn't have any concept about the actual time so 10 minutes could actually be 20 minutes, it's the preperation that matters. This means he doesn't become anxious so his behaviour doesn't deteriorate.

Also, on a morning when I wake him up I tell him what's going on that day eg breakfast club + school, any after school clubs and who's picking him up. That helps too.

SO what a fantastic analogy.