End of term tiredness and impact on ability to cope with life. (red mist rages)

[ColdHeartedBitch]

Ds is 6, 2nd year of school, high functioning aspie. Mostly able to cope with normal life through strategies, exception being sound sensitivity which provokes huge reactions.

Tonight we have had the first red mist rage/meltdown in a while. tbh I am lucky that he didnt end up in a&e for punching a mirror. Trigger was something stupid. Me telling him that i wanted the cake he hadn't licked the icing off not the fairy cake with icing licked off. No shouting, just firm. He blew up. Completely. Trail of destruction not too bad in damage but extensive (something in most rooms).

Question is as he doesn't communicate how he is feeling. Is it possible he is just very tired from refusing to sleep alot over the last month and end of term or is this something i need to look into? Could there be a trigger for this?

And is there a general correlation between end of terms and the ability to cope/rages?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Dd1 (AS) is the same at the moment, i'm sure its tiredness. Tonight she was sobbing on the toilet because dh had shouted at her (slightly raised his voice), we often get meltdowns from me asking her a question, her not being able to make a choice and her not knowing how she's feeling. Fingers crossed that a week off will help although i often find dd1 will be tired until the easter holidays (a week off is not enough for her).

Thank you. I think i am feeling it a lot due to the amazing non sleeping child stint we have had and the fact that normally i get a bit of restbite from it when he goes to his dad's. He isnt going this half term due to different area holiday schedules so suspect that it will be Easter before he settles too.

We nearly always have this towards half term and then again at the end of term. By the summer break the poor kid is usually on his last legs.

He settles gradually over the holidays, we 'get him back' for a couple of days, then he goes back to school and struggles to settle back into the routine there school for about a week.

Half terms are the worst, as the holiday isn't really long enough for him to recharge his batteries before he has to go back to school.

I've read a lot of similar posts over the past couple of years and from what I've heard/read it seems to be a fairly common theme amongst children with ASD.

There's not much we can do to stop it happening, but we tend to lean off him towards the end of term - eg let him have more downtime doing the things he needs to stay calm. For ds, that's pretty much reading and playing on his ds. He is getting through 8 paperbacks in 3/4 days at the moment, basically because he needs to retreat and shut out the world as much as possible.

We also find that at this sort of time, he responds well to our suggesting hugs and being hugged when he gets really angry. Its not easy though and we have to catch him at just the right moment for it to work. He's not one to ever ask for a hug or show any signs of wanting one, but they do tend to have a calming effect on him. I suppose they help to reinforce the security and safety of being at home with us.

My (we think NT) ds who is also 6 has been exactly as you describe since towards the end of last week. He hasn't had a huge temper tantrum/ been violent towards me for a while but it feels like I'm back to square one. My dd (who is dyspraxic and slightly AS) has also been highly emotional.

Roll on Friday and let's hope a week off does the trick. (BTW DS is being referred to CAMHS for oppositional defiance disorder/ anxiety issues - we think the latter due to DD having significant health problems for past few years).

moosemama that would explain why he has become incredibly clingy and been requesting me to lie next to him at bed time. I might try that for the rest of the week on the understanding it is only for a few nights and see if that helps.

Newlife - you can see the tiredness in the behaviour of all the kids atm. I think the schools that are on holiday this week have it right. but then they're easter holiday is earlier too.

Sorry that last bit made no sense. must try to sleep before the night of amazing non sleeping elastic child that follows meltdowns.

Hope all have calm days tomo.