My son is over active every evening (asd)

[LongWordsBotherMe]

Hi, I have never posted on mumsnet before but I am really struggling with ds1, 5 . He goes to an asd special school who are wonderful but he has really struggled going back to school this week, or rather I have! He is coming home every night as high as a kite, charging round and hurting ds2, 3. I have tried letting him run in the garden as soon as he comes home and making sure he eats no rubbish. Can anybody else think of any ideas as I feel so useless when he is always hurting his brother? Thank you if you got through that.

DS1 used to be like this. Particularly after tea - and worse when he was physically tired. We found that he was craving sensory input. We make sure he has something to occupy him when he gets in from school - it's changed over the years, but it used to be his colouring pencils, but now it's his computer or DSi and his lego. He has to be busy and not have time to start crashing around or getting into other people's business. No screen time after dinner, though, as it was (and still is) too much for him, then. We try to encourage him to do quieter activities (though he's spent the past hour riving around a giant cardboard box and drawing on it after having a meltdown and refusing dinner).

I often have to remind him that he needs to find something to do (he's 9, now, and doesn't take adult directed activities very well!)

Something else we've found helpful is having something heavy to play with. He has a weighted blanket that he has on his bed when he can't settle, but we keep a weighted snake in the toy box that he loves to rive about with his legs when they're restless.

When he was 6, he was diagnosed with ADHD and given medication (non stimulant) that was long acting and that really improved our evenings.

Just to add, he has ASD, too.

Hi Longwords and welcome

I posted about this here last week. My dd2 is 8 and under assessment for ASD and ADHD, although the Paed is sceptical about the ADHD part. We have no diagnosis apart from 'probably on the spectrum'.

dd2 gets hyper at about 1830h every evening and literally swings off door handles and bounces on/spins around on furniture until it is time to get ready for bed. When she is not bouncing and swinging she is rocking because she just cannot sit still. I don't know if this is sometimes part and parcel of ASD. She has done it for years. I might try getting something heavy to provide sensory input although the trampoline is now coming into its own again with the warmer weather.

Just wanted to say welcome and you are not alone!

Thank you all for your kind words and helpful suggestions. Sorry it has taken me so long to reply- nights aren't always easy either! I will try to come up with some grounding sensory things for him to do as soon as he gets home, as he starts working himself up as soon as he gets out of transport (and tries to run off down the road!)

Trampolines indoors snd out, plus big yoga ball. I feel your pain as also have a hyper asd boy, though he has got calmer now he is older

My son used to get like this (dyspraxia with sensory seeking SPD). It was when he was what I called Over-done.
You could try trampoline, what I call a space hopper (small yoga ball with handles in top), or a trapeze (a swing, but where he is hanging by his arms so he is having to carry his weight)
What we found is that he had to have proprioceptive with vestibular, or it made it worse.

However I would be tempted to try just proprioceptive - weighted vest, weighted blanket, rolling him up tightly in a blanket and applying deep pressure - you could try getting siblings lying on top - make it fun for everyone.

Does he have a sensory trained OT at his school? If its a special school, maybe you could talk to them? They may have other ideas....