DD has no diagnosis, as yet, but her social communication is problematic to say the least. She can't 'do' transition, has confirmed SPD and is particularly sensitive to light touch, and sometimes, any touch at all...
The main issue is the 45 minute spectacular meltdowns when things don't go her way. It wrecks mornings, mealtimes, leaving and returning to the house, getting ready for bed, so most of the day really... I spend a lot of my time on the drive whilst she screams in the car... so much that even the neighbours who aren't that chatty have cheerily mentioned it to me... ! She even says that she wants to kick / hurt me or her DB at these points; but its mostly shouting and screaming at me to get out / go away etc... She can't seem to stop herself, its horrid to watch and just makes me cry sometimes as I feel helpless to help her..
We've tried visuals but they have dismally failed. Hugging, ignoring, distracting, crouching nearby with minimal eye contact most often just don't work. Meantime, there is no meal being made or progress towards much of anything, and time is slipping by. I do treat these as panic attacks, but I'm exhausted and the situation is just getting worse by the day and I am beyond stressed.
We already encourage her to use her words and speak slowly and clearly, and reward her when she copes with some situation or other without a screaming session, but these so infrequent that she probably doesn't 'get' it anyway... We also give her the perception of maximum control wherever possible. What am I missing?