Challenging behaviour - in 2 year old

[Keepcalmanddrinkcoffeeeeee]

Hi everyone my son is undergoing diagnosis for ASD.

From 10 months he has bit himself and others. We have tried everything under the sun to try and stop this , but he's so little so he doesn't understand plus he has these additional needs. He is also a thrower.

It has gotten to the point I am very isolated as he bites people if they are at our house - not always when he's mad , quite often he's excited. He also throws things wherever we go and then screams if I take anything off of him because he threw it... very stressful.

I have tried sensory diet, redirection and discipline. Please believe me when i say nothing works. Thankfully this behaviour is cyclical ; so we have periods where he won't bite so much - or throw.

He will have some great weeks, I almost doubt he has autism. And then we go right back to pocketing food, self injurious behaviour , throwing, meltdowns , little sleep and lots of stimming etc

Does anyone else notice this with their kids? Good spells and bad spells ?

We give him fish oil and he is on iron meds , he eats fairly well - despite sometimes storing food in his mouth - so we are lucky there- he's getting decent nutrition etc

I have tried the whole ABC process too and it's basically when he's excited or mad he will produce challenging behaviour - so we have the source... but still no way in how we handle it.

Im.scared he won't outgrow this behaviour. Can anyone help?

Thanks dream! Yes we have tried a bit of everything and the results have really helped. He's come on a lot :)

DS2 is now a teenager and chooses his own pictures: they are a mixture of emoijis, photos and the image he likes most from Google.

I would describe him as verbal but qualify it as that language is still tricky. I have always said it is like living with a foreigner who is doing their best but often doesn't get things but doesn't tell you - obviously. At 2, he was non-verbal - language having stagnated/disappeared. I remember his first song (4), first complete story (7) as major milestones. I have a video at 6 and he was talking but pretty much unintelligible. Now - you cannot shut him up: he monologues better than Shakespeare.

He gets direct SALT and has done for years - I would say that is worth fighting for.

I remember an acquaintance who happened to be a psychologist telling me at the biting stage - not to worry so much about it as it was a form of communication, albeit not ideal, but him wanting to communicate was the overriding thing to take from the biting. DS2 bit when frustrated, overloaded, he wanted instant attention. He bit every child in his nursery class at least once. Oddly enough the kids were OK about it, as were most parents.

DS2 loved Pingu - anything that was totally visual. First film he managed was Wall-E. There is a way through but yours will be unique to you.

Keepcalm, wow you've done so much already, just keep holding on and don't get put off by salts or health visitors. Bang on and ask for referrals and second opinions if need be. Hanen sounds interesting. I hadn't heard of it until now.

Whoops didn't realise I'd added this already!

Thanks chicken and dream.

Ill.perservere. He has salt and is on the pathway for one on one care when he starts nursery. Chicken that a particularly helpful to hear what the psychologist said re: biting being just communication. Hopefully my son will outgrow this too