Documenting injuries from DS?

[VforVienetta]

6yo DS has ASD, and we're trying to get a dx at the moment.

He split my lip during a meltdown earlier, is it at all worth documenting when he hurts us for the paediatrician??

DS is going to be reassessed in a couple of weeks as his original assessment was kind of messed up due to the department losing its head and having locums.
A confident verbal dx of HFA was changed to 'no diagnosis' due to the old Head of Dept who hadn't seen him.

I really just want to give them as much info as possible.

Thank you zzzz.
The problem we have is that he's very aggressive when he's about to lose control and so he is actively trying to hurt me.
I restrain him to protect his little brother and property, but sometimes he still catches me, usually with backwards headbutts.
He's very Jekyll & Hyde, so can snap back and forth between sweet and lighthearted to raging and vicious.
Also wondering if I ought to keep a note of how often he deliberately hurts his brother.
Accidental or typical sibling scraps are ok to a point, my worry is more the disproportionate stuff.

We’ve been trying to narrow down what set him off today, and tbh its probably a buildup of several - he had night terrors last night, so screaming in his sleep for half an hour, a touch of constipation, and then because he was tired and cranky, he wouldn’t stop watching TV after a bazillion attempts to calm him, so we had to switch it off when he wasn’t ready. Cue meltdown.

His bowels always affect his behaviour, and he’s always been very reluctant to use the loo for either.

DS2 is 4, so is unintentionally annoying a lot of the time, as DS1 expects full mind-reading and lashes out when DS2 doesn’t immediately understand things.

Been talking to DH about today, and we’re going to try a behaviour/food/sleep/activity log to see if we’re missing something.

He takes Melatonin to help him sleep.

Thank you zzzzz! I appreciate your replies.

We’re very much hoping that the melatonin can be stopped at some point, but at the moment it’s a huge help, or he’s up til 12/1am.
I’ll try to keep track of the dreams too, thank you.

He fits a PDA profile, so is very resistant to any suggestions about moving away from what he’s doing. His anxiety is thru the roof at the mo - coming to the end of infant school, and we can’t tell him for sure which `junior school he’ll be going to yet. Plus playground issues due to his controlling nature, and impending birthday next weekend - it’s all a bit much for him.

TV is hugely calming for him, but at some point it has to go off, and it’s always difficult. I don’t let him play games on my phone etc as he cannot let it go once he’s started, screens are totally immersive for him.

Re the toilet - it’s ridiculous, he’ll be hopping around, squirming because he needs a wee or poo so badly, and will flat refuse to go! It can take me an hour or two to persuade him to go, he must have a bladder like a steel trap!

The poo thing is actually quite common in children with autism, if it gets to the point where he is impacted they might suggest putting him into nappies, making everything relaxed and having him relearn to go as soon as he feels the urge.

I'm an autistic adult who had the most horrific nightmares on melatonin and I would not wish it on anyone, it totally screwed with my head, there were times I woke up and it took a long time (hours and days on a couple of occasions when I was convinced I'd uncovered a repressed memory) to work out what was real and what wasn't.

Melatonin can be amazing (miracle for my ds) but it can also be really awful.

The Explosive Child book or any of Bo Elven's books would probably be helpful.

Thanks for your input everyone, it's really helpful.

DS used to suffer terribly with night terrors, but they're very rare now, thank goodness.
He's been taking melatonin for six months or so, and I don't think the night terrors have increased.

Apart from screens he likes Lego, drawing and reading, but they almost always end the same way - frustration then tantrum then meltdown. He escalates so quickly it's hard to prevent.

Anyhoo - it's his birthday next weekend, I reckon the anticipation of that is contributing to his anxiety.
Things will hopefully settle down the week after.

V I've started taking photos of any injuries that 9yr old DD causes on me or her brother. I'm trying to get her some help (second time around) and figured that I'm going to need a huge amount of evidence.
Most of my camera gallery is household damage or injuries .
I'm also going to ask about safe restraint techniques.