Biting help with severe learning disability/ASD child

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As title says. Ds2 age 5 always lunging at me to bite me, jaws wide open. He finds it hilarious, does it to DD & DS1 too. Occasionally to DH. I usually manage to get him off me before he bites but I'd say he lunges at me 20x a day plus and I work full time (condensed hours in 4 days) so he doesn't actually spend the whole day with me. School have only seen the behaviour once. Im scared to hug him or even sit by him as when he does bite it bloody hurts and leaves a bruise. I'm sure he's doing it for attention but it's getting me down so much. He is non verbal and severely learning disabled. He does understand simple instructions eg "put it in the bin" "sit down" etc. He uses AAC and ALD but is hit and miss with it unless it is TV or food related. He hates chew necklaces and gets mad if you try and put one on him. He does like chewing rubber ducks so I tend to just give him a rubber duck to bite but it doesn't always work as it's the hilarity of the reaction (being moved away/being told no/scream if he actually manages to get me or dd). Please help, I hate being around him in the house at the moment. He never does it when we're out.

If this is new behaviour or has increased recently, I would try to get an appointment with the dentist. Some DC start/increase biting as a result of dental pain.

Is it just chewy necklaces DS can’t tolerate, or is it all chewy items? For example, would he tolerate a bracelet?

It wouldn’t solve the issue because of your other DC, but you can get sleeves for you to protect your arms.

Can you keep a diary to spot patterns/triggers? For example, is it more after school. If so, I would try approaching the school about increasing support there to see if it reduces the home behaviour. Or, e.g. does it happen more if he has done a certain type of activity or hearing meal times.

Has anyone shown you how to react when DS manages to bite? Instinct is to pull away. But it helps to lean into the bite. The school should be able to show you how. If not, if DS is under a LD nurse, ask them.

I have a biter. With him, it is always a sign of distress, anxiety, unhappiness, dysregulation. Working out what he is distressed, anxious, unhappy, dysregulated about isn’t always easy, though.

Thank you so much, he is due the dentist anyway in a few weeks so I'll get him booked in. I don't think he has any issues but a good precaution for sure.

I've tried bracelets too and they're a no. He used to wear bibs but he takes them off now and either chews his sleeves (not as often now luckily) or a rubber duck type toy that he just holds.

It's definitely more in the afternoon than the morning. School have seen it once and they saw it as a "love" thing as he tried it to his favourite TA. He didn't actually get her though and he doesn't do it there as a general thing. I think it's attention seeking but keeping his attention in anything is tough. When he's disregulated he is more likely to bite objects but he seems to bite people when he's happy and wants to play.

I can't stop flinching if he gets too close, it sounds awful I know. He used to give me loads of hugs and kisses and now it's a fear it's going to be a painful bite.

Even if the school doesn’t see the behaviour, they can still support you/DS with it. And if DS bites more in the afternoon after school, that may be because of school related stress which will require some adjustments at school.

One thing we do with the necklaces is loop them through the arm of a t shirt or button hole. We have a son who doesn't tolerate them as necklaces either, but does tolerate this. It may be sensory seeking and different textures of food might help.

My son is a kicker during personal care and finds it hilarious. It is best to try not to react too much as they like the response. My son doesn't know the difference between me being cross or happy, it just looks the same to him. Second what pp says, push into the bite and not away. Look up breakaway training as this is about safely dealing with bites or being pulled/grabbed.