5 yr old.. issues with school

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I need a little help with some issues that have arisen with my almost 5 yr old son, who is autistic. He can fully communicate and function for the most part, but lacks the social skills & reading social cues.. even with dogs, I have noticed.. (I don't know the limits on that).. he gets aggressive.. mostly if something either triggers him or if something isn't going the way he wants it or is told no.

He has had some incidents come up at school regarding scissors. He does have an IEP in place but is still in the general education classroom. One day he stabbed a girl with his scissors when she was reaching in the box of markers.. they were in the art center.. now today he's at daycare, which is in the school as well.. An employee was using scissors, and he grabbed them from her, and when she tried to take them back from him he tried to stab her, and then ran off with the scissors turning it into a chasing game. The daycare called the school principal and he suggested we come and get him..

I'm at a loss of what to do.. we're kinda in between therapists.. seeking out a new one.. I stopped having him go to the last one, as the only thing she seems to know how to do is suggest medicine to any issues that arise. The problem is finding one that you know is good and actually has a passion for what they do.. and it sucks that we don't live in town so makes for a lot of driving if can't find one nearby.

The only thing that I could think of is not allowing him to use the scissors & being extra cautious with the scissors when he's around.. is their any other suggestions? I have tried to teach him safety regarding scissors and such, but when something triggers him or he's in one of his moods, he lacks common sense & logic..

It would help if we had a general idea of where you are.

As a stop gap until you have another solution, however, I would not allow him near scissors.

In my kid's school, if a kid is in danger of hurting themselves or others, they assign a one-to-one para professional to the child. It is especially common for kids in kindergarten with impulse control issues that cause safety concerns. Our principal, though, used to work in the department of special ed and is probably better at handling these situations than other places would be. However, if I was in your situation, I would request a meeting with the principal and the teachers, maybe guidance counselor ASAP. It always helps when the administration sees that you are just as concerned as they are and would like to come to a reasonable solution. Approach it like it is a situation where you would like to work with everyone involved to come to a solution and all be on the same page to insure everyone's safety.

thanks.. his school does help and i'm happy with what they have done for him so far.. the things that they have implemented since setting up the IEP has made him improve at school tremendously. However its winter break and he's at daycare and doesn't have those plans in place when school is not in session.. The daycare provider did state that she is going to meet with his teacher and someone else.. He hasn't had this bad of issues at daycare until now..

Over the summer they had minor things compared to now.. but it seems its continuing to escalate since the summer.. he always struggled.. but the struggles seem to get more intense as time goes on.. but once they implemented the iep stuff his days got better.. and this is the first long break full of daycare days since the iep stuff.. not sure if they can get a one on one for while he's in daycare?..

They haven't needed an all day one on one in school yet.. He earns breaks on a 5 token reward chart and gets one on one time with another preschool teacher, who used to be head of the special ed dept.. and then gets a one on one for recess since that's a big struggle for him.. This was the last day of daycare until next week, when school starts, then its just before and after school.. but then their will be spring break and then summer break..

We live in Martensdale, Iowa.. about 20 min from west des moines & south des moines.

Well, unfortunately, you are not near me. I know two really good therapists.

Impulse control issues can be particularly difficult, I think. My son had impulse control issues in kindergarten and it made a really sweet boy seem not so sweet sometimes. The one thing we were able to do with him was to teach him how to tell that he was "revving up" too much and to ask for a break. He was allowed to take as many breaks as he needed during the day. It helped keep him from getting overstimulated, because that is when he would act out.

We did not use this program, but I have heard others have had success:

http://alertprogram.com/

I just wanted to chime in and say my son is now 11 in February but when he was your sons age he was VERY impulsive VERY HYPERACTIVE and at times became aggressive when agitated and just was overall different from other kids his age however looked like them physically....all of which made him unpredictable to teachers and others. The point I want to make to you is that through therapy and giving it time, he is better adjusted. I suggest at the moment, no use of scissors...at this point in his development (which is different than other) he needs to not use them. And in the mean time social skills exercises may help. Unfortunately insurance doesn't pay for them but look up nearby occupational therapit's office and they typically can recommend a class and maybe they can help with suggestions. Good luck!