Constant need to climb?

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Hi Gang! I've been MIA for months now (my computer died) but now I'm back online and it's great to be back! I need some help because we're really struggling over here.

A quick recap...DS (my aspie) is 9 and he also has a NT sister (2.5). Her typical 2 year old behaviour is really hard on DS and hitting every one of his triggers. He's been faced with a lot of changes lately and I suspect he's starting to hit puberty to boot. The end result is that he's more aggressive than usual and he also has this sudden urge to climb on everything. I'm trying to find appropriate things to climb (the huge maple tree in our front hard, the stuff at the park etc) but he's becoming bored and sometimes we can't always make it outside. So lately he has taken to trying to climb on the top of the van or up the OUTSIDE of the staircase. Our stairs open up on either side from the second floor to the basement so if he falls, we're talking serious injuries. I end up just pulling him off the bannister over and over again until his energy is back down to normal. But it's getting harder to do and it's also extremely tiring.

Any thoughts on what else I can use to fulfill that sensory need? We're trying the treadmill (worked with a bit of success today) and the stationary bike.

I need to keep on top of it because if not, he's starting to be more aggressive with his little sister which is hugely out of the norm for him and now we don't leave them alone in the same room just in case. The amount of guilt and remorse he has if he gets angry with her is heartbreaking.

I constantly had to climb as a kid, about his age. If it looked "climb-able", I tried.

My 2 year old son (HFA) climbs constantly too.

The insight I have gained on controlling it is...

welcome back! I wondered where you have been, you always gave me such good advice when I was new here.

As for the climbing, I don't know too much to tell you, we have a trampoline that we use with our two boys and that helps get some of the aggressive energy out! But now with the weather getting colder....

the stationary bike is a good idea though, if you like the trampoline idea, they make those smaller ones that you can use indoors. We also have one of those balls that they sit on and can bounce.

Good Luck!

Here is something our dev ped gave us called Sensory Home Activities. There are more, but these are for Proprioceptive Integration

Heavy work activities help to provide more input to the muscles and joints. This can be achieved through lifting, pulling, pushing, hanging, jumping, carrying, climbing, etc. Any movement in which you are using the large muscles of your body.

a) Carrying heavy Loads - Have child carry grocery bags inside, change the laundry from wash to dryer, fill laundry baskets from room to room. The child can also carry a load of books, a bucket of blocks, wagon of toys, or a pail of water from spot to spot.

b) Pushing or Pulling- Let your child push the wheelbarrow or stroller, vacuum, rake, shove heavy boxes, tow a friend on a sled or in a laundry basket, or pull a loaded wagon.

c) Hanging by the arms- hang or climb across monkey bars, pull self up on chining bars, etc.

d) Pillow crashing - Pile several large cushions beanbag chairs, or comforters in a corner. Have the child dive, jump, roll, stretch, and bury themselves in the cushions.

e) Hermit Crab- Place a large bag of rice or beans on the child's back and let them move around with a heavy "shell" on their back.

f) Animal Walks- Pretend to walk like a different animal i.e. crab walk, bear walk, slither like a snake, bunny hop, frog jump, elephant walk...

g) Wheelbarrow Races- Place puzzle or game pieces at one end of the room and the game board at the other end. Race back and forth performing wheelbarrow or animal walks.

h) Joint compresions- slowly push and pull the joints to compress them.

i) Bear Hugs - Give your child large deep pressure hugs or you can use your hands clasped together and give your child hand hugs as you work up their arms / legs

j) Opening Doors- This can provide heavy Work

k) Back-to-back Standing UP

l) Tug of War- Can use a towel , rope, theraband, etc..

m) Playing Catch- Toss using a big ball or heavier pillow

n) jumping on a trampoline or cushions / bed

o) Swimming - The resistance agaiinst the water provides great input

p) weights- lifting or wearing light ankle/wrist weights. Leave on for approximately 20-30 minutes and then have off for at least 2 hours so the body can detect a change.

Also, any kind of gym, yoga, martial arts classes etc. are great.

what about an indoor climbing wall ?

or one outside - you can construct a prettu descent traversal/climbing wall with several pieces of marine ply, climbing holds and t-nuts. If that were then placed around the bottom of your maple, it would provide a somewhat safe landing place. The advantage of the t-nuts and holds being you can reroute it fairly easily with a simple allen key once assembled.

Thank you for the fabulous ideas!! ! We do have a mini trampoline and that ball thing they can sit and bounce on but both are sitting at the school at the moment. The school doesn't have a sensory room but hte principal is trying to build one since Spencer has such a strong need for it. Bless her. So we've supplied a few things for a short while until she can get it set up properly.

It really is interesting how quickly the need pops up. It's always connected to high anxiety and transistions. Today I was dreading picking him up at school because I knew he was going to try to climb to the top of hte van and there's nothing more lovely than an entire parking lot of parents watching you pry your child's fingers off the roof rack. But as soon as I got there and the staff was trying to keep him from running off grounds, I told him that I would give him a piggyback to the van if he got in properly and buckled up. He said sure and it was smooth sailing! What a relief.

Jaleb - Thanks! It's nice to be back again. I was going a little nuts without a regular connection!

I think tonight we're going to gather up all of the pillows in the house and make a crash pad by the couch. That will be a big hit.

I was always climbing as a kid.
If you have a fenced in backyard where you can keep an eye on him out there while working in the house you can try and put up some monkey bars.