How do you calm down when overloaded?

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Ok, admittedly this probably belongs in the parenting form, but hell I could use some help with it too. My son is two, and I am very certain he has AS. He acts exactly how my brother and I did when we were young, but no one around here that I have found will test for AS until a kid is five. The problem we are having is when he is having a meltdown he cries until he vomits, everytime. Which on top of sucking generally, vomit smell and me do NOT mix. Plus I'm worried what this is doing to his throat, but that's another matter.

Now the reason I'm asking here is I need to know from someone old enough to explain, who has similar issues as him and has learned to cope. He is WAY more effected by general sound than I am and too much noise puts him instantly in meltdown red zone. For me it just conversation when I'm upset (like when someone won't stop asking if you're ok or if you need anything when you just need them to go away because their talking just HURTS!) and small handful of very specific sounds. For him it real seems like the number of different sounds gets too him as well as the number of things moving in a given area. Me, well I'm more effected by textures than anything. I think my brain just won't let sound get to me as much because I have to rely on it so much (I have VERY bad eyesight and am legally blind without contacts or glasses, but can wear neither for extended periods of time).

I've tried all the stuff that I do to let out the build up from overload, but it doesn't work with him and as far as crowds I've learned to narrow my focus, just don't remember how I learned this, and the method needs a lot of improvement because I still get panicky at concerts and such. I'm really worried that he's going to be stuck with so many years of being at the whim of his temper like I was. It's miserable, and I lost a lot of friends that could have actually stuck over it.

I know preventing the overload as much as possible is always best, but what do you do when that's not an option and those pesky senses get the better of you?

Last edited by barbedlotus on 13 Aug 2009, 6:30 am, edited 2 times in total.

I think it varies for the person. An occupational therapist suggested deep pressure, like putting a sofa cushion on them and lying on top of them but I think your son is too small for that and with my son I would ask if it was OK first. But it does help him. If you Google a website oriented towards that you might find some good suggestions. But like I said it varies, touching someone in the middle of a meltdown is sometimes exactly the wrong thing to do.

Oh that one I know. Getting his dad to get it is a WHOLE other issue. He's big on the 'but normal kids want a hug when their upset' and such. He does the same to me and then gets upset that I'm upset because he ignored me telling him not to touch me or takes it to the other extreme and won't be affectionate for days because he thinks I mean don't ever touch me instead of just back off for a bit until I can calm down.

Wow, that was a run on sentence .

My niece is/was autistic.

When she was little "the experts" suggested that her mother should grab her and hold her while lying on a bean bag.

In other words cuddle her until the rage has gone away. It seemed to work.