MY SONS hitting himself and pinching others

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I have an 11 year old boy who was diagnosed at 3 with autism/ocd he is verbal but barely ( only some words mostly repeating ) ,he is generally a very happy boy who loves movies ,the computer and climbing anything ,and loves swimming but he has food obsessions ! ! constantly asking for food ( he eats a healthy diet and is by no means lacking ) ,he also stims a lot jumping around squinting his eyes ,flapping his hands .....but it seems as he gets older he is getting angry or frustrated very easy and lashes out he'll grab the first person or animal and squeeze or pinch them and grit his teeth and hit himself in the head since he doesn't speak its very hard to get to the root of the problem .,and after he does it he instantly knows he did wrong but he still does it every time ! ..we have tried everything but its like he cant control it for a split second he just sees red ! ..but he started doing it at school and we are getting letters back and suggestions that we should look into putting him on meds . ? ..we wont put him on prescription meds , but I was wondering if anyone has had any luck with any natural remedies ? oils ? anything like that ? thanks

1) Did you ask him why he is doing what he is doing, and what is going through his mind when he is doing it?
2) Have you been firm in disciplining him?

I remember when I was in 4th grade (elementary school), there was a boy who was much more autistic than I was. He would go up to people, turn his index finger and his thumb so they were facing down, and then move his hand up to their forehead and repeatedly pinch the skin with his finger and thumb in that vertical, facing-down position; while doing that, he would repeat the words "wrinkles" and "Richard" (which was not his or anybody else's name that we knew) over and over again.

He was pretty cool. He could hum video game music perfectly and was brilliant at playing video games!

personally, i get excited with people and tend to hit, bite and pinch them, i simply get overwhelmed with joy and dont know what to do, i also do this if im angry because i dont know how to express my anger in a way they will understand, i also will hug my dog and bite her with joy too, never with anger. i never understood why i did this though, it just felt like the right thing to do. i also hit myself if i get frustrated and cant get the right words out.

i have very mild autism, technically aspergers, and im on little medication.

does he socialize regularly? is he constantly around people? is it too bright or loud during the situations? does he feel comfterble in his clothes? could a smell upset him?

before you decide weather to discipline him or put him on meds, look at what could be causing him to lash out at people, its not always the label that causes the symptoms.

please be understanding that its difficult to grow up in a world with autism, it can be painful, frustrating and stressful, and medication isnt always the go-to answer.

I was developmentally delayed including stalled language patterns, with several signs but not obvious autism.

From still adjusting with daily living skills training, anxiety for me has gone up; so much that
I have very recently begun screaming or hitting my head with my fists out of frustration. It is just so intense for me that I cannot really think of anything else. People watch me but I don't really notice until afterwards.

Oh and I take an anti-anxiety medication/mood stabilizer helps me a lot.

I work with a man who does this. he went through a really rough period in his teens but has somewhat mellowed out as an adult. For him sticking to a routine helps him manage his stress. He needs regular socialization (we take him to the pool/gym/restaurants) so that he isn't alone all the time and can have positive interactions with strangers.

I'm mildly autistic and I have some self hitting / biting habits that come out when I exceed my stress tolerance.

In the guy I care for's particular case (i.e. results may vary) heavy scheduling and setting up routines helps a lot. Make sure that your guy can take a break to cool off between activities so that the stress doesn't build up (even if he seems fine he needs the break). I've been told not to stop my guy from hitting himself. The standard procedure is to try and stay out of arms reach when he is doing that. For both hitting and pinching it is important to loudly say "ouch" to make it clear that he is hurting you, otherwise he may keep doing it until he gets a response.

It might have something to do with testosterone if he is approaching puberty.
When i turned 12 i started getting more aggressive and into self harm like hitting
myself and stuff. Part of it also involved clinical depression. I was put on mild doses
of an SSRI and given CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and I am all better now.

Try buying some Epsom Salt. Give him 3 baths a week with the salt in. For each bath put 2 cups in and mix with warm water.

Many parents have found that has helped their kids a lot. The Epsom salt contains magnesium which many people with Autism have a deficiency of. It is absorbed through the skin. It then helps the body to get rid of toxins that have become stuck in the gut.

I still self-injure today, but only when I'm really upset. My mum says I shouldn't do it, but it feels so good.

But pinching others, that's a new one. I have only pinched myself, but it's a tic and I can control it fairly well.

am very much still like him at twenty nine except head bang/self injure at a worser rate and its one of the reasons am sectioned in a LD hospital.
woud recommend making use of alternative communication methods-PECS [picture exchange communication system], text to speech [if he understands the written word and can type], AAC programs such as proloquo2go or if theres a windows xp based computer available download the free but very indepth AAC program; jtalk-it only works with an old version of the run time environment and with a bit of fiddling can be got to run on vista at a push.

for PECS,there is a free symbols making program called picto selector,its well worth a look.

another PECS style communication method am a user of is the traffic light system-its large red,yellow and green PECS on laminated paper,these are put on a key ring attached to us and allows us to communicate how we feel when asked-green for good, yellow for middle and red for bad.

please understand his behavior is very likely through frustration of being limited in traditional human communication,if anything like mine he coud also have health issues going on as well which can make our mood and challenging behaviors worse.

I'm very high functioning and the only public meltdown I remember was when a girl in college invited me to a dance and it was too much and I was overstimulated by everything going on and by her and I freaked out a little (a lot) until I bit my arm until it bled. I immediately felt a sense of calm and removed myself from the immediate situation and went and enjoyed other parts of the dance but she was very freaked out by me and left.