kicking desk in class

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Hello,

My 8 (almost 9) year old son is in an integrated public school setting and has been kicking his desk and disrupting class. He is diagnosed AS and has a paraprofessional that quickly removes him from the classroom when this occurs. My issue withthis is that he is missing out on important info while he is out of class. My son claims he cannot stop this and has tried to. He also complains that his legs, feet and arms hurt and make him move. ?? Today the teacher told him "Don't try, just stop it." Which of course confused him. His psych and I talked about it last week and this is what he told my son: "Move your arm up and down. Now stop it. See? You can control it." Ugh! Anyone out there have any suggestions that may help him control his movements? I am pretty much against prescription drugs as treatment for behavior. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

I was hyperkinetic in my desk at school I channeled it in different ways...one was that I would roll a pencil back and forth under my feet until all the paint was rubbed off, and then I would decorate the pencil with a ball point pen...i also compulsively doodled...always had a little steno book at my desk to keep my hands busy...teacher was always taking it away

But my issues sound different from your son's..
I was fidgety, but not painfully so...

I was always leaving the class for different reasons...like um...everytime they sprayed lysol I would have to leave...

Does he have any type of IBS type disorder? Sometimes this can cause mineral/vitamen defecincies and I have read that adding more potassium can help with restless legs. I only have this problem when i am trying to sleep but it is very intense....not doing it is like asking some one wth an itch not to scratch it. Just because people can't see the itch doesn't make it not "real" or attention seeking or the other motivations that DRs and teachers like to attribute to behavior they can't understand.

I also find it helpful to do as much tension releasing stretching as possible...might he enjoy learning Yoga? I flex,tighten and release my shoulders probably 1,000 times a day. I also find it intolerable to sit in a straight back chair. I recall my parents yelling aat me as a kid because I couldn't set in a chair "the right way"....I still avoid jobs that require sitting.

You seem to realize that his muscle tension is real...that is good start. The question is what would work best for him to release that tenssion in more "exceptable" ways? (I actually think this accounts for some stimming...tension release.)

I used to do this when I was in elementary school. I got in trouble for it.
What I've now found helps (it's stopped me doing it nowadays) is to kind of "redirect" into a different kind of behavior. Like, instead of kicking, I'll tap or bounce my leg, shake my foot, something like that, something similar to the original kicking. Or perhaps swing my leg in the air, but not actually kick anything (this just doesn't feel the same, though). Maybe if your son can do that, he can later progress to doing something else entirely, but at least these other leg behaviors are not disruptive to the class.

Last fall I did a FE with a Consultant SPED Teacher ( her students were mainstreamed, and she pulled them out for parts of the day that required more 1:1 teaching). One of her students did what you describe and OT put this little latex strip under his seat. He would use his feet to stretch it instead of kicking his desk. It was tied on both ends to the front legs of the chair, and was taut enough that it gave resistance when being stretched.

It was basically what Jeyradan is talking about, redirection

That sounds like an awesome idea ...I wish other professionals would be so creative(rather then judgemental)in their approach for helping autistics deal with sensory issues.

I understand where he's coming from...

Time to help him find a less disruptive way to stim.

I wear several rings that I can spin on my fingers. I wear bracelets that I can fiddle with. I clasp my hands and spin my thumbs. I bounce my leg rather than kick things.

Etc... It's a question of pointing out to him that there are WAY less disruptive ways to stim and if he's going to be a productive aspie, he has to learn them. But don't expect to make an NT out of him, that's like squishing a square peg into a round hole.

Just my thoughts.

The redirection sounds like the way to go. I did notice that when he wore a ring to school he used to spin it on his finger. Last week his teacher asked that he keep his ring at home because it was distracting him. I think she still does not understand that if he is not looking at her does not mean he is not paying attention. He can repeat verbatim what she has said in class, regardless of what she thinks. The latex strips under the chair is an EXCELLENT idea and I will go to his class tomorrow and install them myself. Thank you Fayed. It is an everyday struggle to push for acceptance of his way of thinking and behaving in school. I truly appeciate all of the input.

I think it is imperative that you make sure his teachers understand that your son is an Aspie and that stimming is very much a part of us. We cannot stop doing it entirely any more than we can stop breathing... Not for any serious length of time anyway.

Fwiw, the latex band thing... I personally disagree with it being good... What better way to make a kid stand out rather than be less disruptive than give him a stim that is going to leave him open to ridicule. If the teacher found the ring distracting, how do you think she will find the latex band???

I do think the para needs to be trained on redirection before removal. But! The issue needs to be worked on inside and outside of class, not just when the kicking and disruptions occur. The problem with many school district-trained para pros is that they are not trained in other behavioral disciplines commonly used for Autistics. If that is your situation (not saying it is), someone more knowledgagle needs to write a program for him regarding this and he needs outside class assistance with recognizing and responding to redirection, then it needs to be applied inside the classroom whenever this movement/behavior occurs. But, if it's a tic, not a stim, that's a whole other situation. I'm assuming he's stimming.

Also, I've seen schools use latex bands and have no fear, they do not harm the child at all. These bands are purchased from a company (Abilitations) that specifalizes in special needs equipment. I've seen these bands used plenty of times and they can be effective in keeping kids still. Schools also use weight pads. They are similar to weight blankets, but they put pressure on the legs/thighs to keep them still. Those are also effective for stimming.

Essentially, the para is removing him so he won't disrupt the class and prevent other students from learning. But, he has to learn as well. If he's only kicking in class and not outside of the class, I'd look into other factors in the class that may be over-stimulating him and get the para's feedback on that. A kid has to feel comfortable in his classroom in order to learn.

As I mentioned...the kicking MAY be a form of stim but it is probably also muscle tenssion that i =s directly related to those muscles...spinning the ring isn't going to help the leg tension(wouldn't for me)

As far as him standing out....if his peers are any thing like mine...they already know that we are "different" and either except us or not(though it would make a huge difference if the teacher could set a good example in this regaurd ) I would imagine that other kids might be jelous of his new "toy"...that's kids. School year is almost over, maybe want to find out who teacher for next year is and bombard them with aspie info so they have time to prepare(hope they have a better attitude about it)

I like the band idea very much. I would also like to mention that some of his leg movement may be related to the comfort of the desks. I have always been a rather skinny person, and the hard surface seats that we had to sit in were painfully uncomfortable, especially for someone that didn't have any meat or fat on his body! I would tend to move and twist around in my seat to relieve the discomfort of sitting for hours on end.

Another factor that to this day is just a thing I do is that I tend stim like roll things in my fingers or bounce my legs around when I am thinking or concentrating on something. Most of the people around my office realize this, and know that when I am doing this to leave me alone because I'm concentrating on something. In school though, it was another story. The teacher thought it was an act of defiance or intattention, when the exact opposite was true. I think part of it comes from the fact that when I am concentrating on something, my mind is on that matter, and not on what I'm doing physically, so I end up doing "non-conventional" things while my mind is working hard and not in control of my body!

I'd lift up my desk with my feet, unless I was put in a disk my lap didn't touch the bottom.

I think the teacher (nit) may be contributing to the problem. But, I don't think what the Psych did is a shining example of understanding the spectrum either. I give both a thumbs down.

It could also be ADHD Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder .

I think the teacher need to re-think their "idea" on punishment like not have him miss class.

If kicking is a problem, I believe that his body want a stretch leg inspite of staying in one seat for more than an hour.

The anxiety increase the leg movement. The movement is a routinely pattern that stim the anxiety.

To solve the problem, he can stand without a chair for 30 mins at a time. For every 2-3 hours on the chair, he should be given a 30 mins stand up break. I don't see this as a punishment but to give a better accommodation for his anxiety.