Just A Phase?

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Hello,
I'm a new member to wrongplanet. For the last four years, I have been volunteering on Saturdays at a church program for children and adults with developmental disabilities such as autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and cerebral palsy. Our students, ranging in ages from 5 to 37 years, have varying levels of functionality. Although I know this question/situation may not apply to many of you, I was hoping to find out a bit more about something one of our students is currently going through.

One of our students is currently 9 years old and has been coming out to our program for about 3 years. Initially when he arrived, he was an extremely shy and quiet little boy. However, over the past year or so, he has become increasingly disruptive and even violent at times (nearly every time he walks into the church classroom he runs and starts throwing down the television from its stand, microphones, projector screens, chairs). There have been countless instances over the past year, when he has attempted to and sometimes succeeded in physically attacking a teacher or classmate through kicking or throwing books or toys....sometimes it seems for no reason at all. Then again, there are other times when he is content and simply acts like an angel. It was really shocking to me to see such a rapid change in his personality and behavior over the year, and although I know this change may/may not be associated with his autism, I have seen this trend in a couple of the students that have participated in our program in the past.

I was just wondering, if any of you have experienced or know of someone who has gone through this "phase". Is it just a phase that'll pass when he grows up? Is this a common occurrence? What may be causing this type of behavior?

If these drastic changes have taken place in a church setting, I have a hunch that God has been changing them for the better, from the inside out.

I am no expert on the subject but I can only speculate that this little boy has something very bad going on in his life right now.

ASD is not a 'phase' but there can be fluctuations is mood like with anybody. But also meltdowns are triggered by specific things, and unless they can be identified at the time it is hard to say.

Generally speaking a substantial amounts of meltdown are cause by over stimulation of any/every kind. Not all meltdowns are violent. A meltdown can be a complete shut down. Severe brain haze/ 'nullness'. Ideally the best course of action during a meltdown is to remove as many sensory inputs as possible.

To put it bluntly it would be good if everyone f****d off out of the room and switched off the light.

Of course I'm more practicable than that, but absolute worst, worst thing you can do is start shouting instructions to him, even if you believe you are reasoning with him. This rarely works. I'm not saying it never works but it work in special circumstance were the ASD person responds particularly well to specific commands. In those instances the just keep it simple such as 'Lets go somewhere quiet'. If they don't respond then don't continue talking to them.

I have covered that in NAS befriender training, but I know this from my own experience. Even with my NT friends who have panic attacks, the most common mistake is to start talking to them too much, or ask them if they are ok. It is best not to look at them at all, if their breathing has not slowed down after a while you can ofer them a bag to breath into, again not making a fuss about it.

I'm a big proponent of providing a safe barrier. Handle them physically absolutely as a last resort. Just focus on separating and protecting other's personal safety, then reducing stimuli if you can. Of course sometimes when an ASD person is very overstimulated they just see red because it is a very confusing state to be in. So if they are doing an unprovoked attack, it doesn't mean it is a personal thing against the victim. It is pretty unfortunate thing to happen naturally.

Another big cause of meltdown is break in routine, so try to be conscious of the routines as much as possible.

Another cause of meltdown can be social misunderstandings.

One thing you have to consider is if it is really beneficial for him to be involved in this scheme. That doesn't necessarily have an obvious easy answer, but he has to play a large part in that decision.

Nice to meet you, JennyH.

That is very great of you to take some of your time to help others on the spectrum.

Hi, sorry for just jumping in (i'm brand new, too), but this is close to my heart. This happened with my son. As it turns out, he was being harmed by a neighbor when this change happened. We did not find out until 8 years after, and after he struggled a long time with thinking of ending his life to end the depression and rage inside. The behavior alone is not proof that this child is being harmed by anyone, but it should certainly be investigated thoroughly.