Meltdowns that last for days or on/off

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Antigone
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30 Sep 2005, 11:30 pm

Does anyone have a problem with meltdowns that seem to last for a couple of days. I think that is going on with my son. He has this light switch thing going on. He could be fine one minute then suddenly (like you hit the light switch) he's arguing and yelling about something and completely unable to see anything else.

For two days we've been at this. :?


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Jetson
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01 Oct 2005, 12:16 am

I don't think I've ever had a meltdown last that long. They tend to go from normal to angry (yelling and screaming) to blind rage (breaking things) to normal all within an hour or less. On occasions where I've had a festering anger for more than a few hours I think it was just good old-fashioned NT-style justifiable anger.


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ster
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02 Oct 2005, 7:48 am

are you sure the rage is not related to medication? my son gets agitated very quickly when he has forgotten to take his.........also, i have students with autism who, during certain times of the year ( seasonal changes, time changes) display ongoing rage for what seems like weeks. eventually they settle down, but things are quite hard when they're in the midst of these difficulties.



ljbouchard
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02 Oct 2005, 8:39 am

Another thing to consider is what is happening as school. Your son is going to a new school, with a new setting. This may be causing problems.

Another idea may be to give your son some time to be himself in a private place (such as his bedroom). I notice that helps alot with other children and even myself in controlling my meltdowns.

The goal for you (and your husband) is to find the trigger. Find that and you will stop the meltdowns.


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Nemesis
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03 Oct 2005, 5:05 am

Hi,
My son's meltdowns can go on for hours, though not days. Yesterday for example something set him off about 10am. The next hour or so were the worst - with him sobbing and screaming and hitting himself and nothing I tried helped :( Although he did calm down a bit after that it was as if it was only with a supreme effort - and the anger and frustration kept overflowing in smaller bursts. It wasn't until about 7pm that he really calmed down and was able to talk about what had happened.
Nemesis.



ALL4VLADI
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03 Oct 2005, 1:03 pm

Vladi has days...not on for days...but there will be A day where he can have several meltdowns, where he cries or gets upset at the drop of a pin! 8O yesterday was one! :!:



pink
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10 Nov 2005, 6:29 am

Don't know how old your child is so it is difficult to put it in perspective. It's a lot different if he is under age 12 vs a teenager. When my aspie kid was little he had one of those sleep tents on his bed which he could zip shut and it was his private space. If your child is young and the bed tents are still available you could get him one and tell him that when he needs to calm down he should go there. It is soft, quiet and low stim. If your child is older he will find his own spot. Then you need to let him be there alone until he calms down. But check on him periodically to make sure he isn't harming himself when he is alone.



jbrawn26
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10 Nov 2005, 6:03 pm

my son does that too he's "cycling" and when it happens it usually means his medication needs some adjustment :)