help! my son is autistic and he recently has become more and more violent, hitting me - and more disturbingly - himself....repeatedly. He also bangs his head so hard on the floor it sometimes rattles the windows. As a result he actually has a bruised area of "carpet burn" on his forehead. Usually he is set off by being told "no"...or anything else not going his way (or so I assume since he's non-verbal). Anyone else have this problem? Any advice would be MUCH appreciated! thanks...

i also have this problem with my daughter. anytime she does not get her way, she'll lay down and bang her head so hard on the floor... i am convinced that she is seriously going to give herself brain damage. i'd strap a helmet on her if i knew she'd keep it on.

she also hits and bites herself and me. i have documented many of these injuries (complete with pictures) just in case anybody accuses me of child abuse. people have already suggested it. :(

i dont really have any answers yet.

thanks for the quick reply, caliente! I'm glad you mentioned taking pictures. I never thought about that.

Hi I am an occupational therapist and have worked with many children with autism. How old are your children? I have seen the best results in decreasing negative behavior with a combination of ABA (applied behavior analysis) also called Discreet trial training and a sensory diet - that can be developed by you and an occupational therapist.
That is where is would start. It is sometimes difficult to determine what starts first - the child bites or hits his head to calm himself, but then ofcourse also gets a response from the parent - can't just let him/her beat himself or bite himself. The child learns that this negative behavior does not only help him calm, but gets the quickest response from his parent. Children with Autism frequently under registers pain so the behavior increases. It is best to get help as soon as possible to break the cycle. Good luck.
Karien

I would definitely get with a doctor -- there are ways to help, though you may not really be able to stop the behavior entirely. My 4.5 yos will hurt himself (and others) if he has a meltdown -- biting, kicking, throwing things, banging, headbutting, all of it. His rages got so bad, we talked to the doctor and he asked if he was injuring himself; we explained ds was biting himself often, and hard, and picking at his fingernail beds so much they'd bleed. (He's also a finger flapper, and flicked his ears until they were raw, too.) We immediately got him into some programs, but we ended up putting him on Clonidine. We were anti-meds at first, but the bleeding and self-injurious behavior was out of control...and I could see the fear in his eyes when he'd rage, which just broke my heart.

Fast-forward 3 months, and he's much better. He's still got major issues, don't get me wrong, but they aren't as bad as they were. He also stopped finger-flapping as much, the ear flicking is much less, he's begun asking me to read to him again (he lost interest in stories after a while, though he's still fascinated with letters/numbers) and as a bonus, he's sleeping much better! I still wouldn't say he's a 'good' sleeper, as he still wakes and sits up and talks, but he goes to sleep without a fuss now, and he is getting more sleep than before, even if still interrupted.

Overall, I'm thankful for the meds. I hope to have him off of them eventually, and fix the behaviors rather than just mask them, but we're on a waiting list for the ABA programs and it'll still be a while here in CA. The lists are long. His OT and school and speech are helping and we're getting there.

Bzy

My daughter when first diagnosed banged her head on the floor and elbows on the table and sometimes would try to pinch people. I was told the behavior was from frustration. She has been receiving 6 hours a day in-home ABA therapy for 6 months and all those behaviors are gone and have been for a while. The therapist redirected her to other pleasurable things that she might like to have or do, I started this as well when the therapist left for the day and after being consistent the behaviors became less and less then disappeared. Now that my daughter is able to request things her frustration level is gone and no more tantrums.