We have a 6 year old son with autism. He is a very loving boy with a beautiful smile! But we have a serious problem with an occassional outburst of aggression-seriously harmful to those around him. Whether it is a strong push to a child much smaller that sends that child flying or he has without warning knocked a child down and began kicking them in the head/face (I had to tackle him to get him to stop.) There is no sign that this is coming, it is very sudden. At times he gets a kind of glazed look in his eye like it's not really him. Many times he wanders or walks around afterward saying "What happened little girl? Where little girl go?" I don't know somtimes if he actually realizes what's happening. Has anyone heard of pschomotor seizures? Could this cause it? He is on seizure med now, and has been on risperdal in the past, but since it did not help, the doctor tokk him off of it. Any thoughts please?

Hi Revy,

Yes, psychomotor seizures are a possibility. Was your son dxd with this by a neurologist? Did he have an EEG or MRI done?

Are the meds helping? It may be helpful to keep data on frequency of occurrence of the aggressive episodes, to help track med efficacy.

Best wishes.

elmhar,
thanks for your thoughts. Yes, he has had an EEG and a MRI. He has been diagnosed with absence seizures, and I have witnessed that he had 4 grand maul seizures (those were always in his sleep). My husband and I have been to a conference this past year and heard Temple Grandin speak about the pyschomotor seizures that result in aggression. I called my neurologist's office about it and they said that they would have to wire my son up for 3-4 days to find out if he is having those type of seizures. Needless to say, wires of any type do not stay on our son for even a few minutes-days are not a possibility.

Google "drug-induced psychotic seizures".
My son developed those like "in trance" look and then proceed to bang his head or head butt the nearest person. Another way to describe it is 'freezing' and then "losing it". Another autistic goes into a "rage" destroying property, hurting himself (scratching, pulling hair, etc) or hurts others. And has no memory, he would come out to it and with his eyes was questioning what happened. All that after Risperdal.

.... and happened after 'treatment' with other similar drugs (Neuroleptics and atypical antipsychotics), also could happen while ON or after being on SSRIs antidepressants (stimulants, etc), anticonvulsants like Tegretol and Valproic acid. antihypertension drugs like Propranolol or after Benzodiazepines or anesthesia. Search " Drugs and Behaviour".

More vulnerable to the effects of drugs are the elderly, children/teens and some suceptible adults and, of course, the non-verbal developmental delayed children/autistics.

Hi I’m no expert just a lady with an opinion!
I would defiantly seek help and advise from Doctors, It’s very scary to think these kids will one day be adults!! Don’t ignore your Motherly instinct for punishment. When my 5 year old Autistic boy fights with his brothers I talk to him about how wrong he is and the owee he caused, he doesn’t speak yet but I know he knows what I am saying from the tone of my voice and my firm grip. He then is forced to take a time out, and an apology (prompted of course) just like his siblings. I know when your child does something totally outrageous especially in public it’s paralyzing but you need to take action on your form of discipline at the scene. It is also very hard work to stick with a plan of action and fallow through every time it happens, but the payoff in the end is very great! Good Luck and prayers are with you. Brandi

My daughter who is (10) can be extremely aggressive at times.. Most of the time it is with me or the aid that is workling with her at school. It usually is when she wants something and I say no or when I have her do something she doesnt want to do. Sometimes I think these kids have super human strength. When she is really upset I am very afraid, she weighs about 115 lbs But thank goodness she doesnt hold a grudge she does get over it fairly quickly and if she doesnt we give her 1/2 of a valium thats is just enought to take the edge off. I will say that since I took her off all meds except clonidine and thats to sleep she is doing much better. I know what it like and I wish you all the luck~!

what i used to do with my son when he was smaller when he would go off i would stand behind him and put my arms on his and cross them at his waist, while i would hold his forearm not his chest because you do not want to suffocate him but at his waist where he can't move and put him against your body with your leg supporting his butt with your foot between his feet and lean back a little this will give you the control you need and then you will be able to feel him relax and then you can let go,my son was extremely violent and aggressive and i had to do this a lot untill he grew bigger than me 6 foot 1 and 250 lbs,puberty was worse but he finally outgrew his violent behavior when he turned 16, but if it is a seizure you probably wouldn't want to use this, maybe someone has a better idea if it is.