Hitting,smacking himself in the head!

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angelbear
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06 Aug 2011, 5:03 pm

Hello! I have posted this topic before, but thought I would ask for input again since my son has not stopped. He just turned 6, and he is diagnosed PDD-NOS when he was 2, He seems very Asperger to me, he talks about car makes and models nonstop. He never banged his head as a baby, but he has always been a hand flapper and a verbal stimmer. This head slapping or hitting started about 3 months ago, right before school got out. He has been doing it all summer, and I am at my wit's end. He doesn't seem to be hurting himself, but it is just very disturbing to watch and hear. He does seem to control it when we are out in public.

My question is: Should I keep asking him to stop, redirect him, reprimand him? Or should I just accept this and let him do it? A lady I met that has an older HFA son told me that I needed to get him to stop this now. Well, honestly, I do not know how to make him stop. Any ideas?



Annmaria
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06 Aug 2011, 6:39 pm

My son, would slap himself in the face very hard and punch himself in the stomach, the consultant said it was down to frustration from the stress at school. He didn't give me any tips to stop it other then to try and find what was making school so stressful. When he started it I was very upset and would keep asking him to stop this only made him continue doing it harder and harder.

I then tried to ignore it and this seem to work although he can do it sometimes but rarely and I still just ignore it.


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06 Aug 2011, 7:02 pm

Try to figure out what could be triggering the behavior. It could just be a sensory thing, or maybe its stress/emotion based.

If it is sensory, you can figure out what kind of sensory diet he can use to help decrease that behavior.

If he is stressed or worried, that need to be addressed as well. Summer can be brutal because the lack of a normal schedule....maybe he will tone it down once he is back to a regular routine?



angelbear
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07 Aug 2011, 8:26 am

Thanks for your replies..... I am not sure about the stress. It started about 2 weeks before school ended. He was in a small class with only 5 kids, and didn't seemed stressed. And this summer has been pretty stress free. Our house is pretty quiet, he does not have any siblings. But, I suppose the fact that he has autism is enough stress on it's own. I have noticed that he does it when I correct or reprimand him for something, even if I do it in a calm voice. But he also does it at random times when he is doing something on his own in another room.

My feeling is that it is mainly that he must be getting some form of sensation that he enjoys. I will just keep my eye on it to make sure he doesn't start to hurt himself. School will be starting in a week. I just hope this isn't going to be a new problem at school. I have tried talking to him about it and why he does it, and the only thing he has said is that "it is fun" So I guess that is the answer. I was just hoping that someone had had luck with stopping the behavior.



HaydensMama06
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08 Aug 2011, 11:30 pm

I JUST posted a message asking for help with this same situation. My son is 4 and ANYTIME hes upset (which happens OFTEN) he smacks himself. We can be at the grocery store & he will get mad that i stopped pushing the cart... so he smacks himself. I will have the windows in the car rolled down so when I am ready to roll them up.... he smacks himself. If I don't get up quick enough to change his movie or get him something to drink quick enough... he smacks himself. The sound of it drives me CRAZY! I try to tell him not to do it and it happens more .... ignoring it seems to get him to calm down quicker bc hes not getting a reaction out of it but its not exactly stopping the behavior. I have noticed that he started doing this A LOT more when he got out of school for the summer. School is in two weeks so i am praying that this helps! Sorry I couldn't offer any advice... just wanted to let you know you are not alone!



nostromo
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10 Aug 2011, 5:42 am

My near five year old son has just started doing this, it is upsetting my wife and his therapists. Tonight he was doing it in the bath, I just went in there and started asking him why he was doing that, and then just sat there talking to him about things (he can't talk) and as I thought it would, it made him happy and he stopped. I think he wanted me to be with him and couldn't tell me.
I guess our kids have negative feelings they can't express, and thats what the hitting is. So actually I think its good in a way its a signal to look at really look at whats going on...or what might not be going on, e.g. boredom, lack of attention etc.



DubSackJack
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12 Aug 2011, 6:21 am

Maybe I can help. I was just diagnosed last month, but have already passes the acceptance stage to self-advocacy. I am starting to try and observe my behaviors that are abnormal and/or people comment about. When I was younger, I used to burn myself and hit my head: When I burned myself, I did it so I could escape emotional anguish. That much is clear to me. I'm not certain why I hit my head in the past, but I was doing this yesterday and found the reason why. This may not be the issue for your child, because everyone is different, but it may help you identify the stimuli that causes this reaction. When I started hitting my head, everything was sort of going fuzzy, like I couldn't concentrate, and this started happening right when a sex pistols song was played in a movie: I then shut off the TV and hid in my cave.
On a side note, I'm starting to realize how this is effecting me, and it really is debilitating in many facets of life. Your children are lucky to know why they are different, and have parent that make the effort to understand, and support them. Not everyone is so lucky, and I think you all are doing so much for your children. Some of the simplest things can be difficult for us, and anything you can do as parents, teachers, or even just confidants will help immensely. God bless you and good luck.
Sincerely,
Big Paulie


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nostromo
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12 Aug 2011, 3:39 pm

Thanks for your encouraging words big Paulie, it means a lot to me.



angelalala
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13 Aug 2011, 11:53 pm

My son doesn't have any diagnosis yet, but he does this too. I try redirect him to do other touching (tickling his arm) or put a stress ball in his hand (if I have one handy), which sometimes works?