Any advice on autistic childrens temper tantrums?

Question

My six year old nephew Jack was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, he gets frustrated very easily and when angry goes into these terrible temper tantrums, my sister is on her own with two children and shes finding these quite difficult to manage hes genrally a loving little boy and usually cheerful but when he goes into one its quite hard to calm him down, someone mentioned about fish oils and how they were good for autistic children but the problem there is he will only eat toast and honey so its proving hard to get him to take the tablet has anyone tried these fish oil tablets and do they work?

Answer 1

your sister (or you) should contact your local school system. The can recommend a specialist and you could have your questions answered by someone who really know what they are talking about.

Answer 2

Separation anxiety often peaks at around your little one's age. That's probably why she is freaking out when you leave her. Try playing peek-a-boo around a corner or doorway while she can't get to you. It reinforces the idea that, even when you're not visible, you're never far away. She will outgrow this phase eventually. As far as the tantrums go, just make sure she's somewhere safe and ignore it. Screaming and crying are the only ways kids under 30 months or so can express frustration. The don't have the ability to internalize these feelings the way adults do. But if you give her what she wants when she has a tantrum, she'll quickly learn that this behavior is useful and she'll keep doing it. Hovering over her and trying to comfort her qualifies as giving in to the tantrum because you're giving her attention. Just ignore the screaming and it will eventually stop.

Answer 3

My son has this too.

Avoid tantrems in shops by getting everything delivered Iceland is free and Tesco and others only charge £5.

Tantrems at home are not affecting anyone, just ignore them and praise the good stuff!

Keep a good routine they hate change, I cant move any furnature, change any routines, change any plans or even buy a new car without problems.

Invite other childen to visit the home, for short periods to keep the autistic child occupied with play, although sharing will be a problem for him and getting on with others is not his strongest point, they need children in their 'territory' sometimes to help socially develop.

Have a sticker chart and a jar of GOOD goodies for a treat once a day after tea.

Fish oils can be expensive, we have tried lots of different ones, they make hardly and difference to the child in my experience.

I would say just use cod liver oil, get a huge drum from boots, they are £2.99 at the moment.

Brain scans have proved omega 3 oil does help the brain develop, and increase concentration slightly but not huge behavioual improvements or magic wands.

Fish oil capsules can be dissolved into warm water/drinks or buy milk with omega 3 already added. Why not give the child fish regularly also, kids love Cod and Salmon with chips. In fact diet is the biggest single change you can make.

Also consider that low blood sugar after a brisk walk around a large shop/to the bus stop/around the park etc can cause a tantrem too, because the child is feeling weak and irritated. Try giving the child a few chunks of chocolate just as you shop, or walk somewhere. I found this to be helpful and reduce problems.

There is of course, some evidence that 'you are what you eat', cut out all the cola drinks, Tizer and Vimto and Vimto chewy sweets, and anything with colourings!

Including everything on this swizzels matlow website
http://www.swizzels-matlow.com/

If you read about how Matlow make sweets they cannot claim any ingredients which are nutritional at all. They put more effort into bragging about making 1000 sweets a minute. Children should not be eating this rubbish, tantrems or not.

For drinks give milk or plain lemonade, or ginger beer.

(Plain chocolate, Dairy milk or Buttons or Aero chocolate or Milky Way is just as good for a treat).

I complained to matlow once about their colourings and they sent us a HUGE bag of sweets all full of E numbers and the entire lot went in the bin, I couldnt possibly give it to my child. They still have not addressed the issue.

Although some have, and chewits and smarties have no colourings now.

The worst culprets are E110 E102 E142 and the list can go on, these are mainly blue, green orange and red colourings. But avoiding them can be hard if the child has tantrems for them you must not give in.

However in some circumstances I would recommend letting the child get what he wants for a change, cause otherwise you spend your life shouting at them and telling them off for everything and anything.
When this happens everyone including the child gets stressed out, ignore the silly stuff and the tantrems as much as possible, wear a cd walkman, to mask the crying, walk out of the room, go down the garden and pull a few weeds out, let the child have this tantrem alone! Don't sit there and make yourself listen to it, the tantrem will end sooner if you walk away.

Autistic children need lots of attention and reassurance that you care and you will be there, they face a lot of challenges in life.

There are lots of groups and organisations to help with Autistic Dyspraxic and all the other spectrum disorders, theres parent helplines and all sorts.

Don't forget you are not alone in this and the childs Autism is not the parents fault it is a medical condition, and every child is different.

Expect a little less from an Autistic child, and praise the small but little steps to success.

Good luck x x

Answer 4

Contact the National Autistic Society.

http://www.nas.org.uk/

Be forewarned that if your nephew doesn't begin to eat other foods rather than just toast and honey, you may have more difficulties later. As hard as it may be and as heartbreaking as it may be, your nephew needs to be set boundaries and needs to have adults who avoid "mollycoddling" or treatment him "softly" out of guilt.
Autism is a spectrum disorder and can range from the highly intelligent, university graduated yet peculiar, socially, individual or the stereotypical image often seen in films of a child flapping his arms and rocking.
I worked with autistic adults for 6 years and what may be cute behaviour when young, such as a child rolling around on the floor with his shirt over his head, will not be so cute when the "child" has reached 30. Indeed, if certain negative behaviours are encouraged at a young age, the autistic child will grow up to be an adult who exhibits the same behaviours relative to how severe the autism.
Positive reinforcement such as praising acceptable behaviour and ignoring the undesirable will achieve better results for later in life than responding to the tantrums. There is often a tendency for parents of autistic children to change their own behaviour in response to the child's. This too could lead to difficulties as the child grows older and is faced with a world that doesn't bend to their will.
And....I must disagree with Shiznick who wrote that the behaviour will not change. This isn't entirely true. Autistic children, supported at an early enough age have been known to go on to live on their own or with others in a supported group environment. Have a positive outlook and never say never.
Contact the link above or if you're not in Great Britain, there will or should be support groups in your area.

Answer 5

Hello, I have two children that are on the spectrum. My daughter is six and has Aspergers Syndrome. Because she is very high functioning and has a large vocabulary, the best way to deal with her when she is having a tantrum is to tell her that you will not listen to her when she is crying and screaming. That if she wants to talk to you, she has to calm down first and talk plainly. It took a while to get her used to this, but I would tell her this and then put her in the corner until she was ready to calm down and then we would talk. She usually has her worst tantrums when she is overly tired, so making sure that she gets an appropriate amount of rest helps. Also, she has tantrums when she does not understand something that is going on. If she had it in her head that we were going to do something and it does not happen, she will tantrum. This can be quelled by letting her know ahead of time how things are going to work. She is now at the point that if something has to happen out of order or unexpectedly, we can calmly discuss it with her and explain the situation. I know for children that are more severe, this can be done not only with verbal explanations but also with picture schedules.

My son is more severe than my daughter but does not tend to have tantrums. He occasionally will throw himself to the ground and cry, but he is only four and usually only does this when something disturbs him greatly. In these instances, I just make sure that he does not hurt himself and speak to him quietly and gently until either the situation changes or he calms. He is learning a lot right now and is beginning to learn how to behave better (such as responding to verbal commands). As he continues to learn, I feel that these tantrums may come and go but will improve the more that he understands.

I don't know what kind of health insurance your sister has or what she has access to, but it might help to see if she can get him evaluated for behavioral therapy. My son is recieving speech therapy and occupational therapy and my daughter is to be recieving (hopefully) physical therapy through the school for her fine motor skills. Has he been evaluated through the school system? If not, she should have that done. Although schools don't alwasy provide everything that they should, that may be one of the best ways for her to get help.

If you would like to contact me concerning anything that I can help you with my addy is : [e-mail]

Answer 6

When an autistic child has a meltdown you just have to be supportive and make sure he has a safe place to rage. I don't think the fish oils will help with the tantrums. They are mainly used for focus. My son has been taking Nordic Naturals Childrens DHA for over 6 months now and I haven't noticed much difference but I still give it to him since it's supposed to be so healthy. This is what my child takes:

http://www.nordicnaturals.com/retailers/prodsummary.asp?ID=75

It's a liquid and comes in Strawberry or Lemon flavor (I believe). It might be easier to take the liquid. You can give it a try, it doesn't hurt and you may have different results than I do! You can usually find this at your local health food stores.


Also I know many people with Autistic kids (mine has mild PDD ) when they have a meltdown in public they get horrible stares from people thinking that the mother can't handle her kid. Many people pass out cards to strangers to make them aware of the situation. An example and how to order them can be found at:

http://www.buttonsandmore.com/cards/ulthm.htm

Answer 7

The three best things for my autistic son

1) changing him to a gluten-free/dairy free (and additive free) diet. Omega 3 oils are supposed to be good for brain function - they can be bought in capsule form (see link below)!

2) Home educating him - even in small class room situations he couldn't cope! He is a completely different child now! A week ago 2 people (at different times) commented on how he has improved 100% since I've had him at home!

3) consistent discipline - despite his difficulties my son has been disciplined according to what he has done (I have had to discern what is willful disobedience and what is his autism!) With my son I have got him to get his eyes to look into my eyes (that's how I say it so he understands!) when I'm explaining why he hasn't obeyed!

Answer 8

dont give them to him in tablet form buy the oil and put it in his food, on his toast in mashed veg etc fish oils can help autistic children but it is best to get advise from your gp as all childrens needs are different there maybe other ways to help him with his temper tantrums too like behaviour modification for both child and parent i know it sounds extreme but it helped my aunt cope with her son, also just lots of love hope your sis finds a method right for her good luck!

Answer 9

I found with my son (he is 11 now) that helping him to communicate his needs made a huge difference. I drew pictures, he drew pictures. Putting my son on a regular schedule and having charts that showed what he would be doing in what order helped. If he knew what to expect, he did not melt down. Deep message helped him to calm down. I would roll a bean bag over his body using a lot of my weight... I was careful not to hurt him of course..:P

I stopped using harsh cleaning products in my home. No bleach, no lysol... I have not had many temper tantrum problems since then. He communicates his needs very well now, I believe that is from helping him to express what he needed when he was younger. Sometimes singing to him what I needed him to hear helped.. he could understand that better than me just telling him.

She should talk to therapist and see if she can find an "expert" to help her.

Answer 10

i worked with autistic children and they are a handful. you may want to contact the doctor regarding the fish oil tablets. soft music and dimmed lights help calm down the autistic child. there are no problem solvers here. has she thought about taking him to school with the autistic?because this does not change. sometimes they keep the child to teach them and parents visit and keep the child on weekends. no im not saying get rid of the child because they won't take a 3 yr old. down the road its something to look into. unless she has support from family and friends around the clock.

Answer 11

both my step brother and my brother have autism, one was on ritalin (cant spell it) anyway it just made him spaced out and dribbley it was horrible to see it anyway we all decided to take him off it it took a lot of moral support and we all took turns to look after him anyway we put him on a diet rich in omega three oils and the difference is amazing hes a lovely little boy and tantrums are so rare now, although you can tell he has special needs when you talk to him to look at him now you wouldnt guess much better than being spaced out on man made mediciene