Autism or Psychotic Behavior?

Question

I have a student that is extremely intelligent. I like this student as he can be very nice and responsive. His behavior becomes very childlike and in some ways it seems as though he may be possessed. At times it can be very scary as it seems he may hurt himself or others. So really it seems behavioral, but once it starts he cannot stop. He cannot refocus his behavior.

The reason why I think it may not be Autism is because he is able to look people directly in the eyes when talking to them. He likes to be patted on the pack or give people fives, etc. Normally kids with Autism do not want to be touched in any way. Also, he feels remorse for the things he's done after they've happened. Other students with Autism do not even realize what they have done. It does not even phase them at any point. This students had been diagnosed by doctors, but they admit that he is an exception to the Autism norm. Any ideas or similar experiences, please help! I would like to help him.

Answer 1

My 20 year son has started to display the very symptoms. I do not know what to do and it's just like your describing. He goes totally off as if he his possessed and he starts to bite his hands and attacks me and my mother. It is very scary and he acts as if he can not stop. I wish I knew what to do and how to answer your question. If there is someone out there who can help, please let us know.

Answer 2

I'm autistic. Years ago someone told me I should look people in the eye if I want to impress them. I decided to try it. It wasn't too hard, but it was unnatural for me, and people were freaked out by it, so I had to quit it.

Even so, diagnosis is a tricky thing. Everybody has autistic symptoms. Everybody even has psychotic symptoms every now and then. Dreams are psychotic symptoms, according to Freud.

The doctors have to look at the prevalent symptoms to make a diagnosis. It's a waste of time to agonize over how to define a particular set of symptoms. No two people are exactly alike--least of all no two autistics. We pride ourselves on being unpredictable. We don't have a lot going for us, so we tend to overvalue what we do have.

As for advice, even the neurologists and psychologists don't understand autism. The psychoanalysts say they do, but they pay an arm and a leg to study such things in a psychoanalytic institute, and they end up with nobody paying attention to what they have to say.

So, again, it's no use agonizing over it. You have to be creative and open minded. If you are at your wits end, report the student to the principal or the board of education. When I was in high school the school board kicked five students out of the school district permanently for hanging a certain politician in effigy during the morning flag raising ceremony.
Maybe you can get the school board to do you a favor...

Answer 3

I worked with an adult male that was somewhat like this. In his case, he could function almost normally unless he got wound up emotionally, or binged on sugars and carbohydrates - it was Jeckyll and Hyde. It seemed that the emotions were wired differently and that any emotional stimulation caused the rational part of his brain to disappear, and he would become hyperfocused on something. Once he became hyperfocused, there were no limits on what he might do if something or someone got in his way. With the sugar and carbohydrate binges, it tended to produce a euphoric/manic state that still allowed rational thinking, but the positives were greatly exaggerated.

When things were normal, this guy recognized that he would occasionally "go off" as he put it, and you could discuss this with him once trust was established. He didn't have many people he trusted, so he really didn't know how his behavior looked to other people, and he was a little ashamed to discover that he scared people. He made a lot of progress in the 4 months that we worked together, but he moved on and i don't know how things have fared since, but i think that any sort of friend, mentor, or counselor could have kept him on the right track.

Answer 4

Those symptoms are usually from what I was told and shown, symtoms of schizophrenia (childhood schizophrenia, as there is a differencebetween the regular form). My son has it. His first diagnoses after birth was Autism, when he grew older around 2 yrs. old he started showing signs of Bi-polar disorder. Now the doctors had to wait a while and monitor him for long periods to make sure that he was displaying Bi-polar along with Autism. Shortly after that he started showing signs of childhood schizophrenia. The doctors saw clear signs of that including the reverting to babylike behavior for no reason. Usually "normal" children who behave that way, have a reason like, trying to get there way or there is a baby present thats receiving attention and they feel they aren't getting the same attention ect...It's usually very apparent when a "normal" child does that. My son had congenital sepsis from in the womb and it affected his brain dramatically even in physical appearance. It also affected some other physical organs and also nerve damage, especially from the waist down. Now he had seizures in the womb, which I saw on two sonograms. After he was born the large seizures stopped but his legs shook uncontrollably a few times a day. We now know that because he didn't receive seizure medications until he was about 4 when the large seizures started again, it possibly triggered the Bi-polar and schizophrenia to come out. Now there is absolutely no history of these disorders in my family or his fathers. But I have heard that if the family has a history of Bi-polar and schizophrenia, a child who inherently develops Autism will be at more risk to develop those other disorders. Your student may have a sensory intergration disorder which if strong enough can get diagnosed as Autism when it isn't. Premature children usually have those problems. Me and my twin brother were born very premature at 24 wks. Which is a miracle back in 1979. At the time there wasn't much info. on what could happen to premie babies so when we were able to eat on our own they basically sent us home. While growing up we had a lot of sensory "tics" we call them. We still have some but we know how to control them for the most part so people don't notice. Some of these "tics" looked a lot like Autism. My brother for instance would constantly stare at the wall or the ceiling when he was bored, thinking or trying to ignore someone. It drove my parents and his teachers crazy. Years later I asked him about it and he told why he would do that. My daughter was born prematurely and she does pretty much all the "tics" that me and my brother did and do. The teachers of course were quick to say "Oh, she must be Autistic". Boy it unnerves me when doctors and teachers are so quick to label a child Autistic, when they really just have strong sensory intergration disorders. Oh also rocking isn't just an Autistic thing, I rock when I'm bored, nervous, or mad. It's a "tic" I never quite stopped. Unlike Autism when you have a sensory problem you are aware of what your doing and you can be stopped easily, just by someone telling you or you noticing that your "stimming" I will say since it looks similar. We also liked spinning around a lot but again we could easily be stopped. My son can't be stopped most times when he is stimming, he just keeps going no matter how much you tell him that he his or try to get his attention on something else. So with this info. You might check and see if the student is not Autistic and has a strong sensory problem along with a psychiatric disorder. See my son clearly has the psychiatric problems but is also clearly Autistic. He has mental retardation, all the right stimming signs, and the sensory problems, doesn't like to be touched most times, severe social problems, ect... Good luck with your answers. I hope you can figure this out.

Answer 5

My 5 year old son is also extremely intelligent and diagnosed with autism but is high functioning. I have seen severely autistic kids too. That is why they call it a spectrum.

He knows all of the alphabet forward and backwards. He can walk by an alphabet hanging on a wall and if one letter is out of place he notices with in seconds. Almost like a photo memory. He also likes to cuddle and makes eye contact when he wants to get my attention or wants something important to him.

He to has tantrums and is hard for him to refocus. I think sometimes they get lost so to speak in the screaming/crying.

There has to be something to redirect him, a movie, food, game, favorite activity, etc. Try telling him "Joe if you stop (whatever it is he does) you can go for a walk, or play with, or watch ?,etc..

Find something he really prefers and be firm.

Also be pro-active. If you know what is going to throw him off, try to avoid it before it happens.
My son needs to be the first child in the classroom and look at an alphabet book before he starts his day and the teacher is very willing to work with us. The same as when he needs to leave the classroom for speech or ot. She knows not to start an activity with the alphabet if he has to leave in the middle of it.

Also what do the parents think. Communitcation with them is extremely important.

HOpe this helps