Is aggression an issue for your child with autism? Or if you’re on the spectrum, do you struggle with this issue?

18 Comments

  • Dawn - 6 years ago

    I take care of my grandson during the day while his parents work. I've been really stressed whith him. He is very abusive toward me and himself. He is 4 years old and has been recently diagnosed with autism. I don't know what to do. When he hits me in the head with his toys.help me please ????

  • Lillian Vidal - 6 years ago

    My son is 13 years old and lately has been very aggressive and nothing I do seems to work, I try to calmly talk to him, give him space and try hug him but he seems to calm down for a few seconds and then comes back and tries to attack me by pinching me or scratching, he also tries to attach his twin brother who's also on the spectrum but is not aggressive. He is taking abilify and it was working fine at the beginning but it seems his system is probably getting used to it and it's no longer working like it did when first started taking the medication. I just don't know what else to do, i feel helpless.

  • Caria - 6 years ago

    My son is 13and was just diagnosed with ASD. I am in the dark trying to find some help

  • Lynn A - 6 years ago

    here’s what helps ...
    Avoid asking TOO MANY questions.

    Stay away from using negative words, they can be misconstrued as giving orders/telling them "what to do"!

    We, as parents, do NOT always have to have the last word!

    Leave them ALONE, when they tell us to LEAVE THEM ALONE!

    Do you best to remember, all those mean things they are saying are not really about you - but are reflections of how they may be feeling about themselves.

    They may not respect our privacy, but we MUST respect theirs.

    AND, hard as it may be, BELIEVE them when they tell us that they are having, for example, seizures. My child's husband doesn't believe her & many other people just don't understand Autism. So they are dismissive. They even may not believe it is a real condition because the child "looks" fine. My kiddo IS having seizures, & violence can be the result of her seizures. She truly cannot control what she is doing. (I actually have seizures, too, and have injured someone during one episode.)

    It is a very hard road, but I love my child so much. This article made me "kick myself". I need to do better, listen more, and be a lot more respectful of what she has been trying to get ME to understand.

  • Diane Sower - 9 years ago

    I wish our state had medical marijuana to try. My 3 year old grandson has had horrendous head banging episodes since 6 months, leaving head damage, and also hits himself in the head when frustrated. He's getting bigger, and getting to him before damage is done is hard. Holding him down, trying to pick him up, all prove prohibitive for us. Glorie, could you elaborate on the diet you brought up? We've not heard of this. He's been on gluten free for 6 months, did nothing, and now we have him on all organic foods, and while he is talking more, and doing more in therapy , the tantrums continue.

  • candie downey - 10 years ago

    i have a 22 year old autism adult daughter for the past 2 weeks has been anger upset biting attacking me . i try to calm her down in a sweet loving voice.but nothing working .i htake her to quiet place and we go outside still nothing working i feel alone cause my family and friends dont have child like mine.i need advice
    thank you

  • Darrell walker - 12 years ago

    Aba training reduced aggression tremendously to the point where it's only a short spikes a couple times a day from hour long tantrums. Now it's more like stored up anger and frustration from school I help him work out thru playing with toy light sabers . Most days about 2 or 3 min of play releases all his stress but some days seems like more.
    I'm going thru some conflict with his school as they don't follow aba as I do at home.

  • Mary - 12 years ago

    My son was very aggressive, starting with irritability at the age of two. He began medication at the age of eight, with little success. At the age of 18, we tried medical marijuana. It has made a world of difference. He is happier, calmer, more social, more verbal, more "tuned in", less obsessive-compulsive, and 95% less aggressive. My son is still mostly non-verbal. He speaks in one, two, or sometimes three or four word phrases. He still babbles and speaks "nonsense words". But he has made very positive gains since we implemented medical marijuana into his life, in the form of cookies or brownies. I want to urge other parents to explore this. Just google autism and marijuana, and read the other postive stories. I believe it can help alleviate symptoms in the majority of children or adults with autism.

  • Kay - 12 years ago

    ABA! Very consistently ignoring the maladaptive behaviors and very consistently praises the good behaviors. Everyone who works with my son has been trained and we all share ideas and issues and work with a BCBA on this. Lots of data collection too.

  • Jolanda - 12 years ago

    We tried medications that were suggested by my son's Dr. when he was younger, but we took him off within a day because it made him more aggressive. I agree that drugs are a last resort. I also agree that diet helps. We give our son vitamins without additives. I give them at night or on the weekends because they can make him hyper, so that it's not during school hours. But the positive affects out weigh the negative. And, we give him foods rich in brain boosting nutrients. Like: eggs, which have zinc, selenium and omega three fatty acids. The biggest help is talking to him honestly and on his level about individual social situations.

  • michael - 12 years ago

    Parents should be aware of the possibility of Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) which is somewhat different then general aggression or SIB. Treatments vary but cognitive behavioral therapy along with SSRI's have been shown to possibly be helpful.

  • Marla Guerrero - 12 years ago

    My son is 20 and has been both aggressvie and self-abusive most of his life. The things that help are providing good structure to his daily life, making sure he understands the expectations, explaining deviations from the expections with as much time as possible (like a favorite restaurant closing), clearing the area of other people when he is escallating both so it is less overwhelming and fewer people around to target, and practicing self-calming techniques such as breathing and using a weighted blanket. Medication has not done much to help with the aggression. ABA has given us the tools to to try to help him through moments and he has many fewer aggressive and self-abusive episodes than he did in the past.

  • Ben - 12 years ago

    My son is almost 9 and is just starting to show aggressive behaviors. He wasn't on anything before but now we have him on vitamins and Gabba and it seems to be helping some but the main issue seems to be communication. We really want to stay away from RX's so we are going the holistic approach. All I can suggest is research, research, research and try whatever you can until you find the stuff that works for you and your family.

  • Samuel Windom - 12 years ago

    I was once very aggresive at a young age. Mostly, it was when I get too many emotions kept inside me. A way I got rid of those was to read or running around. So the girl wasn't angry at her parents she was just upset from all the emotions that were running around inside her. She didn't know how to let them out, so aggresion was the only way. Medication helps surpress the emotions, but can have side-effects and backlash in the form off "snapping" and getting angry at little things.

  • Kari Nicole - 12 years ago

    My son is now 15 and the 3 things that have helped his violent behaviors the most are (in order): ABA, diet and anti-psychotic medications. To me, meds should always be a last resort. The diet and the meds help put your body and mind in place where you can receive the ABA instructions without feeling bombarded. However, I did not like Risperdal. It had too many adverse side effects for my son.

  • noreen_albright@yahoo.com - 12 years ago

    Most behaviors were solved with ABA and a way to communicate (first it was sign, then some words then sentences). He expressed confusion (lack of understanding), sensory (a painting was too busy/lighting change) and sometimes just impulsive or emotional. Communication helped a lot and a way to say what is hurting/bothering. Good Luck to all parents and find a way (technology, sign, pictures) to communicate. Behaviors minimize and then "talking about it" sometimes really exposes the real reason (attn seeking/emotional/anxiety/sensory - which is way under-rated). Good Luck to all the children and May God Bless them, Protect them and Help them on their very challenged journey. Pray for your kids!! xx/oo

  • Shera Scott Thomas - 12 years ago

    Careful pharmacological management and psychotherapy have helped us make great strides in supporting Clarisa's ability to identify her own triggers, express what she is feeling internally, and thus more effectively manage her impulses to lash out. Even though she attends school in a therapeutic setting, I often hear "she didn't tell me she was upset" or "I asked her and she said she was fine." Still working on that.

  • Glorie Acevedo - 12 years ago

    Medication should not be the first option for parents because it only hide a symptom and does not treat the root cause. My son is recovered from autism and having him in the GFCFSF diet was crucial and we made a mineral's panel blood test to check for minerals like lithium and magnesium, which regulated mood swings. He was depleted from lithium and when we started the supplementation with natural chelated lithium and GABA, the aggressions and tantrums diminished until they were completely gone.

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