HELP and thoughts...
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| Tue, 03-06-2007 - 12:10pm |
Hi. My son Dominic (8/5 dx of Asperger's) is having aggression difficulties at school. While this is nothing new, per se, he's now being called on it regularly. It is mostly just bumping into others (sensory, of course, for the input), or poking at people and getting into people's faces or touching their heads or faces (not sure why he does it, it drives me up a wall myself, but those are my sensory issues), but also hitting on occassion and he just last week shoved someone to the ground... he claims the kid called him a "bad name" but couldn't recall what the name was. I think he mis-heard the child, but wholeheartedly believed the boy was being mean. Of course, he cannot hit or shove anyone; he gets consequences at home for it, but i'm getting annoyed that they are not reducing the opportunities for this to happen. They know if they put him in line with 40 kids for recess (the line and recess both causing him to become overwhelmed and act out), something will happen. Where is the supervision, where is the modification?
They tell me he CAN'T be ASD because asperger's kids are not aggressive... that is not a blanket truth. Each child responds/reacts differently.
I just wondered if any of you have aspies or spectrum kids that have aggression issues. IF they do, do they have other co-morbid dx's??
Thanks, I just want some "support" for my position before charging in!
Thanks,
Nicole

Nicole,
I'm not sure who "they" are that say aggression isn't a part of Asperger's... All kids are so different. My son, Alex (10 next month, AS), has had episodes of being aggressive. He has been having problems controlling his anger. In fact, just a couple weeks ago, he got in trouble on the bus for punching the arm of a kindergartener because the poor little kid accidentally sat on Alex's Valentine's day bag. He has no self-control. Things have been particularly bad over the past couple of weeks (see my post below under "Questions").
I'm going through the "Where is the supervision; where is the modifications?" questions myself. His regular classroom teacher told me this morning that Alex had no aide with him whatsoever yesterday (supposed to be 80% with aide) because the school was short-staffed. My dissatisfaction with our school systems special ed. services could be a venting post all on its own.
Aggression is sometimes (but not always) an issue for Aspies. And it's no wonder with all the overstimulation they put up with; things that don't phase other people. I just made an appointment for Alex with a therapist to deal with some of his behavior issues; I also just ordered some age-appopriate books about handling anger for him. It's going to be a long, hard road to getting his behavior under control; sometimes I just feel so overwhelmed.
You're certainly not alone...!
Laurie
Laurie
Hi Nicole,
I just got back from my own son's principle and she said the same exact thing lol. That all of the kids she has ever met with Aspergers are all mello.
My son isn't dx'd yet, but he does have agression issues. I explained to the principle that all kids on the spectrum are different. Some hand flap, some don't etc....
I also made a point that the kids she has met could of had early intervention with their aggression, and thats why it might not be such an issue anymore....
It was like a light bulb went on in her head and she said "Oh true, that could be possible"
Anyway, good luck. :)
Lainie
Good thing you didn't go to her to get the diagnosis. Last week, Sravan (9), had a major melt down (throwing things) in the classroom because he had preop appt, surgery is this Thursday for his foot, and he had bottled up all the anxiety and out of nowwhere BAM!! came the aggression. The teacher has not seen Sravan like this, he has improved a lot. I had to go in and calm him down and the rest of the day went fine. So I am not sure aggression and Asperger does not go together talk.
Sravan is having his state writing exam this morning and my fingers are crossed.
take care,
Anandhi
Nicole,
You are certainly not alone! I have also heard that statement (aspies are not aggressive) from my school district. For that reason, they refused to classify my DS (8) as autistic, even after two private evals concluded he has AS. They insisted he was MD because "there must be something else going on". I believed them at first, but after doing tons of reading, have come to the conclusion that aggression is NOT all that uncommon for our kids. Like one PP said, they have issues with self-control and, in my DS's case, almost every minor frustration results in a verbal and/or physical explosion. I know there are at least a few here whose kids struggle with this. Hopefully you'll hear from a few more.
Good luck!
Melissa
I was told 3 years ago by one useless, new, idiotic psychiatrist that only non-verbal autistics were aggressive because they couldn't communicate. Now when I tell other professionals (ones who actually specialize in ASD) this line they are appalled.
One of the most well known books for Asperger's is called "Asperger Syndrome and Difficult Moments". It is all about the rage cycle with Asperger kids. Not every kid with AS has meltdowns, rages or aggression problems but there is definitely a significant percentage of children who do and it is because of their ASD.
This year my son had these big important state education diagnosticians come into the school to evaluate him. These folks are HIGHLY respected and their job is basically to evaluate kids and then make recomendations. They determined that my son is autistic. That he does NOT have comorbid mood disorder and that all symptoms where do to autism. My son is quite verbal and intelligent and he also has significant problems with aggression which we are making progress with but is still and issue.
Get a second oppinion.
Renee
Hi Everyone!
Thanks for the responses! I've had doctors tell me it is not atypical; it's my sons principal. And because we live 2 towns away from Sudbury, MA where a teenage student with asperger's recently stabbed and killed a classmate, it's now all-encompassing to come down on MY child because he can be aggressive. I've yet to have a school district agree my son falls on teh spectrum, they tell me it is ADHD, regardless of what the psychologist/psychiatrist say!
They all suck.
I sent a VERY long email to the school psychologist. My son's teacher followed up with me separately telling me to speak with the psychologist who works with my son, as they felt he needed more support in the classroom as well! I'm going to forward my email to her and his gen ed teacher and sped teacher so they all see what I wrote. Hopefully we'll see some results!
Thanks again for the support and comments. they are greatly appreciated!!!!
Nicole