OT? - supposed NT 2yo drives me crazy
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| Thu, 08-30-2007 - 9:11am |
OK......I don't know how those of you with more than 2 kids or with multiple kids on the spectrum do it. My 2yo is driving me batty!!!!!
Like Sam at this age, Harrison is in constant motion. If he is misbehaving I have to literally chase him down to put him in timeout. And of course he thinks this is hilarious. When I catch him it's a full on screaming, throwing his head bach tantrum. He has nearly concussed hiself on concrete doing this and has bonked his head on other various surfaces.......once a plate glass window which thankfully didn't shatter.....sight.
There are times that he will stop an inappropriate behavior when I start counting to 3......which I love since Sam wasn't able to do this until he was 4yo. He is much more connected and together than Sam was........but oy the constant vigilance I must keep with this child is exhausting! Though Sam wasn't dx until 6, I do realize now that I wasn't dealing with an NT 2 yo with him, so I'm not sure what to expect from an NT 2yo.
None of us are morning people so that time of day is pretty rough around here. Sam's sometimes whacky or odd behavior is highly amusing to Harrison, so getting them both ready to go is often a nightmare! They rile each other up or they're fighting over something and yelling at the top of their lungs. I end up yelling most of the morning because of this. I'd love for Sam to be able to get ready mostly by himself, but it takes my constant redirection for that to happen, which is highly frustrating while getting breakfast....etc ready. I can't seem to figure it out either organizationally or discipline-wise. Work sucks and most mornings I'm not ready to wake up yet anyway.
I'm willing to listen to any advise you all have to help make mornings go a little smoother.
Thanks!
Chrystee


Chrystee,
My first advice is to have Harrison evaluated if you have concerns. I know his issues are probably insignificant compared to Sam's, but that does not mean they are insignificant, period.
When Siobhan first showed warning signs, we almost missed them because relative to Peter, she had been a dream child. But I didn't know "normal" from a hole in the ground, so I asked the daycare people.
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
Paula
<<<<<<>>>>>>
Yeah......I know. Sigh. If I could afford a private one I'd do it NOW. I'll have to see if there's a Ped. Dev. Neuro that takes our insurance. We had Sam screened by the SD twice and they didn't see anything at almost 3 and then again at 4......so I don't have much faith in them. When they passed him after the 2nd screening I requested an eval and they still denied him services after that.....most of his issues then appeared behavioral and he does great one on one - esp. with an adult. They acknowledged a slight delay in fine motor skills and some definite sensory things and offered a 504 for the fall when he started Kindy. I wonder if EI would be better; it's worth checking out at least, before Harrison is 3 and is too old.
You are lucky that school starts so late! I'll be starting to wake Sam up at 545 this year; I'll be getting up at 530. School *starts* at 730 here. I love the schedule idea and we've tried it many times. But I'm either doing it wrong or they don't work with Sam. I always end up hounding him to check his schedule, instead of hounding him to get dressed, brush teeth......etc. After a couple weeks I give up on it. How do you get the schedule part of the routine?!?!
Our biggest issue is simply getting him out of bed. I have tried myriad rewards and consequences for this challenge......none of them have worked. I usually end up literally dragging him out of bed because he would be late every morning if I didn't. Should I let him be late all the time?!?! Waking is a huge transition for him so no matter what the reward is he isn't motivated. Sigh.......the boy defies all ASD "logic!" LOL Schedules don't work, reward charts for getting up on time don't work, getting tv time didn't work, losing tv time when he didn't get up on time didn't work, promises of chocolate chip waffles if he got up and got himself dressed worked for a week and then stopped working......oy! Once I get him out of bed and dressed, it's straight to breakfast, then if he's gotten up early enough some play then teeth brushing which is often our other sticking point. He's not connecting the play time he misses usually with him not getting up early enough.
We have a good bedtime routine and it's lights out by 830....sometimes 9pm - never later than that. And we don't do tv or gameboy in the mornings either. It was too much of a battle. 15 min. isn't enough time for Sam and trying to pry the game away from him is NO fun. I may have to resort to this to get him up that early though. I'm not looking forward to next week AT ALL.
OK........so WTF! am I doing wrong! LOL I feel like an idiot because even when I try what's *supposed* to work it doesn't and I end up yelling anyway. After a full morning of chasing Sam and Harrison down to get out the door on time, I'm pretty beat. Some mornings go great and then Sam freaks about something as we're heading out the door or down right refuses to brush his teeth and I have to do it. Mostly I can keep cool all morning but there's only so much of this I can take! LOL It's not fair ;)
Chrystee
(who may in fact be PMSing as she writes ;)
Well, I have a NT 4yo dd who is often as much or more work than her AS siblings. She is a highly spirited child, but I am certain she is not AS. I think she's just a high-energy, high-ornery kid. Part of it's the age, and part of it is the individual child. At 2yo she was even worse. To be fair, dd also has some sensitivities that often make her irritable, but I don't think that's the bigger part of the problem. I think it's just HER. My 10yo NT ds was somewhat like this at her age. He's mellowed a bit over time (still high-energy but easier to work with), so I'm hoping my 4yo will, too.
Certainly I don't want to dismiss the possibility that you could have an additional child on the spectrum since we have two in our family, but I did want to throw in my 2-cents that it doesn't automatically mean spectrum issues. It could just be a spirited child. Is early intervention available to you to do a full evaluation?
Thanks! That is good to hear......kind of.....LOL.....Harrison's social skills are pretty typical for his age. But so were Sam's, they just didn't seem to advance when everyone else's did. I'm more worried about his lack of impulse control and horrible persistant temperment. His speech and eye contact are awesome so at this point I'm keeping an eye on him though I prob. will still check with our ins. so I have names on hand in case at 3 I'm still questioning.
I think the social skills may get a little lack of use in the mornings with everyone (including him) being so cranky. Post nap time is a different story - right now they're both playing well together with the Cranium fort thing.
I'm pretty active with the local Mom's Club so he has more typical peers to interact with. He's a much quieter kid outside the house at most places - Karate being the exception. Something about that place.....LOL.....he'll be ready to go as soon as he's old enough.
Thanks for you post!
Chrystee
Carey
Chrystee,
You can contact Early Intervention.
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com