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angelbear
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06 Jul 2011, 4:33 pm

Hi all-

Well my son (diagnosed PDD-NOS/possible Aspergers) started hitting himself in the head about a month and a half ago. He has always been a hand flapper, but now this. He sometimes slaps his head real hard, and sometimes he curls up his fists and bangs them into his head. From what I can tell, he is not doing it out of frustration, he just seems to be enjoying it. His OT said that it is probably a sensory thing and he just enjoys the sensation of it. I don't think he is hurting himself, but it is very disturbing to watch. Right now, we are just asking him to please stop, that is not good for you. He seems to be progressing in other areas pretty nicely, but this is something BRAND NEW that he has never done up until recently.

Just wondering if anyone has had this experience and some helpful tips for dealing with this.



izzeme
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06 Jul 2011, 4:59 pm

i'm not sure if you should try and stop him; is he doing this anywhere or only when he's home alone (alone being with only his parents/siblings around)?
it's a quite common coping behavior; i myself sometimes do that, even though i'm generally normally adapted.
the fact that i can feel my body is soothing in heavy internal stress (which can occur at any time, without any visible que or reason).



draelynn
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06 Jul 2011, 6:01 pm

The head hitting is disturbing and potentially harmful even if he doesn't feel pain from it.

Have the discussion with him about why it can be bad and offer an alternative. Find another sensory activity to replace it - if that truly is the cause. My daughter used to slap herself in the forehead when frustrated, angry - any negative emotion. We transitioned that urge to sensory toys like stress balls, and a wide variety of those squishy, knubbly, textured balls and toys at the dollar store. In school she has a stress ball to use. She is also rather fond of her exercise ball. She does alot of pressure moves on it - mostly rolling around on her stomach and leading with her hands. Keep them handy so when you notice him doing it you can just reach for something and toss it to him to redirect.

Whatever you do, don't try to make him stop 'cold turkey'. It's probably not an urge he can totally suppress. Redirect to something harmless and try not to make a huge deal out of it even if it ends up he bops himself in the head with one of those soft squishy toys. If its a head/scalp sensation issue maybe try different hats...



jojobean
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07 Jul 2011, 1:17 am

I used to watch the three stooges everyday on nickeloneon and began hitting myself with oblects or my fist and the laugh like hell, much to my mother's horror. She thought I did it cause I hated myself and wanted to punish myself, no I was just imitating the 3 stooges.

alot of cartoons can play around with self injury as humor. If it is not that, it might just be a sensory thing and in that case I think drealynn has the right idea.


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liloleme
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07 Jul 2011, 5:32 am

A lot of kids head bang. Even NT babies can sometimes bang their head on things for pleasure only. If he is not angry than it is probably, like your OT says for sensation only. You can try giving him "bumpy" balls and try to get him to rub them on his head or even a soft ball to bounce on his head. I would not call attention to it but you could try taking his hand and gently guiding him to either do it softer or put something like a stress ball in his hand. If he resists you touching him or gets upset just try offering him things to distract or redirect him.
My daughter used to come bump her head into us or into our heads. I taught her to do it more gently by just putting my hand between her head and me and saying, very pleasantly, "gentle" and now she doesnt do it at all plus I easily taught her the meaning of the word "gentle".



Christine314
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07 Jul 2011, 5:57 am

over the past year my son's meltdowns have gotten worse. He is 10.5 yo. When he has a meltdown he says horrible things like 'i hate myself' and 'i want to die' and 'i hate my brain' and he hits himself repeatedly in the head. It is heartbreaking for a parent to watch their precious child do this. When it is over I go have my own personal cry meltdown someplace private. His psychologist and his OT both recommended the stress balls (fabric covered squishy balls). We keep a set at school and at home and when he starts to feel very frustrated/anxious/angry he gets the balls and squeezes them very hard. The sensation of squeezing them has helped stop a few meltdowns from going 'over the top'. This with ongoing therapy to learn to communicate, psychologist, and OT has helped. Also summer vacation away from the stress of school and giving him his space to unwind and decompress on his own.



humanoid5
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07 Jul 2011, 8:28 am

I was a headbanger from about 9 months until I was around 14 years old. I just remember liking the feeling, it didn't hurt, and was really soothing. My ASD son will hit himself in the head, but he only does it when he's frustrated or mad. If he were doing it because he liked it, I wouldn't worry about it, because it never hurt me. lol



Annmaria
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07 Jul 2011, 8:29 am

My son would/still does but not as much would slap himself in the face and punch himself in the stomach. His play therapist worked with him on it, sometimes he would say mum and I would look at him and he would slap his face he could repeat this over and over. This situation I ignored, whilst it hasnt stopped fully it only happens from time to time.

Its a good idea to find something like the stress ball, You can and might get him to stop this behaviour, only to discover that he has replaced it with another which might even be more serious.


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angelbear
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07 Jul 2011, 10:14 am

Thanks for the suggestions! Right now I really feel like it is just some form of sensory input. However, we have noticed that sometimes when we correct or reprimand him for something he will do it. But for the most part it is just at random times. He was never a hand banger as a baby, so maybe this is just something new he has figured out that feels good. It is hard to relate this to stress, because he is not in school right now and he has no siblings to deal with and our home is pretty quiet (except for him LOL! ) He really has never had serious meltdowns. Not to say that this will never happen because just when we think we have moved on from one issue, then another one crops up...

Thanks for all of your help!



mgran
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10 Jul 2011, 8:12 pm

It probably is some kind of sensory input... but you are wise to keep an eye on it. My fifteen year old has recently graduated from rocking and flapping to banging his head on walls, and scratching himself... he was shocked himself when he saw what he'd done to his poor forehead (dug his nails in and dragged, because it was too noisy in class.) He has described to me the noise in classrooms as being similar to a room full of radios tuned to different stations... and he can't turn any of them off. That would be enough to drive anyone up the wall.

It's worth, as your child grows, discovering what if anything, causes overlod, and then avoiding it. For the record, my wee lad has got MUCH better.