Reaction to trauma??

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Hi All -

My DS started having pretty violent meltdowns in 10/09. He was restrained at the mainstream school he went to, with the other students looking on and having the room cleared. This probably happened three times before he was moved to a self contained classroom,

In the self contained classroom he was restrained probably 4-5 times, as he was very violent. he broke two windows, left the school grounds three times, once running into traffic.

In most of these occasions, it was probably necessary to restrain him so he wouldn't get hurt.

Recently, he has had two meltdowns which were not violent BUT included some really scary hallucinations. He was absolutely terrified, in turn so were we. I had videoed some of one of them because he was screaming "stop hurting me" and I thought someone might call the police. I showed it to the lady who works for the county helping place the special ed kids in the right programs. She said it looks like someone who had suffered terrible trauma or abuse.

Our son has not ever been abused in our home. We did try spanking him on the bottom two times, but it didn't work, so we abandoned that. Anyway, I'm wondering if the anxiety that causes the meltdowns, and then being restrained is causing the trauma? What do you think, could this be?

I have pulled him from school and am teaching him with an online curriculum. I am starting to see what causes the anxiety at school. (it seems that when he's not sure if he's correct with figuring out what to do next. If he doesn't have someone there encouraging him, he gets too anxious to just move on, freezes and then eventually melts down.) This is in addition to whatever environmental issues are occurring. He gets close to meltdowns from frustration at home, but so far we have succesfully avoided them.

I am about to go to a school meeting where they are trying to bully me into sending him back to school, and I just don't think it's a good idea until we figure out what caused the hallucinations. Do you think the meltdowns them self have traumatized him?

There has been research about post traumatic stress disorder in people with autism and aspergers. I think, though I'm no expert, that it is possible your son suffers from PTSD stemming from those violent meltdowns and being restrained. Good news is that there is evidence to suggest that treating AS kids for PTSD has helped in some cases. I think what the medical community is starting to recognize is that PTSD can be caused by things that most of us wouldn't consider that traumatic. These episodes may have been very traumatic for your son and he may need targeted therapy to recover.

I absolutely do think it's POSSIBLE that the traumatic experiences could be the reason but there could be other things going on as well. Our kids are super sensitive to traumatic events and it sounds like those were extremely horrible. However, I would really be checking into other causes as well. Our psychologist is always checking if my daughter seems to hear voices and I think it's because that can be a sign of some other very serious things going on. SO I would suggest you see a specialist on this and try to determine what is the cause.

Some things they will ask are:
has there been times he thought his mind was playing tricks on him or making him see or hear things that others don't experience
has he ever thought he had special powers or can do things other kids can't
has he seriously WANTED to hurt someone else
has he acted on any of the above
has he ever wished he wasn't alive or that he was dead
has he hurt himself on purpose

These are things that point to some chemical issues I believe and these issues are important to identify because the treatment is very specific and quite different from just AS related PTSD. Good luck, I hope you find some help.

I have PSTD symptoms as well from what most people would consider non-traumatic incidents. Just extra-sensitive I guess.

Mama to Grace - thanks, we have seen a specialist. He determined that DS was NOT psychotic and this was a reaction to stressors. I am just wondering if it was the actual meltdowns (and fear of them) that are making things worse over time.

Bombaloo & Purchase - thanks for the feedback. this is all very interesting. It sure makes it harder to decide what to do next.

I pulled him from school so I can see if it is in fact the stressors OR if something comes up when he isn't stressed.

I just got back from the meeting where they were pressuring me to send him back, even for a couple of hours per day. I just talked with him about it and he said NO WAY!

We'll see......

What is the school's reasoning for pressuring you into bringing him back to school? Especially at this time of the year? What's the big deal if he misses the last few weeks of school? It's not like he is going to miss some major part of the year's curiculum. I'd say stick with your instincts and keep him home see if that helps him.

Personally, I think it's about control. However, I am not sending him against his will. I will ask him every day if he wants to go, even to say hi. If he does, I'll take him. If not, I will tell the school that he will not do it.

His meltdowns had been crazy bad, and then they turned to the hallucinations. He hasn't had anything signifigant since he's been home. This should prove if it's environmental or not.

Then the worry about what to do next year. If he's going to home school, his dad will be the guy to manage it. Well.....dad's not the most patient guy ever. DS said that he doesn't want dad to be the teacher.

UGH - why is this so hard???