Constant Attention-Seeking and Some Violent Behavior

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I have a 2 1/2 year old son with ASD. He constantly wants my attention to change movies or just sit on my bed with him. He used to grab my hand nicely and guide me to what he wants, as he can not speak yet. Now he grasps my clothes and/or digs his nails in my hand. Sometimes he hits for no reason. At the apartment, it's just me & him and he isn't in daycare- so I'm all he has pretty much right now. Goes to my parents when I work. I feel like I have no time to relax. Went to the bathroom earlier today and when I came out, he had a bunch of stuff out of the fridge (mostly condiments) and the fridge door wide open. Just about lost it. Turns out he was just hungry.. but he's like the boy who cried wolf.. I couldn't even write this without being interrupted.. How do you control this type of behavior?

I do notice it more when he is either hungry or tired, but it gets pretty extreme. He is in Speech Therapy & OT right now. He has a preschool evaluation on Thursday. We are planning on moving to a bigger town as soon as I get a different vehicle and find and apartment. He will be in daycare then. There aren't many options here. All his therapies they travel here. Is anyone familiar with ABA? When I move, I think they have a program like that there. Thanks! He is happy when he is eating and sleeping.

Maybe daycare or just getting others in his life regularly might help

My little guy went through almost the same phase. It lasted about 6 months and drove my husband, stay at home dad, bonkers. Mostly he got over it on his own, but we did teach him some basic nonverbal request. If he was thirsty we got him to bring us his cup and if he was hungry he brought us his plate. We locked the kitchen with a hook because we thought it was safer not to have him in there and easier that locking every drawer. He is 4 now and we just started to keep the door unlatched.

I suggest latches on every interior door, up near the top. Also storage pantries with padlocked doors. DS drove me crazy up until the age of about five. His idea of "play" was emptying everything he could find onto the floor. Books off the bookcase, clothes out of drawers, toys out of boxes. He would even pull the sheets off his bed and, when he got big enough, the mattress too. He didn't play with any of it, either - when one thing was on the floor he moved to the next thing. Sometimes I still feel like I have PTSD from those years.

Your average daycare probably wouldn't be able to handle it, and she'd be getting tons of calls. However, he will likely be eligible for special needs preschool, free from the school district, starting at age 3.

Is he getting any ABA? if no, time to contact Early Intervention. If yes, I'd suggest asking the therapist to help you work on it.

We are going to be looking at a house to rent in a bigger town in May. The have more programs for autism there. The only daycare for disabilities where we are going to move is full. We are about #18 on the waiting list- meaning we may never get in. He might be in pre-headstart and will be in Preschool in August when he turns 3, so he might not need daycare then. Yeah, I would hate for him to get kicked out of daycare when we get him in one. My boyfriend, who has Aspergers and doesn't drive, may be able to watch him occasionally while I work. It's just hard getting all this set up, since we live 2 hours away from where we are going to move. And they have Anne Carlsen Center when we move and I believe they have an ABA program. Will have to look into that.

He is also into a 'stage' of going into my room on my bed and taking all the laundry (clean & dirty) onto my bed. He has also been bringing his toys and everything in there. He must have some fascination with plastic containers because he also likes to play with his shampoo & baby oil bottles. Tries to steal them when I'm in the bathroom. Maybe will have to start letting him play with empty ones or something.

I noticed that my son's behavior was at its worst when he was frustrated with communication. Some kids take to PECS, which is a picture-based communication system and others who are good at gesturing do sign language. He may be less gentle with you because he has grown frustrated with the gap between the complexity of what he is thinking and how he communicates.

If you go the PECS route, there are tons of free online resources for clip art that can be used. It does not have to be the name brand stuff.

In Speech Therapy, they did try PECs for a little while. Then, he got a different therapist that uses pictures for transitions in therapy. He puts these cards in the slots of where he is going next. He will have another Speech Therapist when we move, as well as everything else will be different. I am kind of nervous about the move (although it will be good for him to have more help there) because he really has a hard time with change. That's probably one of his biggest struggles. He likes to have his routines.