State: West Yorkshire
Country: United Kingdom
Member since: Mar 25, 2008
Last logged in: Dec 02, 2008
Hi everyone I am Tracy a married 36 yr old mum of two boys with Asd. My 6 year old Zak has aspergers and my 4 year old Kai, has more complex autism with alot of additional sensory needs. It can be quite challenging having two boys at opposite ends of the spectrum but our family are very supportive and especially my husband Lee, who is my rock in times of need.
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Crofty's Compositions
by Crofty on 04.03.08 - public - 139 visits
As you may or may not be aware I have two sons with autism both at the opposite ends of the spectrum. The issue we are having at the moment is with our 4 year old and I think it's another sensory one!
I noticed it about a month ago and it seems to be gradually getting worse. His mood changes he gets extremely distressed and rubs his legs and arms. It is almost as if he is uncomfortable in his own skin.
He is a non verbal child who usually requests touch by guiding our hands to him, now when his mood changes we cant do anything at all.
We can't even work out a pattern to this behaviour. They haven't mentioned he does it at school, we haven't changed our washing powder, he isn't eating anything different apart from a few too many raisons and he's drinking the same.
It's so distressing for him and us!!! We just want to comfort him.
We were discharged from our usual specialist a while ago when he started with some more agressive challenging behaviours and referred to CAHMS - (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) these behaviours have now stopped and our therapist is on leave! Our occupational therapy sessions have stopped now he has started full time school and our old OT is on leave!
I don't know who to turn to apart from my friends at foggy rock.
Comments(11)
cjkellie
Posted on Wed, 9 Apr 2008
the only thing I can think to add is that when Chad was younger and had more sensory issues I used to buy the small kiddie pools and fill them with dry pinto beans , flour ( he loved it) and balls. I would let him play in them for hours. He did have to keep underwear on - maybe this could help him feel better if nothing else here works.. it's really a cheap thing to try. good luck
Crofty
Posted on Thu, 3 Apr 2008
Hi everyone, it's a bit of a mindfield isn't it sometimes trying to suss our children out, especially the ones with communication issues. Thanks for all your suggestions I have a lot to think about and try, but thanks to alll of you I feel a little bit stronger and determined to crack this case!!!! xx
carmel66
Posted on Thu, 3 Apr 2008
I don't know where you live, but some of my friends are already having seasonal allergy issues. My son has been rubbing his feet together incessantly. Turns out he has athlete's foot (feet) - he tested neg for intestinal yeast but has a lot of problems with fungus on feet, diaper area, etc. So maybe it's an allergy or yeast/fungus distress. These things just pop up. My son is also almost nonverbal esp when it comes to health, feelings, etc.
KevinLivsDad
Posted on Wed, 2 Apr 2008
You know Liv has been eating a lot less which is rare for her. And, she is scratchin like a SOB even to the point she has broken the skin. She is on no meds, no chems in our house, ummm I did not think of some of the things you guys have posted. She also has little tiny bumps on parts of her body. Dr does not know what it is.
4thekidz
Posted on Wed, 2 Apr 2008
Just a shot in the dark.....the weather is changing from winter to spring. I know my guy doesn't tolerate lotions and tends to get itchy, crawly from time to time. You also said that he doesn't have OT at this time...does he have an IEP and is there OT written into the plan. Sounds like he could us it too. Good luck.
Crofty
Posted on Wed, 2 Apr 2008
Hi Willemac, this crawling out of the skin also sounds like what Kai could be experiencing, the only problem is that here in the UK the NHS is extremely reluctant to prescribe things. We've had this before when we had read so many good things about Risperdol on US chatrooms but it was dismissed immediately for us with the only explanation being 'we wouldn't recommend it at this stage'. It's all down to budgets, so I doubt we will be offered anything. I'm glad your son is improving, like you say it's an awful thing to go through.
4muskateers
Posted on Wed, 2 Apr 2008
What may have changed is that aaround this time the schools start spraying for pests...they are suppose to let you what and when they spray...our 9 year old Dante' is very, very sensitive to the chemcial smells or when the janitor at the school has cleaned on a weekday...when they clean with the chems on Friday...the school has the weekend to air out...These little guys can smell anything...even when the bug guy sprays the yard this time of year...or when we use bug spray on the dogs...4 years ago we went to a strickly chemical free environment in our home...we by all cleaning products directly from Melelauca.com...what great here is they use T-Tree Oli in all there products. T-Tree oil is use by the Aborigins(?) no bacterias or virus can grow in T-Tree...(for the exterior parts of the body)...Just as Oregano is for (the interior part of the body)... nothing grows in Oregano. just a thought to check on.
williemac
Posted on Wed, 2 Apr 2008
My son experienced the same thing over this past year - it was like he was crawling out of his skin and scratching himself and pulling at his shirt, etc. This too could escalate into aggressive behavior and there seemed to be no trigger. My son is 15 and was 14 when this started happening. We got him checked out by our pediatrician to rule out anything obvious that he wasn't able to tell us. Finally took him to our autism doctor who referred us to a pediatric gastroenterologist - turns out William has acid reflux and apparently it can present itself in this manner (crawling out of skin). He started taking prilosec and it did help some but not entirely. He is now in the hospital being weaned off all his medication so we can see it that is the culprit. Based on what I have seen so far, it looks like seroquel was what was bothering him - the more they reduce the amount he was on, the better he has been doing. Good luck, I know how disturbing this is.
Crofty
Posted on Wed, 2 Apr 2008
Hi guys, thanks for your replies. Firstly maybe shannonj you're right, it could be a pain thing as he isn't eating as much as usual at the moment so I'll go to the chemist tomorrow and have a look. It's worth a try anyway. Thanks. Also thanks for your post LivsDad. I have tried a soft brush briefly which I think he didn't mind, but he was calm at that time. When I tried when he was already distressed, he wouldn't tolerate it at all. I will however read your posts and give it an other go. The lady with autism and the description about ants sound very interesting too.
shannonj
Posted on Wed, 2 Apr 2008
I am recognizing in my own son that many of his sensory issues are related to pain....Do you think he has any sort of pain...headaches, growing pains, indigestion etc.....I wonder if you gave him some Advil or other anti-inflammatory over-the-counter medication to see if it helps---and then you may know if it is related to pain?......this is a tough one...please keep us posted.
KevinLivsDad
Posted on Wed, 2 Apr 2008
Have you tried the brush technique. Also, the young lady with Autism who recently started communicating via keyboard in one of her Q/A questioned described autism as like having ants crawling all over you. I don't know if she meant figuratively or literally. My bet is that it is a stim thing or the willies as I call it. Try the brush techique I did a posting on it a while ago & a posting about the young lady mentioned above.
