Meltdown Type I - Overtired/Exhausted

 

I have seen this meltdown occur with Jackson when he is has been gone several days without enough good rest. Today was one of worst I have seen and it occurred when I was trying to get him to lay down for a nap this morning because he was obviously so tired.

The meltdown involved:

• Kicking
• Screaming
• Crying
• Hitting
• Little word usage

 

Some things I tried to get him to relax:

• Getting him to communicate with words instead of yelling. This was not that useful during the meltdown but he was receptive to putting his feelings into words during the periods he was calm.
• Talking to him calmly and reassuringly while he was most anxious seemed to be more effective in this type of meltdown more than others.

Possible causes:

• Exhaustion
• He seemed more receptive than usual to outside stimuli such as noises outside his room and light from the window.

Take away items for me:

• See if there are AS meltdown specific books. If so I would love to read one.
• Talk to him calmly during this type of meltdown.

Shopping

Shopping is such a challenge with Jackson. We shopped some last night and he was crazy. He had several minor meltdowns over very minor issues, such as not running all over the store. I ended up taking Alaina out of her seat in the cart and letting the 2 year old walk where I could put Jackson in the cart to control him.

I am trying some methods I read in a book called Parenting a Child With Asperger’s 200 Tips and Techniques to see if I can make them any better. I will say the first one did not seem to help.

The first thing I tried was to set him down before we leave and explain where we are going, why we are going, and what I expect from him. This was done to try and help reduce some of the anxiety or stress that can occur with him over the unknown.

I also tried to remove him from the area he was having the meltdown and get him refocused and talk to him about the meltdown and why it occurred. That seemed to help a little. I am going to continue to try these just because will be an adjustment period for him and any new routines.

How It’s Made

Last night and today Jackson has engrossed in watching How It’s Made on Netflix. I came through the living room earlier and he was completely entranced by the process of a toilet being made. I thought kind of unusual enjoyable programming for a 4 year old, but I am guessing the Asperger’s is the reason. His need to understand the process and reasoning behind things would make this show something that keeps his interest.

Sleep

Today he was up around that time and even though he went to sleep fairly early he didn't get enough rest. He has been grouchy and rotten all morning, which is not the Asperger's, but that is contributing since that does cause sleep problems.

It has been awhile

It has been too long since my last post on here. I have a couple of items so they are going to be bulleted.

• I will start this one with a laugh and to demonstrate Jackson's reasoning ability.  I put him in time out, consisting of setting on the couch with the tv off. After he was there a couple of minutes he asked me if I was going to leave him there for a million years. I said yes, and his response was " You cannot leave me here for a million years, that is to long. If you leave me here a million years I will die and turn into a zombie and I don't want to be a zombie, besides you won't have a kid anymore." That argument earned him his freedom.

• Jackson has parent/teacher conference this week. I am unsure how that is going to go. This school year for him has been more challenging than last, which I wasn't expecting. When we went to the open house before school started, I talked to his teacher about his Asperger's and she said she had an Aspie last year and she was familiar with working with them.I will probably be blogging about the conference on here becuase I am sure the Asperger's will come up.

That is all for now. I may do this again tonight to catch up some more or I may not. Depends on how the afternoon goes.

4th of July

Yesterday was the July 4 and it was pretty well a  normal day for us. The interesting part, which I figured would be, was when we all went to see the fireworks last night.

Jackson started off excited and eager, we got to the place we were going to watch from, probably 1.5 miles away from where the fireworks were actually taking place to try to ease the explosion volume on Jackson. The kids played and there were a few random fireworks that got his attention, but he remained pretty focused on seeing the big show. When it started getting dark we saw some small ones behind a tree so we changed locations in the school playground we were watching from. Chris and Maddux went over to other side where they didn't miss anything and Jackson, Alaina, and I brought up the back. As we were crossing the booms started and Jackson started to freak. He was holding his ears and screaming to the point that he simply turned and started to run away from the booms without even seeing where he was going. He started running toward this group of people watching, I caught him and his expression was horrible, he was scared to death so I did not even get to tell Chris we were going back to the van, I wanted to get him back to a safe area. He, the baby, and I went back to the van to watch, he wanted to go home not stay.
Once I got him in the van, I started talking about the colors and which ones "we" liked best, the quiet ones. I tried to turn it into a game for him, identifying colors and telling which ones were loud and quiet to him where I could get an idea of what volume of blast bothered him. That seemed to work and he enjoyed it as much as he could. We were at the van about 10 - 15 minutes when Chris and Maddux returned and we left. We drove around closer to the fireworks where they could see a few more and Jackson was fine with this.

Overall I feel he did very well with the noise because I know how that affects him and I am proud of him for sticking it out.

Karate

We took the boys to Karate on Tuesday. They both had a great time, but again Jackson was being Jackson.

The class for Jackson's age was first and when we got there they were playing freeze with the instructor as cardiovascular exercise and warm up. Jackson played right along with the running around and tagging each other, but he could not grasp the concept of standing still when the person who is "it" tags you. When he was tagged he would continue to run and touch people on his own. The instructor did explain the freeze part to him several times, but I don't think he saw a purpose to it and therefore would not do it.

The were also doing exercises like races where one kid would run to the opposite end of the room, while jumping obstacles and kicking a punching bag then run back and tag their partner who would then do it. He also failed to understand this one, he did not want to wait and could not get the kicking down right. I know it was his first time in this setting and with some of these activities, but again I know Jackson and by watching his face and actions you can see what he is grasping and what he is not.

It was difficult for the other kids to cope with, one boy was very vocal about Jackson "cheating"during the games and when Jackson was on his team he made it clear that he did not want him on his team and he wanted to change partners. This was very hard for me to watch, Jackson did not understand it or did not care, I am not sure which. I did not like seeing this kid be that way about him, but I know this is something I am going to have to learn to deal with on some level because he is always going to be different.

The instructor was good with him, he stayed patient and would hold on to Jackson and try to get him to watch the other kids do something before letting him try. He also tried staying on top of the behavior of the other kids and kept telling them it was Jackson's first time, he would learn and they need to be nicer.

Jackson had a good time and really enjoyed playing around the other kids, I can't say with because while he did interact with them, he did not really play WITH them.

We are going to keep him in the karate because he does enjoy it and hopefully it will pull him socially out of his shell a little more.