Assaulting kids in kindergarten

Stormywen

New Member
My 5 year old son was exposed to drugs and alcohol prenatally. He has a diagnosis on the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Spectrum. He has no impulse control and doesn't seem to understand consequences very well. He's taking concerta and clonidine to try to help with behavior but I don't think I see any improvement.

Last year he was in a half day Special Education preschool classroom and did very well. He had some bad days but he was manageable. This year he's in kindergarten full days. His classroom has two teachers and only 18 students so the children get more teacher attention.

Most of his days this year have been bad. The school is doing a great job of working with him and trying to keep him in class. His behavior has been going downhill since the beginning of the year though. I've gotten to talk to the counselor, vice-principal and principal on a regular basis unfortunately. Yesterday my son punched a boy in the privates because the boy stuck his tongue out at him. My son was sent home for the afternoon. Today he kicked a boy in the face (don't know what his reason was) and gave him a bloody nose. He's having an in-school suspension for the rest of the day so he's sitting in the office.

Other than just sitting here and crying my only thought is to take him out of school completely because that's the only way I can protect these other children from getting hurt. I have no idea what else to do to help him.

Wendy
 

SRL

Active Member
Sorry this has been such a rough road.

the first thing I'd do is put a call into the prescribing doctor as some medications can actually increase aggression levels. Sometimes it's apparent right away but at other times the side effects increase gradually.

I see Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) is on the diagnosis list. Is he getting any help in that area such a sensory diet and classroom breaks with an aide? That can be a huge help in keeping frustration levels down with some kids.
 

Stormywen

New Member
He was on strattera and I think that has caused him to have more angry episodes. We just switched him to concerta this morning.

Sometimes his classroom brings an aide in for him to take him for a walk, etc. But that's only if he's already having problems. They don't do it to prevent him from having issues.

Wendy
 

SRL

Active Member
If he's having trouble you might want to reconvene the IEP and up the level of services. A classroom break with an aide in the am and pm can really help blow off some steam. The break can take a lot of forms: walking around, playground, Occupational Therapist (OT) room or Occupational Therapist (OT) strategies, snack or juice. They should be building preventative measures into his daily routine, if needed.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Hi there. I know about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Not an expert, but I'm an adoptive mom and know a lot of people with kids who have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) issues. Unfortunately, these kids, through NO FAULT of either YOU or their own, have organic brain damage--and can not learn from their mistakes. They need to be watched very carefully so they can be helped to make better decisions. If this were my child, I would want him in a very small class with an aide. He will likely need this type of supervision all of his life. I read a very interesting article on adults with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) (wish I'd kept the link). The adults were relieved to know why they kept getting into the same trouble over and over again and they needed high supervision even then. I would get this little guy into a very small classroom with teachers who understand fetal alcohol spectrum. Although medications can help certain symptoms, they can not reverse the alcohol damage, so the best help (from what mothers have told me) is intervention at school and somebody to watch the kids closely. Hope this helped. I don't have this experience first hand so I'm sort of paraphrasing what other moms have said to me about their Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)/Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) children. Welcome to the board :)
 

Josie

Active Member
I see that your son is gluten and dairy intolerant. My 2 children and I are all on the girlfriend/CF diet, too. I have found that the slightest trace of gluten or dairy can cause problems.

My older daughter used to be diagnosis'ed with ODD until she went on this diet. Without any other treatment or medications, she is now a pleasure to be around unless she cheats on her diet. Then she reverts back to her old ways, sometimes up to the point of violence.

We avoid any product that says it may contain traces of wheat or milk or manufactured in a place with wheat or milk. We do not eat Frito Lay products because on their website it says they may contain traces. We try not to eat at restaurants because even when they try to prepare something girlfriend, there are mistakes and we all pay with mood problems.

With his Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) diagnosis, your son has more going on than a diet problem but if you aren't already super strict about his diet, you might be able to see some improvement by watching what he eats even more.
 

Stormywen

New Member
The first month of school he was out of control and I couldn't figure out why. I thought maybe he's hungry and asked him what he had for lunch. He said "Chocolate cow milk". I had filled out all the paperwork that stated he had a dairy allergy and it got overlooked by the school. His teacher was so upset that she didn't see it since she's the one that goes through the lunch line with him. He had been eating normal dairy foods the entire month. After we got that fixed, his behavior was decent for two whole weeks until last week when the **** hit the fan and his behavior has gone downhill fast.
 
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