Head Banging Question

[Calgon_Take_Me_Away]

I didn't think about it before today and maybe because I'm really watching him and his behaviors since he's been shadowing me, but when a person asks about head banging, I've always answered no ~ when I think head banging, I think of it as an all the time thing and a child walking around with- bumps.

But today when he put his nose on the wall for innappropriate behavior, he banged his head on the wall several times. Thinking back, he's done this before, but it wasn't what I would have called head banging in the sense I assumed.

Is this something I should be answering yes to?

Someone posted a childbrain test link so I took it ~ it came out with- a score of 144 Moderate Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) for difficult child. I've seen Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) symptoms for several years and the therapist agrees, but through his testing at the university they said no.

 

[Andy]

I would ask the office asking that question for criteria. Ask does it mean a few knocks when frustrated or only constant banging during a rage?

My guess would be that "yes" it is considered head banging but don't go by my lack of education guesses.

 

[BusynMember]

My son scored a little less than yours and he is Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). It is very hard to get the diagnosis, even if it's OBVIOUS. I don't know why. It took my son until 11 to get the diagnosis. But we had been forcing Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) interventions since before he was two. I mean...he spoke late, he echoed, he pottied late, he had an early interest in letters, numbers, and memorization. He did was so frustrated he'd have horrible tantrums. He did have some stims (not a lot). He seemed to socialize all right with other kids, although he often played by himself, and he didn't line up his toys...But we had a gut feeling, we KNEW. And the older he got the MORE obvious it was...even though we suffered through wrong diagnoses of ADHD/ODD/bipolar and a slew of medications that did not address his issues. He had none of them. He has Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified and, in his case, he is very high functioning AND medication free now! And better off for being medication free. Everyone kept trying to fix it with just medications--if we hadn't insisted on interventions he wouldn't have gotten any, would have just been constantly medicated. Sad that some professionals just do not understand high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) as opposed to ADHD and/or bipolar.
You may want to take him to a neuropsychologist. The first neuropsychologist we saw said "autistic tendencies" , but mostly bipolar. Baloney. But my son was only six at the time, atypically autistic, and the testing wasn't really that thorough--only four hours long, which in my opinion is not long enough.
Truly, only a thorough second neuropsychologist evaluation helped us. This guy tested our son for TEN hours and would not tell us a diagnosis until the end. I believe a neuropsychologist exam will get you an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) diagnosis if he has it (and he scored quite high on the test).

 

[Marguerite]

We've had the equivalent of a university clinic assess our kids, as well as various highly qualified and experienced professionals. The clinic was VERY pessimistic about difficult child 3, not quite telling us he was retarded and would never learn. But with difficult child 1 they got it badly wrong because he was able to unwittingly 'defeat' the testing. When I discovered this and rang them to tell them, they didn't seem interested.

You should always keep an open mind.

We've come to the conclusion that unless you need an accurate label in order to get support, disability payments or similar, then any label is likely to be arbitrary and fairly pointless. What IS important is having something to help you understand and cope with what you're dealing with. If a label helps - great. But if you haven't got a label and you need help - you can still get help, or work out what works for you, without needing a label.

"Head banging" can be a kid who is so constant and compulsive that he has to wear a helmet. or it can be a kid who only does it when he's upset, for a few seconds. It's a matter of degree, as well as why/how he does it.

Marg

 

[Sara PA]

My son did some headbanging when he was crawling. I was concerned and mentioned it to others who occassionally provided care for him. No one else saw it. One day I noticed that he always looked at me after doing it. Then came the day he banged his head on the uncarpeted floor, looked surprised, crawled to a carpeted spot and did it again. I don't remember how I reacted the other times he did it but that time I laughed. The headbanging stopped shortly after that, maybe because he started walking. Or maybe because I changed my response.

Headbanging can be a symptom or it can be something else.

 

[TerryJ2]

My 11-yr-old difficult child does that on occasion when he's bored.
I don't know what it means.

Wish I could help more.

Do you have the childbrain test link? Sounds interesting.

 

[BusynMember]

Here's the chldbrain link:
http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html

Headbanging is common in autistic kids when they are frustrated or bored (it can be a stimulant). My son did it to put himself to sleep, but doesn't do it anymore. If you, as Mom, feel he is on the spectrum and with such a high score on the Childbrain Test, I would delve into it. The test is pretty good if you tell the truth in your answers.

 

[TerryJ2]

One thing that popped up on the test was "turning head away when spoken to" or something similar.
My son went through a phase of that and we laughed because we thought he had learned it from the dogs.
Funny how you look back on things...

 

[Calgon_Take_Me_Away]

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

Here's another link I've used before ~ funny thing was, during one therapy appointment, therapist told me of this test .... I had already found it and used it. I don't remember the exact score, but it was in the mid to high 30's I think.

 

[TerryJ2]

Calgon, I have tried to give that test to my difficult child but he doesn't have enough self awareness. The only thing he can answer is whether he'd rather watch wrestling on TV or read a school book! LOL.
Maybe in another yr ...

So it looks like your son uses the head banging as a self-soothing device when he's upset. Just my take on it.

 

[Calgon_Take_Me_Away]

My son doesn't have self awareness either .... I took the test based on what I see.

The things you pick up on when really watching your child .... this afternoon while sorting through Legos, he was moving his tongue in and out of his mouth.

I've read very little about stimming, I've seen YouTube videos in which the posters say their child is stimming, but I'm still not exactly sure what they mean by stimming.

 

[BusynMember]

Acting "out of it" is very common with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Yet at other times, the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids seem aware. It's very confusing.

 

[Marguerite]

Terry, you said,"I have tried to give that test to my difficult child but he doesn't have enough self awareness. The only thing he can answer is whether he'd rather watch wrestling on TV or read a school book!"

The test is supposed to be something YOU take, answering questions about your child based on your own observations. Although easy child 2/difficult child 2 has done the test herself, she didn't do this until a year ago or so, when she was well and truly an adult (chronologically, anyway).

And on the topic of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kids acting "out of it" - be aware that it is possible he is not as out of it as he seems. We've had people tell us, "I explained about it to difficult child 1 but he seemed to be in another world, I don't think any of it sank in," only to find later he can recall the conversation verbatim.
But at other times when we've made eye contact, got his attention properly, ensured no other distractions etc, he has complained later, "You never told me about..."

I've found putting things in writing has worked best for us.

Marg

 

[TerryJ2]

That sounds familiar, Marg!