overstimulated from x-mas.

[ready2run]

anyone elses difficult child spend all day yesterday being overstimulated from christmas? difficult child smashed up a lot of his gifts yesterday because he was too excited and meltdowny. i spent 2 1/2 hours building his new train set and it took him about 35 seconds to anihilate it. he also smashed his lamp and tore apart anything he could, tried to smash his brothers race car set because his does't have remote control (his is wood and sturdy so even though he smashed it i can fix it someday) he wrecked his new markers and 3 of the 4 flashlights i got him. he calmed down after i left with the other kids to get away from him but really, it's too bad he destroyed half his christmas stuff the first day. he did this last year too. i think this might be our new tradition. we all give each other gifts and then difficult child sees how many he can wreck in one day. ugh. next year i am only getting him clothes. i wish that we could do christmas without him so maybe he wouldn't get so wound up. he seems to be okay today. he picked up all the peices of the broken train set this morning and said it was okay, he didn't need any more toys anyways. he is upset a bit about the lamp but i told him too bad, i'm not buying another one. that is the third lamp he broke, he asks for one every birthday/christmas because he has no lightfixture in his room and it never lasts more than a day or two. maybe next year i will try again on the lamp. i wish he would just leave them alone. now he is back to his little lcd night light.

 

[BusynMember]

Hi there. I'm sorry you had such a difficult day after Christmas. Is this your little stepson? by the way, you ARE supermom. You have very differently wired children and your job is harder than most, yet you are hanging in there without losing your mind That's huge!

My autistic son never liked toys and did not play with them appropriately. He either never touched them or he liked to take them apart. His imaginative play skills were severely compromised, which is a common Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) trait. We used to buy him sturdy climbing toys (which he DID use), DVD's with music he liked, and videogames. It was a waste of time to, say, buy him a train set because, aside from taking it apart, he had no interest in it. Same with transformers or anything where he had to use his own imagination...he is very literal and concrete and does not HAVE much of an imagination, unless he is mimicking what he sees on television. When he was very young, he also destroyed things, although I truly don't think he did it to be mean to us or because he wasn't grateful. I don't know your son, but my son seemed to really enjoy taking things apart or smashing things to hear the various sounds they'd make. Until he outgrew this, his room was very basic...his bed and stuffed animals.

Please be assured that there is a chance he will outgrow the destruction of his things. If he gets good interventions, he can greatly improve his behavior. Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kids grow up later than other kids and are wired differently (I am sure you know this). But they can also REALLY improve a lot. But back to Christmas: next year maybe buy him things he can not destroy or that are very sensory...nerf balls, colorful movies, soft blankets, videogames and of course clothes!

Hugs and hope you feel better today.

 

[TeDo]

R2r, I'm sorry this is what he does and you have to suffer through. Does he play with the ones he doesn't destroy? Does he enjoy the unwrapping and opening? What was his "reasoning" when you processed it with him? If he does similar to MWM's son, clothes & practical things might be the solution. If he does play with toys appropriately and this is ONLY caused by overstimulation, maybe you could have him open them when everyone opens gifts and then put them away for a couple days until the "crisis time" has passed. You could even give them back to him one at a time so it's not so overwhelming. Best of both worlds?

 

[buddy]

Awww, sorry. It does sound like things are too much for him.... And with all of those diagnosis but if Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) especially, the consequences of such actions are not in his mind at the time so..... just not able to cope well.

Q didn't fall apart yesterday except his usual few moments here and there when he decides something and if I am not on board at that minute he gets a little nuts, then gets back to our schedule.

But today??? He slept until 10:45. I had to go to his door and listen because I am still kind of freaked out by my girlfriend's daughter dying during the night. I kept hoping he had not had a seizure or something... but he was fine, just sleepy. It all caught up to him.

 

[Steely]

Matt used to do the same thing....this year he still kind of did in his own 21- difficult child - ish sort of way. Sometimes gifts and the emotionality of it all is just too much for these kids.
Many hugs.

 

[ready2run]

i am normally pretty careful about what i get him because he doesn't play appropriately. the train track is designed to put up with some abuse and i thought he would like the repetitiveness of it going round and round. if i get him anything breakable next year i will put it away for a few days, and thanks for that idea. we had company last night so he was really hyper again but not distructive or anything just LOUD. thankfully my brother and his wife were able to deal with it well enough. i think they were 'observing' how i deal with the kids because they are expecting their first child in a couple months. i had to explain to them that most kids are not like this and hopefully theirs won't be but warned them it is genetic and 2 of mine are on the spectrum. he said his wife 'needs practice'...lol. it was a nice visit anyway, they stayed for a good three or four hours where most people can not stand to stay that long. he could not beleive that i put up with all this everyday and said he would just get a bigger house and hire a full time nanny to watch them.

 

[buddy]

Dont burst his bubble.... if I could have ever found a nanny I would be working in my chosen profession right now. There just are not very many centers or nannys or babysitters for that matter who can handle a difficult child!

 

[lovelyboy]

R2r......I'm glad you mention the loudness.....isn't it amazing that this is just a 'different' type of loudness!!!!!
It's almost an out of control, anoying type of behaviour!!!?This is usually when my hubby sends me a 'red flag' sms!!!
Glad you guys had a nice time....well done!
Regarding the nanny: LOL......my son would still follow me to get attention!!!!!