biting self injury????bite marks all up and down h

[TexasTornado]

My difficult child has started to do this. This is the first time he has ever bitten himself up like this. He came home from school with bite marks on his wrists and arm. The school called and told me it had been a rough day-which I had been expecting-he hadnt slept well and was VERY grumpy. Im guessing he had just a very frustrated day???
The school said he also threw away his lunch-not eating anything but milk. Was running away outside-climbing trees, not coming down, etc
He is taking Resperdal-abt 2 months now, and adderall-abt 8 months. The resperdal was doing wonderful-now it seams we are back to where we started. School says it is relapse from Spring Break...Im not sure what it is...but its worrying....
But this biting concerns me and I dont know if I tell the doctor -is it taht serious etc. He doesnt self harm-smacks head sometimes, and can get on a scab picking frenzy etc-but nothing like this. What do you all think abt this-is this normal behavior when aggitated, or is it something else??
Luvz,
Kathy

 

[timer lady]

You probably ought to inform your psychiatrist of this self harming incident. I'd also start keeping a log of any & all self harming behaviors. It may be that difficult child needs a medication tweak - is he going through a growth spurt?

:flower:

 

[BusynMember]

It's very common with kids on the spectrum. My son used to bang his head, bite us and himself.I'm not sure how to stop it. Mine stopped on his own. I'm not sure a psychiatrist can do much. I'd consult an autism specialist. I know some kids in our autism group have to wear helmets. There are certain medications too, I think. My son outgrew these horrible, scary behaviors. Does he have an expressive language problem? My son would get very frustrated when nobody understood him, and stopped biting himself when he started speaking well. We also had him in a smaller classroom at school so he wouldn't be overwhelmed. My son is also Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified.

 

[Liahona]

Sorry he has developed something new.

 

[Alisonlg]

:frown: New developments are never fun. ::::

 

[busywend]

Ditto TimerLady.

 

[rejectedmom]

My easy child 2 is most likely and undiagnosed aspie. He had language difficulties when he was younger and would get frustrated and pull his own hair or bite himself. i would always intervene and tell him not to hurt my son. He complied and stopped when given this cue. He is very high functioning and eventually outgrew it as his language skills improved. -RM

 

[TexasTornado]

Thanks Everyone,
He is in a self contained classroom-but gets to go out to mainstream depending on his functioning level-which changes day to day etc. He is pretty high functioning as far as language, but wont-repeat wont express feelings AT ALL-so that could be it-as I know he had a frustrating day....he was doing soooo well too, which makes me think he might need a tweek on his medications too....
He is in a behavior self contained classroom-they dont feel hes severe enough to go into the Autism classroom-it has downs kids and MR kids etc. But I wonder if its because of his behaviors-would they scare the kids in there?
But I dont think the aides in this classroom see him as anything other than a behavior problem-so they try to work with him with their own typical system(and we all know that doesnt work) but try telling them that. So he spent alot of the day in the timeout room-which he likes?
They have changed their normal system though-as it is supposed to be a reward for behavior to go mainstreamed and he hates it in there-hed prefer to go into the self contained classroom. So they have swapped it-and he can earn recesses in the self contained classroom etc, and he is mainstreamed pretty much all day with an aide not depending on his level like it is with the other kids in the program.
I guess I just don't understand why the cause hasnt been figured out yet for the behaviors. They say it is task avoidance and then they do the timeout, but i don't think its getting to the problem-as I don't know if they talk to him abt it etc-if they try and figure out the why's and its frustrating as he doesnt display this level of aggression at home-sometimes, but not like this.
I keep wondering if that other classroom would be better and I dont understand why it wasnt offered to us? I know other parents with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kids in there????I just think they would understand the behavior better-right?
Anyway...Ill be calling the doctor to talk abt it.....Thanks for the advice everyone.
Luvz,
Kathy

 

[Steely]

My son has done this off and on since he was 3. It is certainly not normal, but it has also not developed into anything severe. He is 16 now, and has not taken up cutting or burning, but in extreme times of stress he still bites his arms. I know it is time to call the pdr, and look at medication changes when I notice the marks on his arms.

 

[DDD]

I am not experienced with self injury but I wonder if the Adderal
could have triggered the aggression. Both my boys became quite
aggressive when put on Adderal and it was solely medication induced. Once they were changed to Concerta their normal personalities (minus the extreme hyperness, thank heavens) returned.

I hope you're able to find the right answers. DDD

 

[nlg319]

Could it be a sensory thing? My difficult child#3 has sensory issues and bangs his head with his fist. It doesn't appear to hurt him but it provides something?? I'm not sure!