Jun 09
7
Autism Biting
Autism and the stress on the marriage?
My husband and I have struggled emotionally cope with the gravity of 3 year old son autism since his diagnosis of our last year. This is a child who does not know his own name, can not speak, the answer or recognizing any question, screaming in public, bites him when frustrated, and smear feces all over himself and his room on a regular basis. We drove to the specialists, early childhood intervention, speech, and ABA in our house every day. We tried GF / CF diet, which makes him incredibly sick and had to be discontinued after a month. I do not like or agree with the ABA, it seems as "dog training", but my husband is convinced that we are trying everything we can. Nothing helped. At the end of my rope here, please help.
My brother is autistic and I worked in group homes for years. Although I can not understand your grief, I understand perfectly your challenge. Firstly, I would not dismiss Applied Behavioral Analysis too fast. There are no guarantees, but I have seen it work quite well with some children. I understand the dog training "analogy, but if it helps you to manage some of his behavior, can not the ends justify the means? It obviously certain needs, and may not meet some standard means that other children respond. Secondly, it is encouraging to see that you tried to intervene as soon as possible. Most previous research shows that can intervene, the better. However, progress often take long time. Do not be in therapy if it does not work in the day, week, month, or whatever the schedule is. Keep continuous and try to note the small gains. Third, remember to take care of you and your husband during this time. Try to coordinate with local agencies that specialize in this area, and get some kind of relief for yourself. There are many constraints both of you live now. As difficult as it may be, you need to make time for you both and enjoy the company of others. I wish you good luck.
My No Fighting Social Story for Autistic children [Ver. 2]
