It does sound like he's over- stimulated by the environment. My son has the same issues with crowded noisy places. If we're with him then we can be on the look out for the agitation that he shows before he loses it and we can head off any problems and we generally steer clear of those types of situations. Oddly he's never had a problem with this at school.
It's a little harder when it's at school though. Maybe if you had a conference with his teacher, outlined a couple situations where your son would be likely to, or typically, has trouble in this regard and then ask her to help you come up with a plan as to how to deal with it.
It just seems to me that it should have been obvious in that situation that your son was not understanding, and it would have been a simple matter to pull him aside (maybe just inside the door to a classroom where the teacher could still see the rest of the kids, but the sound would at least be a little better) and explain it in a way that he'd understand.
jaderock,
Thanks for your comments. What I consider common-sense to helping kids cope doesn't come as easily for others. I agree, she saw the frustration and knew what was coming, knew about his Auditory issues and still she and the other teacher rattled on and tried to talk over all of the background noises and chaotic activity with so many kids in the hall.
Next week, the coach plans to come early and take him individually inside for a water/toilet break before the chaos begins. So hopefully, that will solve the frustration of the Wed. afternoon crazy hallway scene.
Val
Justin, 6, is in a private school for ADHD children. Yesterday, he received an award for kindness. Believe me, I was thrilled.
Today - after they came in from PE, he was the line leader and was told to go to the water fountain, get a drink and go to the back of the line. The way it works is that after all the kids were done, he'd move back into position of line leader.
He can't see in his mind how a moving line or similar ways of taking turns work. The OTs have a name for it, but in English, he just can't visualize his body in space.
There was a lot of noise in the background and he only heard - Go to the back of the line. He became very frustrated as two teachers tried to explain to him how it would work amongst the noise of a lot of kids in the hall.
He does have Auditory Processing issues as part of his Sensory Processing Disorder, and the Coach does have a soft voice.
When he was unable to calm himself, he was told to go into the empty classroom, where he began turning over all the tables. He did settle down and righted all the tables, only to have another acting out behavior later in the day in which he removed another kid's backpack from the hook. No one could get out of him what caused the second episode.
I was called while I was in car line and told to come get him now. I heard this story from the Assistant Principal, the Principal and the teacher.
Each version got worse and he sat through all of this, crying once. He had all of us tell him the same things over and over. Apparently, the AP had to hold him there for a minute in the classroom trying to stop him while he was out-of-control. He also said something threatening to the Principal. This discussion lasted about an hour and they are asking me what to do. I did have him apologize to the two who were in the room at the time.
Problem is, he takes good care of his toys, and doesn't get destructive around us. Maybe before meds, more than a year ago, and even then, it was not frequent. This is just rare for us to see. The Principal even asked him if he gets mad at home and he told her No, not really.
He doesn't seem to lose it like this except in group situations.
I told them I would count from 5 to 1 as a warning he needs to stop the frustration or other behavior when I first saw it building and by 1, he always stops.
It kills me because he doesn't get this out-of-control around us. I have no way to practice peer group situations with him. He does form close bonds with other kids, pets and adults. But they are playing outside some and inside, he plays well with his brother and a neighbor.
Asperger's has been ruled out by at least 4 professionals. The medicine does create anxiety, but again, at home, we don't usually notice anxiety, except when he's trying to beat a game on the computer. I said maybe he had Nonverbal Learning and they said no because he asks them What did you say - when he misses something.
It is the strangest phenominum (sp?) I've ever seen. Does anyone else's kid seem to do well at home and/or with family and friends the majority of the time and able to better self-calm and then in school, just lose control on a weekly basis?
He averages very few time outs with us/maybe one or two a week - usually after meds have worn off and he's tired.
He also does well on the playground the majority of the time.
I'm beginning to wonder if it has a lot more to do with his sensitivity to noise and Auditory Processing issue than anything else. The teacher said every time he has acted out, it has been in a larger group. His class consists of 7 kids most of the time.
Outside noise has a place to travel, but indoors, it has no place to go. He did adjust to a very noisy environment in public school last year, but he was on too high a dose and was picking fingers til they bled. Under our Primary Care Doc's advice, we dropped to the lowest dose.
CONFUSED and ready to homeschool.
Thanks!
Val
Thanks Aaron's mom.
I feel like he's one in a million - in more ways than one - ha ha. But his behavior is good just about everywhere just about all the time with the exception of school.
I just say he can't do groups. People act like they know what I mean, until they see it with their own eyes and then they become frustrated.
Our friends and family can't believe the stuff he does at school. He just isn't the same kid. Luckily, the staff is working overtime - literally - to try to accommodate all of his needs. They explore all of my suggestions and I'm just shocked every time they tell me he was out-of-control about something since I don't see destructiveness or aggressiveness at home anywhere near like what happens at school.
Usually, it's more like when he's off meds, rebounding and trying to hug or love on the dogs too much. Or he sits on his brother's leg, instead of asking him to move over and make room. Even then, he doesn't really hurt the dogs or his brother, but I know it's very annoying at the time.
Val
My son is worse at school than at home. I have him a behavioral learning class and the small numbers in the class help and they work with him every day on this. Regular class he just lost it every day. I think he just gets overwhelmed from all the extra stimuli going on and looses it. I can only think that if you tell them what you do at home may help. Mine is not perfect at home, but he doesn't go to the level he does at school.