Special Needs Child with Agression Problems.

Starting a new school can be very hard for some children. I am a first grade teacher and here are a few things you could try :) First off talk to the teacher, the two of you need to be a team share things that work at home so she can be consistent at school, the two of you can come up with a plan of how things can be handled. Second would be to talk to the social worker or counselor in the school, at my school they do friendship groups where certain students are pulled out once a week to work on social skills etc. I have seen this be very helpful! Third give it some time, by no means make the behaviors okay but do realize starting a new school can be hard but let them know they aren't being safe and they may not act like that at home or school. A make sure you have great communication with the principal and resource teachers, you all need to be on the same page. Good Luck, it will get better let me know if I can help :)

I'm pretty sure that PDD and other problems on the Autism spectrum can come with agression. Most of the time new situations can over stimulate those children. Think of a child who has ADD/ADHD their excitement feeds off of the uneasiness, excitement or aggression of other children. Sometimes this can be a very short phase and he'll adjust.

If it continues through next week then your going to need to re-evaluate his educational needs.

My son has a a very moderate spectrum of Aspergers. He's more ADHD than anything else. We changed his punishment/reward system, his diet and his supplement regimine before we finally agreed to medication. This is after the principal suggested we keep him home for the school year or only bring him half days.

We also agreed to keep him at a separate table in the classroom and often at another table at lunch until he earned the priviledge to be with the other kids.

I hope your boy has an easier time settling in.

I think it is important to remember that he has PDD. The behaviors you are describing are typical for children with PDD. Pervasive developmental disorder is not outgrown. That is why it is called "pervasive". Work with the IEP team. Talk to the school psychologist. Call the occupational therapist (your school has one, they just don't tell you about it very often). The OT is likely to be your best resource. Ask her to observe your son in the classroom and develop strategies for you and his teacher to use to help him. It sounds like he is getting overstimulated and having difficulties with sensory integration. Additionally, I highly recommend working with a family therapist who has experience with children with developmental disorders who can help you with a behavioral intervention plan to help your son.

Wow... I cant imagine a school teacher allowing things like that to go on. I think I would be tempted to give it a few days...see if it sounds like things settle down...if they dont I would go and have a one on one meeting with the teacher...if that doesnt do the trick....go up the ladder to the Principal. Also...could it be that your son isnt happy in the new school and is maybe exaggerating in the hope that he can return to his old school???
Good lucK!!!

I had some of the same issues with my son. What worked was hard but most things are. First, cosistency, talking to him everyday reiterating that the behavior is NOT exceptable. Spend some time in the class observing what is going on to make him react that way. Tell him that when he feels really angry, like he can't control his response to go into the bathroom and splash some water on his face and tell himself no big deal.Or he can lay his head down and take a deep breath. And in your observation make sure that he is not doing it to get extra attention from the teacher. A lot of kids especially w/PDD feel that neg attention is better than no attention. Lastly, when he comes home and has gotten a red card, or in trouble in school that he has a consequence and when he's good he gets rewarded.
HTH's
C.

I have worked with children like yours and I would suggest taking every toy or thing of interest away from him and make him earn every thing back. (Charts are also a useful tool...so many smiley faces and you earn...) I would also take the toys he has earned away if there is bad behavior. I would also go as far as making him earn t.v., video game, etc time as well. Hope this helps? Every child is different!

A., my son has some of the same problems and I guess I'm what you would call a difficult parent... I will NOT allow the school to call all the shots especially since after 10 years of him being on an IEP they still DO NOT follow it. Has he been checked for seizure activity? Complex Partial Seizure Disorders can cause anger/aggressive outbursts. I know that you are frustrated but you have to be his advocate. If the school system isn't communicating with you about his behavior ask for a WRITTEN report on a daily/weekly basis from EACH teacher and have that PUT in his IEP. YOU can't effectively control/discipline/work with him if you don't have information as to what is going on in his world when he's at school.. Good Luck, G.