do any of your asd children have emotional beh probs

[joshanddanfans]

hi just wondering wether any of your asd children suffer with conduct disorders or emotional difficulties. my 6 year old has asd,adhd,sid,dyspraxia. second son 5 has many autistic behaviours like hand stimming,flapping,lining up, no eye contact etc. the pead says he is so complex she needs to investigate further. he shows sign of oppositional defiant disorder and hellers syndrome as he is in complete regression i.e lost all bowel control. they are more concerned with emotional state rather than his obvious asd symptoms. just wondered wether emotional behavioural difficultied is linked to asd. thanks, alex

[dooday24]

NOT 2 SURE ABOUT THIS BUT REECE IS VERY EMOTIONAL AND THEN CAN BECOME VERY AGGRESSIVE

[curra]

My son can be very aggressive, defiant and afraid of many things too. I don't know if this is common to all children with AS but it seems to be frequent. I think that it's important that the consultants deal with the symptons bearing in mind that your son is a child with AS. The approach is different. I think Tony Attwood wrote about this. If I find the link I'll post it later.

 

Curra

[Elouise]

Sam has ASD, ADHD and yep *thanks to a visit to CAHMS this week* anxiety disorder as well.....no wonder I was having toruble with him of late!

 

Sam gets VERY emotional, but its extremes of emotion rather than the naunces in between so he is terrified and shaking, happy and flappy or raging screaming and cross with opptional biting and furniture throwing.

 

He also sets fires, not from CD but from an over enquiring mind that does not have common sense.

 

His brother Nathan is just classed as extremely challenging to deal with and social workers only visit him in pairs.

 

Annie my youngest. is listed at school on her IEP and School Action Plus as having emotional and behavioural difficulties from being emotionally hypersensitive.

 

I think if there is a family history of anxiety based mental distress AND ASD its worth getting as much checked as you can so you know where to start to help your son.

[Flora]

William suffers from emotional behavioural difficulties, but very inwardly. He is rarely aggresive (although he did go for someone with a broom handle last week ) but he suffers greatly from inner turmoil and distress which makes him unable to engage in any activity or social interaction.

 

Lauren

[curra]

Try this link to Tony Attwood's home page:

 

http://www.tonyattwood.com/

 

He says :

Children and adults with Asperger?s syndrome may have levels of anxiety, sadness or anger that indicate a secondary mood disorder. There may also be problems expressing the degree of love and affection expected by others. Fortunately, we now have successful psychological treatment programs to help manage and express emotions.

 

The National Autistic Society also has information about AS and emotional problems:

 

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=298

 

 

Curra

[DaisyProudfoot]

Martin has aggression and anxiety problems which he is under therapy for

[trance]

i dont know that way round as all this asd is new to me but ADHD can have comorbid conditions like asd and aspergers,odd etc.

 

I thought that my son was odd but now I think that it is the un dx asd that causes him his problems(he is dx ADHD) and it is that that needs to be addressed.

x

[loulou]

Hi,

 

Kai (7) has ASD and ADHD and he has emotional and behavioural difficulties. He can be extremely violent and destructive. A few months ago he ripped the bannister out of the wall and i had plaster falling down the stairs . The peads have mentioned ODD, but he hasn't been formally assessed for that yet.

 

His emotional responses can either be a complete "blank" or utter rage/distress. For example yesterday he got completely hysterical because his friend was about to throw a stone in the river and Kai didn't want him to because he "loved it". He was screaming and mawling at the boy as if it was a kitten he was about to throw in the river. He's very unpredictable.

 

He also gets very upset because he thinks he is "evil". He talks alot about self-harm and suicide. This i find very hard to cope with.

 

Loulou x

[rainbow queen]

ive been told my son has behavioural probs but i think it all comes under the autistic spectrum really-hes got emotional issues but again -i belive its the autistic side -cause he dont understand emoitions very well ect.......

[Elanor]

Hi

 

My son has Asperger's - and life can be very difficult, unkind and confusing to him.

 

For years, he has responded with aggression, oddities of behaviour, inappropriate emotional responses, poor empathy, and sometimes extreme anxiety.

 

I firmly believe that most of these undesirable behaviours are a response to the difficulties that he finds in life - but are not caused by his Aspergers, and are not separate or co-morbid conditions.

 

As the years have gone by, and with massive input from the family, and some help from anxiety-relieving medication, these behaviours have generally reduced (although sometimes they come back with a vengeance!).

 

Elanor

[Canopus]

Is this a trick question? I thought EBD only applies to NT people.

[joshanddanfans]

Is this a trick question? I thought EBD only applies to NT people.

no its not a trick question my lad seems to have both and he certainly isn nt its called a complex range of difficulties and will have a multiple diagnosis like my other son.

 

ebd means oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder.

[jb1964]

I'm a bit confused over this too.

 

How are you defining emotional & behavioural problems?

 

My daughter has ASD and she has massive difficulties in expressing her emotion and understanding others - the same with her behaviour - she has total shutdowns, disengaging from conversations if she doesn't understand or gets frustrated with trying to understand and be understood. She gets extremely aggressive (self-harms and hurts others) and depressed, but I thought this was part and parcel of ASD - that's what we were told by the Consultant. That ASD encompasses a massive spectrum and difficulties and how they express their anxieties and frustrations will be different for each child.

 

Don't really understand the question.

Jb

[Canopus]

I attended a SEN residential school for kids with EBD. Some of the kids had AS or ASD and had the usual behavioural problems associated with these conditions including meltdowns. Other kids were NT and behaved very badly. In some cases their behaviour could possibly be attributed to a bad upbringing, but in other cases their behaviour was deliberate and wilful. The way I see things is that EBD is only applicable to NT people and not people with AS or ASD. It is theoretically possible to correct the behaviour of NT people and that was the primary aim of the school, but it isn't possible to correct the behaviour of people with AS or ASD.

 

I'm sure that in the past many kids with AS or ASD were misdiagnosed as having EBD and sent to institutions to correct their problems via the use of harsh discipline and a complicated system of unwritten rules that if broken resulted in severe punishments either by the staff or other kids.

[jannyk]

j is very violent and aggresive and can be scary harms himself and talks about wishing he was dead all the time . h doesnt realise the affect his actions have on people.he is desperate for a girlfriend and does talk to girls on msn but cannot handle being rejected he will talk for hours on the phone to girls he has never met and thinks he will be marrying them he says he is worried about being on his own he is 15 we tell him this is something he shouldnt be thinking about at the moment some girl rejected him the other night and hes only met her once he was crying for ages and trying to get ouy the house saying he wanted to get run over. i dont know what to do. i dont know if everything is to do with asd he seems to be changing again earlier tonight he exploded smashed the wardrobe door and ran out the house screeming down the phone he wanted to die i ended up calling the police with help from my nt daugter they found him and know hes at her house she just moved into a student house with a friend. we just cant cope with him i did speak to him and he says he doesnt want to come home i think i will have to ring the social services tomorrow .sorry this is long and a bit off track but i really need to talk to someone. j said why did you ring the police he doesnt understand what he puts us throughevery time he goes out the door.

[joshanddanfans]

there are many symptoms of emotional bevavioural difficulties and apparently related to adhd.

1. withdrawn or iscolated

2.depressive social attitudes

3.obbsessional preoccupation with eating habits

4. school phobia

5.unco-operative behaviour

6.frustration.

7.low self esteem

8.anger

9.threat or actual violence

10.hyperactivity/low concentration

11.disruptive antisocial behaviour

12.persistant disobedianve

13.defiant behaviour

14. cruelty to animals

15.refuses to follow rules

16.no remorse when found out

17unable to control emotions

18.little regard for feelings of others

19. bully and aggresssive towards others.aggressive outbursts.

20. deliberatly annoys others

21. spiteful and vindictive.

22. deliberatly destroys property.

 

i can see how many of you think well isn this asd. i think alot of it is, my dx asd boy doesnt blame others for behaviour, he doesnt show defiance, and loves animals. some of the behaviours my un dx has is alot more extreme than asd behaviour.things like preoccupation with blood and death saying he wished he was dead. he is only 5. dx son can be cooperative and loves school. un dx kicks and screams and has to be carried in every day. dx always says sorry, un dx has never said sorry, beyond him.

 

emotional behavioural difficulties are apparently not related to childs personality(part of who they are) like asd is, it is caused by, phychological trauma like death in family or newbaby. and the behaviour is much more extreme.

[Canopus]

I think it is safe to say that anything written about EBD before 1995ish when AS became an officially recognised condition is out of date. This is because they describe the symptoms but not the cause in the case of somebody with AS. It is possible for two people to show identical symptoms but if one is NT and the other is AS then the causes behind the symptoms are totally different.

 

I myself was incorrectly diagnosed with EBD because my EP identified that I fitted many of the conditions you have listed. There were people at my SEN residential school who also fitted many of the conditions but they were definitely NT.

[jb1964]

I have to say I'm still confused over this. My daughter (aged 13 - diagnosed ASD) and of the list you have - the following applies to my daughter - but I understood all these were to do with her ASD.

 

1. withdrawn or iscolated

2.depressive social attitudes

3.obbsessional preoccupation with eating habits

4. school phobia

5.unco-operative behaviour

6.frustration.

7.low self esteem

8.anger

9.threat or actual violence

10.hyperactivity/low concentration

11.disruptive antisocial behaviour

12.persistant disobedianve

13.defiant behaviour

17unable to control emotions

18.little regard for feelings of others

 

i can see how many of you think well isn this asd. i think alot of it is, my dx asd boy doesnt blame others for behaviour, he doesnt show defiance, and loves animals. some of the behaviours my un dx has is alot more extreme than asd behaviour.things like preoccupation with blood and death saying he wished he was dead. he is only 5. dx son can be cooperative and loves school. un dx kicks and screams and has to be carried in every day. dx always says sorry, un dx has never said sorry, beyond him.

 

My daughter is a complete mix of this noted above - she loves animals, has a pre-occupation with blood (terrified of) and death - and also screams that she wishes she was dead, she's a waste of skin and will I kill her to end her sad life, she can be co-operative (if she totally understands what is expected of her - which isn't very often), she has never 'loved' school and during primary was more often carried kicking and screaming or at the easiest just crying. My daughter will only say sorry if she understands what she's done is wrong (which again isn't very often). Her behaviour is more often than not 'extreme' to say the least - but again I was told this was all to do with her AS.

 

In contrast my NT 3yr old - shows defiance, is cruel to our dog, will deliberately hit and scream at others, always says sorry, gets extremely upset if someone else is sad or hurt, doesn't love or hate nursery, is a faddy eater, hyperactive, deliberately annoys others, disruptive, unco-operative and frustrated - in fact she's probably a mix of everything you write - which I think is pretty normal for a 3yr old..........

 

Confused.

Jb

Edited July 12, 2006 by jb1964

[oxgirl]

hi just wondering wether any of your asd children suffer with conduct disorders or emotional difficulties. my 6 year old has asd,adhd,sid,dyspraxia. second son 5 has many autistic behaviours like hand stimming,flapping,lining up, no eye contact etc. the pead says he is so complex she needs to investigate further. he shows sign of oppositional defiant disorder and hellers syndrome as he is in complete regression i.e lost all bowel control. they are more concerned with emotional state rather than his obvious asd symptoms. just wondered wether emotional behavioural difficultied is linked to asd. thanks, alex

 

When my lad (12/AS) was at primary school, even though he had a dx of Asperger's, the wording on his statement was that in view of his 'emotional and behavioural difficulties', etc. etc. The school considered that his disruptive behaviour and all the rest was due to EBD despite the AS dx, if you see what I mean. Whereas I felt the EBD were BECAUSE of his AS and his inability to cope in the school environment. I'm not sure if they're separate or part and parcel of the same thing!

 

~ Mel ~