Behavior Help

thefuturemrskudla

DS, who turns 5 in 2 mos., will sometimes will push, slap or hit (like squeezing an arm) other children for no apparent reason. For example, at preschool last week he was playing with a friend and suddenly just started squeezing his arm. His teacher gave him a mark (if they get 3 they lose some playtime) and he started crying and got really upset.
When I asked his later why he squeezed his friend's arm, he didn't really answer except to say, "I was mean."
I am so upset by this, because I don't know why he does it or how to stop it. It seems random. He has pushed other kids (strangers) sometimes at playgrounds, too. But, he also can tell a child to stop doing something rather than hit back.

Princess_Lily

DS does this, too. I think its a combination of sensory seeking behavior and lack of impulse control.

While we go over the rules of the day, which include "no hitting," he still goes to school seeking and sometimes tackle plays his friends.

Maybe football or wrestling is in their future.

thefuturemrskudla

There is definitely an impulse component coupled with sometimes lagging social skills. We have worked with a behavior therapist but the problem has been catching the behavior.

MirandaHobbes

My son is an arm squeezer. I spent a day chaperoning a field trip with his ASD class and his teacher spent the entire day being squeezed and hung on by all the kids. I don't know how she deals, I would go bananas. For the lower-functioning kids she basically just lets them because it is calming to them. DS will squeeze my arm or randomly throw him self on me as a sensory/impulse control issue (usually bored or anxious) and I swiftly and firmly tell him "hands to yourself". As he has matured he understands this is inappropriate behavior, and will stop if prompted. Sometimes he just can't help himself. I'm happy that at least he can verbalize it though. We spent a day at the state fair this weekend. He's too old for a stroller (6, first grade) so he had to walk. He was completely shot. He does this thing where he holds our hands but will gradually keep leaning in on us until we're basically dragging him. I was getting pretty irritated with him and constantly swatting him away from me when he just said "I'm done- my timer is about to go off and I don't want to be here anymore." I was like- duh, he's at his limit, get him outta here! He made it 4 hours which is a record.