If you have children with behavior and/or sensory issues? (older vs younger)
smiling76
member
I'm really starting to get sad and upset with things in my house. DS1 has major speech apraxia--will have many years of trying to get through that--but also seems to have some other developmental issues. The therapists through his special ed pre school program @ the elementary school indicate sensory processing issues (craves the input)--and he is in OT for that. BUT he also is just very impulsive in general--no matter how much "therapy" I'm giving him.
We have all the toys and therapeutic things at home--and use them--YET he is still exceptionally physical with DS2, who is just shy of 2. And now I'm seeing that DS2 is starting to get very physical (and I know it's from him mirroring behavior of his "big bro"--who he idolizes).
Just this weekend DS1 BIT DS2 on the FACE--twice. I literally turned my back for 30 seconds to grab something just steps away and DS2 started crying---and had a HUGE bit mark on his face. Two different times over the weekend--different side of face. He was also bit in the back. And now DS1 is really in to squeezing/pinching people's cheeks! Hard. We go through the gentle touch thing --- all the stuff we've learned as SN moms--but now it seems as if he's almost "proud" of himself when he does it. He's not a mean natured child in general so I'm not sure what is up with this!
I literally "bit" him back yesterday--not super hard--but so he could feel what it feels like--and he laughed!!!! He spins himself out of control. I am really getting upset with this.
Any suggestions??? Especially if your OLDEST is the one with behavior issues? How do you protect and teach your younger ones?
My new "mom" blog: http://realityofamommy.blogspot.com
[img]
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
Notes:
Re: If you have children with behavior and/or sensory issues? (older vs younger)
Just for info purposes, the TMJ joint in your mouth has an incredible amount of senses and nerves and a lot of sensory kids have oral issue. It could bu not just a behavioral thing but a sensory thing that he is craving the oral stimulation of biting. Not a good thing of course, but try some chewy tubes, order them on line, or a vibrating toothbrush. Give these to him and let him use them as much as he wants and see if that helps at all. It's worth a try.
My kids are pretty close in age to yours, and my older DD has sensory issues, too. When she gets really frustrated she does sometimes crave that joint compression you get from biting something although she usually will bite a stuffed animal or her shirt, sometimes she just clenches her teeth. She also stamps her feet a lot. I try to help her come up with words to describe how she's feeling and encourage my younger one to give DD1 "space" when she's upset.
My situation's a little different because DD1 is tactile avoiding, so she's not aggressive with other people, but I teach them both to give each other space when they're upset.
If you can figure out what's triggering the biting/pinching, I'd try to separate them before it escalates. I wouldn't bite him back to show that biting hurts (I'm sure you just reacted out of frustration). I think that could really end up backfiring.
Good luck--I understand how hard it can be dealing with sensory issues sometimes