My DS is 3 yrs old, has SPD diagnosis and speech delay, is also at risk for ADHD. Is in early preschool thru school district, just started 3 weeks ago. He is so sweet and smart and teacher is very openly discussing with me, via email, about him and what he is doing. His class is mixed with typically developing and kids with various special needs. He is getting speech therapy once a week. Have seen big improvement in his speech lately. Problem lies behavior. I had noticed about 2 weeks before starting school, he was becoming more "aggitated". Specifically when being told no or when he wasn't being "in control" of something. For example, he wants to be the one to shut a door, or turn on a light, or whatever. He went thru a few weeks of being very difficult with this and this is still there but I don't see it as severe. I was worried about OCD kind of things and when to worry. His preschool teacher emailed me yesterday and said she has a smart board in her class and she is seeing him being overly interested in it. I warned her that he loves anything with a button, switch, light, sound, movement. She said this week when she has told him no, he will lay on floor kicking and screaming. He does this with daycare provider too, and at home. He doesn't like to be told no, so we try to avoid that and tell him what we want him to do instead, if at all possible. I don't quite know what to do. I feel part of this behavior is typical of a 3 yr old. She said her concern is that he is getting so upset at being told no. Well I see typically developing 3 yr olds do the same thing when told no and their screaming matches last much longer than his. I have offered to sit in on a class and see what he is doing and what other suggestions. But wanted to know if you all have any suggestions to break a "behavior" like playing with smart board? I am at a loss for what to tell her. His develop peds doesn't seem concerned about this stuff and keeps saying exactly what I am doing. Just another thing, he has been sick for over a week and this does tend to make him misbehave, but I am open to suggestions.
Re: Behavior questions
I would say its so new that it will take time for him to understand that the rule is that he can't play with the smart board.
It doesn't sound concerning to me, sounds more like typical behavior for the age. Once he settles into the school hopefully he will become less interested in it because its not novel.
And the lights and door issue does sound more like control...kids at this age are all about me me me.
If it makes you feel less alone, my son is almost 3 and recently also has become more difficult and controlling behavior wise. Consistent rules and encouragement helps.
Mamantraining, thanks for the input. I feel most of this is typical toddler behavior and he has a lot of changes happening and he is so into controlling everything right now. I just sometimes struggle and maybe it's partially because I am super sensitive to any problems he has. I think I may over worry about things, but I like to hear others input too. Thanks
DS does well with 5min warnings, and choices. He does excellent at home, however at school he will go the opposite - and its always when he has to stop doing something he loves or is directed to do something that requires extreme concentration and is unfamiliar. 3 was tough, especially 3.5-4yo. However I have learned on my own to ignore the behavior or walk away from him.
Now I should say we are in evals with a child psych to see if there are any underlying issues which may be causing the behavioral problems outside of the home. It is unclear right now, and the waiting period sucks.
GL!