To discipline or not to discipline

[Guest guest]

Hello all! I am new to the group as I just recently was informed that

my son's psychiatrist believes him to possibly have some autistic

behaviors. He was diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety last year at the

age of 4. I had three different opinions to be sure I wasn't being

overly suggestive or laid back. I also recently met a wonderful man

who has two wonderful boys (5 and 8). His oldest has been diagnosed

with autistic aspergers, ADHD, and anxiety disorders. He is currently

taking abilify (sorry if my spelling is off) in a very low dosage

which has shown some promising results. I am not very well informed

on how to manage behavioral issues in a child with autism or

aspergers and am hoping to find some answers with your help. My

friend's son has recently been having some violent outbursts at

school and at home and we are trying to figure out what is the most

productive thing to do. We know removing him from the situation, but

what should we do after that? We have talked about not spanking

because it promotes agressive behavior but do we discipline at all or

just simply try to eliminate the source of the outbursts (i.e.

assemblies at school)? If we discipline what do we do? Do we ask him

why he got upset and try to reason with him and let him know that is

not acceptable behavior? Any advice you may give me would be so

helpful as I am very new to this situation and want to be as

supportive as possible and also know what to do for my own son in the

event that the testing does show he is autistic. Thanks so much.