Need HELP please with screamer

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Hello Everyone,

I'm at my wit's end - literally. My son is 5.5 yrs. old and a

screamer - BIG TIME. He LOVES to scream. Constantly screaming

lately. He screams at everyone and everything all the time. Part

of it I know is that he's frustrated - he's profoundly apraxic and

his expressive speech is that of a 2 yr. olds. His receptive is age-

appropriate. He reads and writes and understands what he reads,

etc... He's otherwise very high functioning.

We've tried all kinds of intensive therapies, all kinds of " behavior

plans " - even aversives. He attends a very well known and respected

full-time ABA program (Eden in NJ). Despite all this " expert " help -

the screaming continues. It's not a stim either. It's his way of

being aggressive - he knows it totally aggravates and unnerves

people around him (he's EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY loud and shrill).

We've done it all with him - VB, Lovaas, you name it, he's had it.

We've had consultants and therapists from Alpine and and

still nobody has been able to get rid of the infernal screaming.

I swear some days I get so depressed about it I literally would kill

myself if I had the nerve. It sounds horrible but you only have to

be around him when he's in " scream fest " mode to literally want to

run yourself screaming from the room.

He yells at everything lately. Everything. If the computer is too

slow - boom - yelling and screaming at decibels you wouldn't believe

could come out of a 5 yr. old's body. If you deny him something or

place a demand on him - boom - off he goes. He screams constantly

it seems. He can sign, uses PECS, and has enough words to mand for

hundreds of items. He's very independent and has excellent self-

help skills. He's academically gifted.

This screaming intensifies periodically. We've tried meds - but

nothing seems to help.

I'm divorced and care for him on my own. A week like this (they're

off from school) is torture. I had a mom over today - also with an

autistic daughter. She's a tantrummer too, and can get loud. My

son was undergoing some " compliance training " procedures and this

woman couldn't take it anymore herself and left. She told me she'd

never heard the likes of it and her own kid is no wallflower.

His teacher has started wearing ear plugs - that's how bad he is.

This is causing me huge problems as we live in an apartment and my

neighbors have petitioned my landlord to evict us because of his

yelling and carrying on.

If anybody has any ideas, please help. I've spent thousands of

dollars and many hours trying to extinguish this behavior and nobody

has been able to.

Right now they are trying an " aversive " behavior plan our consultant

came up with. When he screams we quickly wipe his mouth with a baby

wipe. Big woops. He could care less - he doesn't find it aversive

in the least. Another failure.

Honestly, today he's literally spent the entire day yelling or

screaming. If you ignore him - he just goes on hour after hour

after hour. Nothing's wrong - he's got no pains and he's not ill.

He'll watch tv or play on his computer - all the while screaming his

head off. He does it for attention - I mean for everything

literally.

I can't take much more of this. He's driving me insane. I can't

take him ANYWHERE lately. I can't get simple errands done. I'm

literally a prisoner in my own home when he's not at school. At

home, I can't shower, cook, clean - nothing. If he wants my

attention, he starts his symphony. Since I ignore him, I get to

spend pretty much every waking hour with him screaming his head

off. Funny thing is that he's compliant to demands. He does

whatever you ask him to, but screams the entire time. He'll even

scream with his mouth " closed " .

The only reason I haven't checked myself into the local psych ward

is that I know nobody in my family would take care of him. They

can't handle the screaming.

Help. I'm at the point of wanting to just die. If this is him at

5, what will he be like when he's 15 or 20? A really smart,

autistic savant that screams constantly?

I'm sick to death of all these experts - none of them has been able

to help us with this. If anything, after 5 months at Eden - his

behavior is WORSE. Way worse. His language has also regressed.