Temper Tantrums/Anger/Meds/Therapy

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I haven't posted much so far, but tonight I post out of desperation. My son is

7 years old and has been diagnosed with PDD (closest to Apergers) and ADHD. He

has other medical issues as well that we deal with on a daily basis.

He has some of the typical behavior issues characteristic of Aspergers, but the

one that I find the most difficult to deal with and that has become increasingly

hard to handle is his angry outbursts. I have read several books, including The

Explosive Child, and have been working hard at trying to include the suggestions

in our routines but there are things that I just can't control and those are the

things that creep up and blow up in my face. I find that I spend my days

working around things and asking my family to work around things to try to make

life even and balanced so Matt doesn't get angry.

An example of something I can't control would be the power going out when he is

in the middle of a video game. Sometimes it would not be a problem, others he

goes absolutely bullistic. He goes into this rage, starts threatening, starts

throwing, banging, kicking, or hitting things. Soooo we put a battery back up

plug strip in his room and that seems to have plugged that hole but then today

another hole opened up. His sister (who is 11 and they have a very rocky

relationship as it is and she is one of his biggest triggers) was playing the

game and some how some way his data got erased and he lost a game he had been

working on for quite some time. He went into one of his rages and took very

long to calm him down.

I work very hard to try to calm him down, I remain calm and try to talk him

through it and sometimes I walk away, sometimes I just really don't know what to

do at all. Tonight it took a while and afterwards I just lost it and went into

a bit of an emotional breakdown, crying and crying. I am so tired of walking

around worrying about when's the next time he is going to get mad. It's not

like it happens daily, it can even go several days without happening but it's

like we have to work extra hard to make the environment just so, in order to

prevent the melt downs. I am at a loss at this point, he is getting bigger and

I am afraid I will not be able to control it once he gets stronger.

He is not on any meds and right now not in any kind of therapy. On Monday he

will start a special school for kids like him that will hopefully help the

situation, but I don't know where to go from here.

I guess my question is - is this normal behavior for PDD/AS kids? The melt

downs and anger? What can I do to help the situation? Help my family cope

better? help Matt cope better? Are there medications to help keep him calmer?

I really hate the thought of putting him on meds (and they may not even be an

option due to his severe allergies) but I am desperate for some direction, I am

exhausted and worn out. What can I do??? Thoughts, ideas, suggestions, are

deeply appreciated.

Thank you very much for reading my long vent.

in Miami