Friday, July 31, 2009

Video Glimpse into an Autistic Meltdown

Bens teachers, therapists, and team have asked us to make some recordings of Ben so they can get a full understanding of Benjamin to help come up with ways to help him cope. So we've begun doing just that. Alot of people have asked what it's like living with an autistic child, and alot of people have said yeah well my child throws a tantrum sometimes too. So I have decided to share some of these videos to give everyone a glimpse into our journey thru autism. Preface for todays video. Ben has a wooden loft bed. Hes on the bottom, with a bookcase next to him that supports Jace's upper bunk. Ben has decided that the bottom bookshelf is an oven and he LOVES to go into this oven and hide for hours. The problem is he wants random people to do the same with him. First nobody else can fit but Ari, secondly none of us want to stuff ourselves in there for hours. Today he decided he wants Jace in there with him and that he's scared. So this video is about 30 minutes into a Ben meltdown screaming that he's scared and he wants Jace in the oven with him. The meltdown hasn't ended so no guarantees how long it will last. We all deal with these 15-20 times a day. Luckily we have 4 adults to take turns, but unfortunately normally he knows exactly who he wants each random time so nobody else can step in at that point or it makes matters even worse.
***please don't give me parenting advice or say it's horrible that my child is allowed to scream like this for hours a day. A normal toddler and an autistic 4 year old are lightyears apart and we do what has been decided on by an entire team of experts. this is being posted for educational purposes only, not to talk about my parenting***

1 comment:

Intertwined said...

I totally see a difference.

When my kids throw tantrums, they are full body, full on fury. It happens, they get control (or I help them get control) and it passes.

I thought it was really interested that the screaming was almost SEPARATE from what his hands and body were doing. Almost like what his body and mind are doing are completely apart from each other and not in tune with each other.

I'm so sorry that this is happening and that it's so hard. You have my full support and love.