Meltdown from Hell

[cindybubbles]

My 10-year-old autistic nephew is well-behaved. Perhaps it's because he has a drill sergeant for a mother who has been through this before with me.

Maybe it's time his parents gave Damien some tough love so that this won't happen again.

[Ahbugger]

Calling the police for an autistic kid is somewhat excessive.

I think that depends on who you are. I feel able to deal with most violent or 'traumatic medical' incidents without getting phased in the slightest - however nothing in any of my training or experience has given me any tools to deal with a kid having a violent tantrum. I only have a vague idea of what 'excessive force' is when applied to a child and would probably not feel I was in a position to do anything.

Just like I take for granted that some incidents seem easy to handle or (almost) normal to me I think people who are used to behavioural disorders acclimatise to that type of carry-on. Whereas you might know that the child will likely only go to X length to hurt themselves or others and that you can calm them down by taking Y action the rest of us are completely without this information.

[Seshat]

Noone's suggesting that the police be called for the sake of arresting anyone. The reason for calling police is so that someone who is trained to handle potential violence in as non-violent a way as possible; be the one who handles it.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

A few years ago and I would have said "Autism was a possibility".

Today...I'm thinking that it is equally likely that this is one more child raised by no one, never disciplined in any fashion that means a damn thing and this is the result.

[C. Cecil Ivanish]

Noone's suggesting that the police be called for the sake of arresting anyone. The reason for calling police is so that someone who is trained to handle potential violence in as non-violent a way as possible; be the one who handles it.

That's exactly it. The Police are (well, should be anyway?) able to deal with the situation in a more competent way than, let's say, me.

A few years ago and I would have said "Autism was a possibility".
Today...I'm thinking that it is equally likely that this is one more child raised by no one, never disciplined in any fashion that means a damn thing and this is the result.

Sad but true. But... to THOSE limits?
Aye, possibly.

[Dreamstalker]

I believe that. When my mom was working for the crazy family in the next town, their youngest boy was like that. He wasn't autistic (not that we could tell), just really horribly behaved; brought up to get his own way and that it was OK to manipulate, lie and have massive tantrums (including physical violence) when he didn't.

[XCashier]

And for the record, being young/small doesn't mean you aren't physically dangerous, a lesson I took to heart years ago when I was stabbed by a 12 year old.

Is this the story you were referring to? Yikes! It's scary how violent children can be.

[AnaKhouri]

My mom teaches kids who live in a psychiatric facility. They are 1st and 2nd graders (6-7 years old) and have thrown chairs and desks at her or other kids. There are special security guards they can call when the kids get really violent and they are put in a padded room until they calm down.

So yeah, kids can be seriously dangerous, even at that age- it doesn't help that kids in general are getting bigger and stronger than before thanks to better nutrition.

[Der Cute]

Whether it's mental or not - the kid was dangerous! I don't blame Gma in trying to please/use her voice in getting her way; if she knew the kid was violent, she might have been trying to save her own bacon by not using physical measures to get kiddo moving.
I personally have NOT dealt with kids who are special needs + violent/disorderly. I have NOT dealt with kids who are violent (except my 3 yr old who thinks headbutting is cool..grr)
When I DO see a kid starting to really fuss and go down hill, I try to distract by making silly faces, peekaboo, key chains, anything else to stop munchkin from getting fussier. Works most of the time.
Hat off to you, being able to get kiddo out!

[BlaqueKatt]

Chiming in with the "autistic meltdown" theory as well. Lil' Zel doesn't have a meltdown in public usually (at least while he's with me or Mr Zel, we can tell if/when something upsets him so we can diffuse the conflict way ahead if needed), but when he has one, he goes NUCLEAR to the point that he actually even can't remember what happened.

I get those levels of meltdown(very rarely), I'm an adult, I'm sure it's terrifying for those around me. It's been described to me as "you become a feral, demonic, banshee intent on destroying the world and anyone or thing around you.

[Moirae]

Wow, you're nicer than I would have been.

[Peppergirl]

Closed - with apologies to the OP. Not your fault people started fratching to the degree that it was no longer salvageable.