Autism Treatment Center of America Forum

[Fourchette]

My son is almost 11 years old, and has been exhibiting an extremely challenging behavior for about two years now. We have tried an exhaustive number of approaches and biomedical interventions to target it, but thusfar nothing has worked. One minute he will be OK, then all of a sudden he will strip naked in a frenzy and completely freak out, running around screaming his head off, crying, hurting himself and trying to destroy things. We have been homebound for months, because the last two times he tried this in public, the situation was misinterpreted by well-meaning bystanders who called the police thinking there was a “child in distress.” (I would imagine they thought we were trying to kidnap him or something the way he was screaming and flailing as we tried to keep him clothed and get him back into our van.) There is no common antecedent to the behavior that we can ascertain, and it happens everywhere—at home, in the backyard, in the van, at the grocery store--everywhere. Applying Son-Rise principles has miraculously enabled me to calm him down quickly once I get him to the “safety” of his bedroom, but nothing prevents the naked freakouts from occurring in the first place, and once they manifest, I am the only one who can comfort him (but again, I can only do this when we are in his bedroom. I feel so honored that he trusts me so much and finds me soothing, but it is a tremendous source of concern that no one else can settle him down in these situations and get him back to “normal.”) I should point out that sometimes these incidents begin in his bedroom, too, even though it is also where he mellows out. Also, we do not attempt to prevent him from stripping at home, although the freakout that accompanies the stripping remains the same whether getting naked is allowed or thwarted (for obvious reasons we must try to prevent the stripping in public). This problem is really holding him back; we feel that his progress would skyrocket if only we could help him overcome this. My family would be grateful beyond measure for some advice that actually works…
Thanks so much,
Mandy

[BeckyDamgaard]

Hi Mandy,

I would love to help you! First of all can I say that you are doing an amazing job! We are thrilled that you are able to use your Son-Rise Program attitude to help him. What a great model and source of inspiration you are!

I believe that the events that happen just before he displays this behavior and just afterwards would be useful to know so that I can help you investigate further. Can you give me an idea of this. So reflect back to the last 3 times it's happened and let me know what you find. Please be as descriptive as possible, detailing who was there, what was happening when he began, how you and anybody else felt at the time, how you responded, etc.

Also I would love to know what he eats in a typical day?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Warm regards,