I need to backtrack a little...we went to the neighborhood park a little over a week ago...it was not the park Harley was expecting we were going to go to and had a major meltdown. I think I could've talked him down, but Andrew took the initiative and did a restraint on him...truthfully it was probably the right thing to do to keep other children and families at the park safe as Harley was throwing punches, water bottles and anything else he could get his hands on....
Well we got a visit from social services as a result...so when today's incident happened Andrew was laying down (this incident happened in our home with the OT here...he has a new OT and she had asked him to do a non-preferred activity)....He heard it all happening but is now afraid to get involved in helping with this type of behavior....
I tried the break card as suggested by Creative Staff...I held up my 5 fingers. He sat back down after clawing the air and I took a finger away...telling him he was doing a great job listening...
THAT is when it got out of hand...he began screaming about how he needed more than 4 minutes and wanted a 20 minute break....This was a total work avoidance technique on his part...a manipulation...so I refused to allow him to go to his room for 20 minutes and suggested he sit on the couch instead...I tried a compromise and said how about 5 minutes? He said 20! Then he suggested 10 so I went with 7...He exploded further and ran into his room...I 'talked' him out of his room but in the process he punched me in the chest, knocking the wind out of me (and scaring the crap out of the OT)...throwing stuff at me...scratching and biting me....The scratches broke the skin but thankfully the bite did not....
However, I did manage to get him out of his room and to the couch. Once on the couch I set an audible timer for 4 minutes (as originally 'planned'). He sat steaming while the OT and I looked out the window and talked about the dogs walking down the street, the baby in the stroller and how Harley is a "dog expert"...he came right around and entered the conversation like nothing ever happened...
This all started because she wanted him to do some handwriting...I asked if I could slightly modify it...which I did...and he ended up doing handwriting, but it was via 'shopping' in the Oriental Trading Magazine he got in the mail yesterday. He discussed the items with her, followed her directions on what he had to write down on his list (including page numbers) and then explained why he picked these items...
So all in all, he did do what was requested of him...I just wish I could've handled it better and without bloodshed....Maybe next time?
But please pray...it's days like this I wonder if I am making the right decisions in his care and losing my confidence in how to handle these items. I guess it's just one more thing to talk to Mike about? Or Gabe? or Travis? I'm not sure...there's gotta be someone I can talk to about it right?
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