At my wit's end with my HFA son, help

[Anonymous]

perhaps consider that these "behaviors" are driven by a root medical cause. My own ASD child's autistic behaviors vanished when I addressed the medical issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son who will turn 4 this year and has HFA has always had all kinds of issues. However lately he is just impossible to deal with, I'm so tired I feel like I can't look at him anymore sometimes. He has a baby sister whom he always tries to hurt. We talk to him about it all the time, give him lots of attention, do all kinds of activities with him, etc. on top of that his behavior is awful. He used to listen to us, follow directions more or less, and now every day is a struggle, he yells at us, kicks toys, breaks the rules on purpose, etc. when we talk to him and tell him we are disappointed he either cries and says he will behave better (but breaks his word a second later), or keeps hysterically laughing, which is annoying. Some of you might think we expect too much from a four years old child with autism, but even a year ago he was behaving muh better, and this is such a regress. Same at school, teachers keep complaining. This is frustrating and I'm just tired and want to give up sometimes. It just feels like everything is going to be the worst possible and our future is dark. Have any of you experienced anything similar? How have you dealt with this? Thanks

OP--your DS sounds exactly like mine, right down to his interactions with his little brother, but we've never received a diagnosis of HFA or anything on the spectrum. Everyone has chalked it up to immaturity or "just being a boy." The reason I say this is not to diminish what you are going through but to question--does my DS have HFA?! That would explain a lot. He's always been extremely verbal and hit all his physical and other milestones way ahead of other kids, so I think the doctor and my husband and I have always assumed he'd outgrow this behavior. He isn't, and it seems to be getting worse. He's "that kid" at camp and at school--the one who's always in time-out and who I'm told isn't following directions. He'll be 4 next month.

I'll start my own post tonight when I have some time to get my thoughts together. I could definitely use the help of the other parents in this forum. I was just so struck last night when I read this post--I was up half the night researching HFA. I also just wanted to empathize with you, OP. I have been clenching my jaw so much this summer, as we go to camps and activities and I get the stern talking-to from the teachers afterwards about how my son was being a troublemaker, that I've actually cracked a tooth. I hope you're having a better day today!!