Handling a Meltdown

What is a meltdown?

 The meltdown is a common among children with neurodevelopment disorders and feared and dreaded by both caregivers and the children themselves. Not to be confused with a temper tantrum. A meltdown is caused by overwhelming emotions that are triggered by ...

When a full meltdown is in progress, it can be a hard to manage. Safety -- both for the person and the child and for others in the area is most important.  It is the adults job to remain calm. Most often talking escalates the meltdown. There is no reasoning when the child has hit "the point of no return" as we called it in my house. I learned this one the hard way.

Always observe to make sure that the child is safe and that no one else in in harms way. If you observed that others are in the line of fire, remove them from the premises quietly while watching the melting child.

Often times older children tell us that they do not remember what happened.  After a meltdown the child's energy is spent and the may need time to decompress and so do you! After the meltdown and things have calmed.  It is the adults job to reflect. What was the trigger?  What did we do right? What did not work? Was there any warnings and what could I have done differently to catch it before it hits full meltdown mode.

Often times, we can avoid a full fledge meltdown by watching for the "rumblings" that are often given off by the child prior to the full onset of emotion. In time we begin to know when we are headed to the "point of no return."  And hopefully less meltdowns.

Anny

10 Ideas for Working with Kids with FASD - Use Teach Abilities #1

In my now 20 years of working with my kids I have learned many things.  With working with the hundreds of parents through our Parenting FASD closed Facebook group and with the literature a few threads of how to work with these kids come to light.  Every day I will share one of the Teach Abilities and just remember no two kids are alike and what works for some may not work for others.

This is meant for a generalized look at working with the kids.  Teach to the abilities
and support the areas that they struggle with understanding of how prenatal alcohol exposure can affect children and adults learn and see our world.

Kids with FASD will have many strengths and challenges.  They often say that children with FASD will be developmentally half their chronological age.  While that is the generalization,  there will be many areas of uneven and spikes of learning and development.  Each child is different and learning where they function educationally, developmentally and socially is very important for success.

Too high of expectations due to their often times advanced verbal capabilities may be very misleading as they cannot perform at that level educationally, developmentally or emotionally.  Too low they will tune out and act out.  Learning disabilities and challenges are all apart of children/adults on the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum.

Kids with FASD struggle to keep up with their peers and when stressed will use behavior as language to show they are struggling.

Some children with FASD will have many autistic tendencies and struggle with social interactions, while others will be overly outgoing, but struggle with social cueing.  Children with FASD can struggle.  We need to lessen the struggle.

We have made sure with our kids to have adequate testing and assessments to know where they are functioning and not always relying on what the school says.  We made sure to  know where they are educationally, developmentally, and socially so we can modify, adapt and advocate for their needs. Matching the learning to where they child was at that time and many times teaching, reteaching and making sure that that learning was generalized into other environments.

Neuropsychological assessments at key learning stages so we can plan ahead for what they need. We have found that a psychologist or developmental pediatrician helpful in helping us along the way.

Meeting them at their developmental level not chronological age is paramount, doing it with being sensitive to their AGE.

Anny


SaveSave

Day 24 The Overlapping Behavioral Characteristics of FASD Disorders Printable.

Day 24

I have found the Overlapping Behavioral Characteristics of FASD and Related Mental Health Diagnoses in Children to be the MOST valuable tool to help educate those working with my children and adults. At all my kids IEP's I have provided a copy to every team member when educating about the enormity of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

 Anny

Day 23

Day 23

It is the 4th of July weekend here in the United States.  My kids struggle with the noise of fireworks.
This is the yard sign we put up last year to alert my neighbors.

Anny

Day 22

Day 22

This means for every 100 children two to five will be affected by an FASD.  That means that there are a lot of children who have been affected and are not diagnosed.  FASD is a preventable disorder.

Anny

Day 21

Day 21

Normal parenting strategies do not work with children with FASDs. Please do not compare Caregivers who are caring for children with FASD with "normal" parents. Just like our kids see the world differently, we have learned to parent differently to meet their needs.

 Anny

Day 20

Day 20

Two to Five percent of all children may be affected by an FASD and most will never be identified and given support and understanding for their hidden disability.

Anny