Hi everyone
we are very new to the spd world, my 6 year old has it. I have many questions! Some of his issues seem to be that he can't control his voice, or multi task, and is easily frustrated if he feels he is being interrupted or something he is doing is interfered with.
We just started OT last week, and I'm well aware it takes time. My most urgent question is impulse control. The other day we went to a neighbor's house. We had never met her but she was kind enough to hold a package for us. When we went over, I thought he was putting his shoes on, and I turn and he's gone upstairs in her house! Then as I'm dying of embarassement and trying to get my kids out the door, he starts opening the doors of a little cupboard beside it. I want to be patient but it's hard when even a doctor assumes you have discipline issues cause your kid just does whatever he wants. I just think he has a problem stopping and thinking about whether or not something is the right thing to do.

I empathise with you! My daughter is also very impulsive, even wreckless I would say. She started therapy two weeks ago and it is slow going. I'll share one thing that started working right away, though, regarding our daughter's practice of screaming and yelling in the house frequently. The therapist found she was screaming during therapy, so she implemented the following practice. As soon as a scream comes out, whatever she's doing stops immediately. We say, "oh no, you screamed/yelled in the house, which is not allowed. We have to go outside so you can let your scream/yelling out." Then we take her to the door and make her step outside and advise her to let your scream/yelling out. After she lets it out, we go right back and resume what we were doing before the scream.
The therapist taught us this on Monday, we implemented it at home and day care Tuesday, and were shocked that on Wednesday screaming and yelling had almost disappeared. Today at bedtime, she screamed, looked at me and said, Uh oh I let a scream come out in the house. I took her by the hand and brought her outside on the porch and advised her to let her scream out outside. At first she didn't want to do it, so I told her we would stay outside until she got it out. It took about 4-5 minutes for her to let it out. Then we went right back up to bedtime and she got right into bed, got tucked in and went to sleep right away. One warning, though. The therapist told us we have to do it 100% of the time she yells or screams. If we give her even one pass, it will all fall apart.

Oh yes, my 2 year old is as impulsive as they come! It also goes with the age, but she has SPD and is a seeker and hypersensitive. She often has meltdowns due to being impulsive. Discipline with her never works due to her extreme sensitivity.

My 5yr old is just the same. Feel I constantly say stop it, don't do that, come here, listen to me. He runs everywhere and most of the time my requests fall on ears that are no longer in range.
He touches everything and everyone, it drives me potty. He also wants to be centre of every conversation.

It's exasperating most of the time.

Have you tried a backpack with a book in it? Or just a bit of weight? If you are going to the store or the neighbor's or something he would then put the backpack on... that bit of weight keeping him focused. My son wears a monkey leash (controversial I know!) but I hold the little harness part of it because otherwise his impulses have him literally running everywhere and grabbing and dumping things, crazy really. Well if I need him to be extra calm for a short while, I put a little weight in the backpack part of the monkey... I'm also going to order a "chewlery" for him (that might not be spelled right) but it is is a little rubber chew thing that you can clip onto clothes. His need to bit and release that muscle pressure seems to keep him calm / less impulsive.
I think the trick is... that you need to make a short list of a few things that keep your son from being so impulsive. When is at his best? And how can those things then be translated to the real world.

My son is a sensory seeker so he has a problem with impulse control all the time. We have found that sour juice or candy helps to calm him when he starts getting a little out of whack. We also have him carry the laundry basket full of clothes upstairs so that it is something heavy. Oh and we found a doorstop that looks like a puppy dog that helps too. Hope these ideas help.

One of the students I was observing today has a timer set for a half hour, where if he lasts a half hour without being impulsive or screaming or hitting anyone or talking back to the teachers, then he gets a predetermined small reward that he's asked for (like 8 pretzels or playing 5 minutes of a board game). If he does any of those things then his timer resets to a half hour and it starts again. If he manages 5 in a row without any resets then it gets bumped to 45 minutes. If he is not being able to last 45 minutes it can get bumped back to a half hour.

It's working well for him. Behavior modification techniques and sensory techniques are generally both needed.

Another one of the students in the same class is very impulsive in specifically one way of impulsively hugging people. Impulsively hugging people in a school of people where the students all have either Autism or ADHD is a problem... I'm not sure what techniques they're using with him. (Every student in the school has a behavioral plan though)

With my older son, I found ages 5-8 years to be very difficult and exhausting, because he lacked impulse control. He would be standing in line at school and if another child accidentally bumped into him unexpectedly, his first reaction was to punch the child. The light or unexpected touch felt like an attack to him. I received many phone calls from school in 1st and 2nd grades.

If we were around other children at home or someone else's house, I had to be constantly on guard to watch for any signs from him that he might lash out. I had to intervene several times. I had to remove him from the situation before anything happened. Sometimes he just wanted to see what would happen if he did X.

I found that if I explicitedly told him the behaviors that were acceptable and which ones were not acceptable, he did much better. Before going into a restaurant, I told him (and my younger son) that I expected walking feet, quiet inside voices, hands to himself, no running, no climbing, no hitting. Every specific behavior I could think of. When I did this, they behaved better.

He always did better if I talked to him beforehand. If I knew there would be loud noises, I told him that. I warned him before I turned on the vacuum cleaner. If there were going to be a lot of people where we were going, I warned him about that and that someone might accidentally bump him.

I also encouraged physical activity at home. Swinging, jumping on our trampoline, riding his bike or scooter. We'd have him do jumping jacks, help him with wheelbarrows down the hallway.

Things started getting better for us when he was in 3rd grade. He gained some maturity and his sensory sensitivities weren't as bad (or he was finding ways to cope better).

He's 11 now and in 6th grade. His sensory issues are much better. His social skills are so much better (after 4 years of social skills group). He also has anxiety and that is our main focus now.

(07-26-2012, 02:44 AM)Lianne Wrote: Hi everyone
we are very new to the spd world, my 6 year old has it. I have many questions! Some of his issues seem to be that he can't control his voice, or multi task, and is easily frustrated if he feels he is being interrupted or something he is doing is interfered with.
We just started OT last week, and I'm well aware it takes time. My most urgent question is impulse control. The other day we went to a neighbor's house. We had never met her but she was kind enough to hold a package for us. When we went over, I thought he was putting his shoes on, and I turn and he's gone upstairs in her house! Then as I'm dying of embarassement and trying to get my kids out the door, he starts opening the doors of a little cupboard beside it. I want to be patient but it's hard when even a doctor assumes you have discipline issues cause your kid just does whatever he wants. I just think he has a problem stopping and thinking about whether or not something is the right thing to do.

My son is now 8, he started therapy at 1 1/2 yr. He has impulse problems!!!!! He used to be a runner, then that turned into a biter,then it turned into being mouthy, now we are having problems withhim punching people! So.... it think it is going to be there until he gets a little bit into therapy more, right now you can consider maybe havnig him wear a backpack with things in it to weigh him down a bit. Before you go somewhere let him go and run around, jump, something to get some of that energy out! Don't ever be embarassed, your child has an issue beyond his control, shame on the person who thinks otherwise! You are your child's biggest advocate and for school, anywhere you stand strong, do not let someone label him as behavioral, that makes me so angry! People just don't understand what these poor kids are going through and have no way of expressing it but through the only way they know how. Get picture cards to have on hand, maybe some that say "STOP", "Quiet Voice", you can print them out for free, cover them with come clear contact paper, and get a metal key ring take them everywhere you go! I used all these techniques, they work! You will be ok and so will he. Remember almost every situation can set off something, I as much as possible let my son know in advance what is going on, this helps with transition, but sometimes things happen unexpectely and that is life. You guys will be fine! Sometimes you will feel liek you are at a loss, just remember you have people to fall back on, we are on here! Take care

Oh boy that sounds hard. I also am impulsive. Nothing I do can totally get rid of it. I know what helps it but getting rid of it is something I do not know. I am going to try crossinology and I will tell you how it works for impulsivaty. Cerebellum stimulation therapy greatly reduces impulsivaty but it did not eliminate it in me.