westcoastmom Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 My 8.5 yr old was just diagnosed with PDD-NOS. 10 yr old has DCD, SPD, possibly Aspergers. and a 7 yr old. They are currently 7, 8.5 and 10 We have been through a few daunting weeks trying to get paperwork to get government funding. At the same time dh had several rounds of interviews with a company before and after work. I am exhausted Our PDD-NOS child is very high energy, needs to move, sensory seeking, gets into everything, obsessed with taking things apart, playing with water. She doesn't know how to deal with being bored, or occupy herself. We have a couple of rooms in the house that are locked, but there is no way we can keep up with her. Some key things we would like to work on is teaching her to occupy herself/do constructive things independently. Also car trips can all too frequently be downright awful. Sometimes they are fine, but there are many times where she is creating havoc, bugging her siblings. Tonight, in my very tired state I stopped the car very suddenly because I couldn't it take anymore. The poor fellow who had been travelling a bit behind me almost hit me because he didn't realize I had stopped. At any rate we need to get a lot more expected behaviour in the car and get rid of the unexpected behaviour. (We have been working on Social Thinking and the idea of expected and unexpected behaviour) Just wondering if anyone else has similar issues? And strategies that have worked to improve this? On long car trips we used a dvd player. We have a trip to a city 3 hrs away coming up and I am dreading it. Sorry if this is a bit rambly, but I'm exhausted. We are struggling to get our heads above water. We are up late, up early, our house in shambles and there are many things that we are not getting to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 DVD player, pillows, blankets and thera putty are staples in my car. Along with books. I do have a bag for long car trips of things they have never seen before. Each child gets one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Chamomile tea. Brew it strong. Of course, with your luck maybe it will do the opposite and make them wired or something. Try a dose at another time first. But yeah, we use chamomile here for things like that. I just tried the tea on them. Before that I used Calm Child, which is largely chamomile I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heart'sjoy Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 We have a medium sized sedan too. When were all 5 in it DH, myself 12, 10, 8, I sometimes sit in the middle of the back seat. I've done this for hours on 14 hour car trips. Especially at the end of the day when everyone's exhausted and can't occupy themselves much less problem solve. Many times I end up with two heads on my shoulders. Back rubs and leg rubs for those aching dangling legs help. When I travel with all three kids, I can now have either the 10 or 12 year old in the front passenger seat. This has made a huge difference. They don't have to sit elbow to elbow anymore. :grouphug: I'll never forget the end of one car trip, 3rd day of 2000 miles, when one bored, exhausted child, out of nowhere whopped a sleeping sibling in the face out of sheer exhaustion and frustration. It shocked me. But I quickly realized the offending child was way beyond their limit to control themselves. We stopped the car comforted the screaming sibling, who wasn't injured, and I sat between them giving the one out of control some distraction and attention. Now I can see the warning signs and try to add assisitance. The kids have improved and can go further/ and longer without losing it over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misslissa Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 We listen to stories in the car. For some reason our always-loud, never can entertain himself child does much better with a story on. Stories have majorly cut down on the bickering and craziness in our car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Be very careful introducing Chamomile, especially if the child has ragweed allergies. I have horrible allergic reactions to it. I was going to say the same thing. Also, in some children it can make the behavior worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssavings Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 We keep an extra weighted blanket in the car for times when my SID/OCD son is particularly "sensitive". My personal theory for my son is that the car is a very different sensiry experience, so he has a hard time remaining calm. The second weighted blanket in the car helps give him the sensory input he needs without being overwhelming and allows him to focus more on coping and behaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmith Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 We keep an extra weighted blanket in the car for times when my SID/OCD son is particularly "sensitive". My personal theory for my son is that the car is a very different sensiry experience, so he has a hard time remaining calm. The second weighted blanket in the car helps give him the sensory input he needs without being overwhelming and allows him to focus more on coping and behaving. :iagree::iagree: It’s amazing how some weight will help in the car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 At any rate we need to get a lot more expected behaviour in the car and get rid of the unexpected behaviour. (We have been working on Social Thinking and the idea of expected and unexpected behaviour) Just wondering if anyone else has similar issues? And strategies that have worked to improve this? We are working with 'superflex' and his curriculum (can be purchased at amazon) It does a lot of 'expected and unexpected' behaviors as well. You may like that 'super hero/villian' curriculum if you aren't familiar with it. In the car I keep a basket of 'entertainment' (books, toys, snacks, etc) but I do get the MOST silence when I pop an audio book into the cd player! Sometimes it takes a few minutes (if I don't warn them it's coming) before they are quiet, which drives me nuts, because I feel like we are missing the first part of the story, but it doesn't bother the kids. And if I warn them before hand, I sometimes get protests on it and so it's a shot in the dark on whether or not I mention a story is coming up, sometimes it's just easier to miss alittle bit of the beginning. I choose stories that are several cd's long. Because when we reach our final stop, the stories not over, but they are ready to listen to it again when we get BACK into the car on another day. :bigear: I also allow slightly more mature listening then I would allow for in a DVD movie. The quick audio books (one short brown bear type story) will not hold their attention. It must be a longer tale. And my children love to hear accents (british readers are a favorite) They also typically love anything Jim Weiss narrates. I'm sure you thought of this, but if you have a 3rd row seat you can separate the children a bit more by putting one in the far back. Unless you have car sick issues, that far back seat might cause problems with car sickness? My children get car sick easily so listening to a story allows them to still look out the windows and not focus on a stationary screen. Watching a DVD sometimes leaves me with car sick kids. We listen to stories in the car. For some reason our always-loud, never can entertain himself child does much better with a story on. Stories have majorly cut down on the bickering and craziness in our car. :iagree: Be very careful introducing Chamomile, especially if the child has ragweed allergies. I have horrible allergic reactions to it. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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