Angry, Aggressive 7 YO - What type of evaluation to get?

[JumpyTheFrog]

What type of evaluation should we get for our son? He's seven and can fly off the handle into a rage over stupid stuff. Today I told him to go put on a clean shirt and underwear and he ran at me to tackle me. A few minutes later he said he wanted to punch me in the face, was flailing around, and tried to bite me multiple times. While he's never been good at calming himself down and has always overreacted to things (from birth), his fits have started to become much more aggressive in the last couple months. (I posted in October about him kicking a hole in the wall.)

 

My MIL and FIL finally saw one of his fits today (he normally restrains himself when others are around). They think we should get him evaluated and I'm wondering where to start. His doctor is probably useless. Should I try another doctor or start with a psychologist or somewhere else?

[JumpyTheFrog]

We've done a lot to eliminate food additives and it seemed to help for a few weeks but now it doesn't seem to make a difference. Maybe we need to try a strict elimination or Feingold diet.

[Ottakee]

You might want to cross post to the learning challenges/special needs boards. A good read is The Explosive Child. It is a stop gab parenting method until you can get a handle on what is going on and the best course from there.

 

A neuropsychologist or developmental pediatrician might be helpful.

 

Are there any cycles to his moods/behaviors? Does his behavior flip quickly? Any sleep or other health issues? Any family history or mental health issues? Any social skills or academic struggles?

 

It can be so many different things from allergies, to sensory stuff, to spectrum issues to bipolar to ADHD to .............. and on and on.

 

I would suggest trying to keep a behavior log/chart until you can see a doctor where you write down his behaviors during the day, any triggers, time of day, if he has eaten or not, etc.

[Dandelion]

I'd start with a behavioral/developmental pediatrician. 

 

He's seven and can fly off the handle into a rage over stupid stuff. 

 

My DS was like this at age 7, and is still like this at times.  I used to wonder why he got upset over little things, but then I figured out that his upset often didn't have anything to do with what was happening at that moment.  He would be upset about something from earlier in the day, or even something from several days before  It would build, and then come out over something seemingly trivial. For the longest time I had the impression that he "got upset for no reason", but I've since come to realize that there's always a reason and I need to dig deeper (and help him dig deeper) to find out what it is.  At other times, the upset is a reaction to transition - since you mentioned that this happened when you asked your DS to change clothes, did that cause an interruption to something he was doing at the moment?  If yes, working on transitions (and providing more notice for transitions) might help. 

[amo_mea_filiis.]

I would do a full neuropsychological evaluation.

 

I'd also do some behavior assessments and try to find triggers, motivators, etc.

 

If you want more info, pm me. :)

 

I have a very angry 9 year old. He can get aggressive, but thankfully not so much anymore.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I'd also do some behavior assessments and try to find triggers, motivators, etc.

 

 

How does this work? Is this just keeping a log of when he explodes and what happened right before?

 

I will also PM you.

[Bree]

I would get him evaluated. My 7 year old is a lot like that. She has sensory Processing Disorder and ADHD. She takes meds for her ADHD and now she is able to handle when she gets overloaded from her SPD. We have done some behavioral therapy too and it has been great. We have had issues with her since birth and yes she still has her problems to overcome, but now she can manage them and she isn't hurting her siblings or me anymore. Your Pediatrician should be able to recommend to you where to have him evaluated. I also was very anti meds before we tried them, but for us they have made such a vast difference that i am so thankful that we did. 

[Kim in Appalachia]

You may need to start with you doctor, even if you think he'll be useless.  Tell him you need the evalution and need to know who to set it up with.  

 

:grouphug:

[JumpyTheFrog]

I emailed my doctor (who is great but doesn't take kids) to see if she could recommend someone. My son's doctor has only seen him once, so we don't have much history there.

[Whereneverever]

Neuropsych. Some areas a neuropsych is better, some a developmental pediatrician. I would call your local autism society (NOT saying he has autism) and ask if there's someone really good local.

[gardenmom5]

I'd go to a naturopathic dr who deals with kids who have agression challenges.

 

My son get's aggressive if he eats nitrates (hot dogs, bacon, lunch meats, etc.)  other kids will react to food dyes.  sometimes it is as simple as diet.  he also cannot have HFCS at all.  (I have found three relatively inexpensive sodas - which are periodic treats, not regular items - that are made with sugar.  hansen's rootbeer from safeway.  sierra mist, and of course mexican coke from costco.)

 

My son's ped was NO help.  I had to push for evaluations, and he actually got rude.  (despite me taking my kids to him for 30 years). I haven't been back since.  it actually was the last straw.

 

after extensive testing with the ND, we found specific amino acids and neurotransmitters where he was deficient.  just getting those levels to where they are supposed to be made a world of difference.  we're still making progress, we've since learned the deficiencies are caused by a genetic mutation - so the only successful way to treat it is supplementation.  diet wouldn't do it.

 

GABA and l-theanine are two very helpful at reducing anxiety and agression.   (He also takes N-acetyl cystine - and wow what a difference that made!  I ran out one month and didn't replace it as fast as I should have. he started regressing, and I couldn't figure out what was happening.  It took a week to get his levels back to where he was calmer again.)

[MomatHWTK]

Our ped referred us to a group of therapists/psychologist.  The person we happened to see has a PhD in educational pyschology so it was a good fit for us.  We see the group's pyschiatrist for any medication needs. 

[LLMom]

Yes, get a neuropsychological exam.  My son had rage behavior/extreme frustration as a young child.  He was diagnosed bipolar as a teen, but they wouldn't give him that label as a young child even though they gave him mood stabilizers which worked wonders. 

[Laurie4b]

You might want to cross post to the learning challenges/special needs boards. A good read is The Explosive Child. It is a stop gab parenting method until you can get a handle on what is going on and the best course from there.

 

A neuropsychologist or developmental pediatrician might be helpful.

 

Are there any cycles to his moods/behaviors? Does his behavior flip quickly? Any sleep or other health issues? Any family history or mental health issues? Any social skills or academic struggles?

 

It can be so many different things from allergies, to sensory stuff, to spectrum issues to bipolar to ADHD to .............. and on and on.

 

I would suggest trying to keep a behavior log/chart until you can see a doctor where you write down his behaviors during the day, any triggers, time of day, if he has eaten or not, etc.

Excellent post. I totally agree.