When he bangs his head you can hear his brain rattle. For me this is the most distressing thing that C does. As a parent to see your child hurting them selves is one of the worst things.
Last night i had my weekly phone call from Cs boarding school. Because it is the start of a new year they have new students and new staff. C finds change hard, so his incidents and the severity of his headbanging have gone up.
Over the years he has cracked walls, broken bathroom tiles, smashed reinforced doors and double glazed windows, TVs. The list could go on. All with his head. He has been head banging since he could sit up, he is now 6 foot. His skull has now hardened, he has 3 calcified oedemas on his head. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, a thicker skull protects his brain, but it also means he hits harder.
When the head banging has been really bad he has given himself concussion, and/or induced fits. It could kill him. It has certainly shaped my behaviour.
Some staff find his headbanging very hard to deal with. Understandably. Which is a good thing as then they try everything in their power to prevent it.
C has to leave school in this next year. This change will be enormous. I find it very hard to think about it. But when the time comes everything that can be done, will be done to help him.
So why does C do it? Its his form of communication. And it is very effective. The trouble is every time it works it is reinforced. Over the years we have tried various other forms of communication, but he is not interested. He even bangs his head when he is happy!
But to end on a lighter note, I did speak to C and i heard heavy breathing down the phone!!
For me this is the most distressing thing that C does. As a parent to see your child hurting them selves is one of the worst things.
Last night i had my weekly phone call from Cs boarding school. Because it is the start of a new year they have new students and new staff. C finds change hard, so his incidents and the severity of his headbanging have gone up.
Over the years he has cracked walls, broken bathroom tiles, smashed reinforced doors and double glazed windows, TVs. The list could go on. All with his head.
He has been head banging since he could sit up, he is now 6 foot. His skull has now hardened, he has 3 calcified oedemas on his head. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, a thicker skull protects his brain, but it also means he hits harder.
When the head banging has been really bad he has given himself concussion, and/or induced fits. It could kill him.
It has certainly shaped my behaviour.
Some staff find his headbanging very hard to deal with. Understandably. Which is a good thing as then they try everything in their power to prevent it.
C has to leave school in this next year. This change will be enormous. I find it very hard to think about it. But when the time comes everything that can be done, will be done to help him.
So why does C do it? Its his form of communication. And it is very effective. The trouble is every time it works it is reinforced. Over the years we have tried various other forms of communication, but he is not interested.
He even bangs his head when he is happy!
But to end on a lighter note, I did speak to C and i heard heavy breathing down the phone!!