Meltdowns

I thought I would do an entry about Parker's meltdowns since everyone asks me what is a meltdown. For someone with autism communication is limited so if you can't  get out what you need  or are feeling, frustration sets in. With Parker I can tell when his meltdowns are coming now for he puts pressure on his cheeks with his knuckles and presses as hard as he can. He also likes to grab things and hug it and jump up and down violently to the point he bangs his head against things. We talked about eventually maybe getting him a helmet so they poor kid doesn't have brain damage. He also gets alittle violent with people. If he is frustrated he likes to kick ,scratch,squeeze and even choke people. Right now we can control this and don't see a reason to put him on medication for that. I know some kids require medication for the have other issues involved with their autism.(ADHD,Schizo,bi-polar,etc) His meltdowns usually don't last more than a minute but we have had some that lasted 2 hours of crying and kicking. We have learned that when he has a meltdown we try to calm him down first, if that don't work then we direct his attention to something he likes. For instance turning on cartoons, playing trains, or even utube on mommy's computer. Directing his attention to something else usually helps and he calms down.
The reason I decided to write this entry about meltdowns is for people who don't understand us unless they have been through it in their lives. They like to judge us, for they think we have a bratty kid that I can't control. Even school called me one day and said that they can't calm him down. What you don't understand , people can be very jugdemental and maybe someday this epidemic will have more research and understanding. That's why it is so important to get the awareness out about Autism for right now it's the fastest growing disease in  the world now even over cancer and AIDS.