Hitting

Where would a child who doesn't get hit, learn to hit? Is it a natural instinct out of frustration? We couldn't be any more loving and affectionate with the Doodle...I'm trying to figure this out. Along with some tantrums and bad behavior we now can add hitting to the list.

Time for a Behavioral Specialist or would a trip to the Nut House for me be more efficient?

Two days in a row now, the Doodle has hit his nurse in the face. Yesterday she got cold cocked in the nose but we weren't sure if it was purposeful or if he was just ticked off and flailing his arms and accidentally hit her in the process. Today, it was on purpose.

He's one, two punched me before and he seems to enjoy ripping the glasses off of my face. He gets pretty mad. He reaches over and bangs his hands on the computer when I'm typing and not paying attention to him. He's kicked me when I was trying to change his pants too and this is at only 3 years old. What's his behavior going to be like at 6 years old or 15 years old? What if I can't handle him?

We don't hit and we're not a big spanking family. The only time we've ever spanked the Doodle was a slap on the hand if he was touching something dangerous like the stove or the oven or when he has pulled my laptop down off the counter and slammed it open and shut. He gets put into time outs either in the corner or now he gets locked into his swing.

He doesn't seem as happy as he used to be. He doesn't look as happy, I've been looking at the pictures I've been taking and he can barely look at the camera. Is this regression? His behavior is getting worse. He continually puts his hand down his pants and takes his diapers and pants off. He continually wants to go in the pantry for chips. He refuses to play with toys. He's not happy unless he's having you change the dvd in the machine over and over. All day long he's getting redirected and told NO. I'm guilty, out of frustration, of yelling at him...NO! NO! NO! How do you get through to an autistic child when you know they know what NO means but refuse to listen? Perhaps I'm wasting my breath. Is he not capable of fully comprehending NO? Then why when he does something he knows he's not supposed to, does he run away or smile and do it one more time? Is it a compulsion and he physically and mentally cannot stop? It wouldn't surprise me if his first word, if that ever happens, is NO.

I seriously feel tested most of the time. Is it not enough that God has given me a child with autism? Is it not enough that he won't or can't talk? Is it not enough that he has the worst possible kind of epilepsy? What's next? When will enough be enough?