Ms. K writes:
Hi Philip!
I found your blog through
The Mighty, and just wanted to start off by saying thanks for sharing your
thoughts with the world.
I have a cousin who has autism and does not speak.
He's an adolescent and getting to the point where he has violent behaviors that
we're not able to de-escalate or predict easily. For instance, he pinches and
hits very often, even when he doesn't appear to be upset at all. Do you have
any advice for how to help him reduce these types of behaviors or any insight
as to what may be causing him to act this way?
Thanks so much and keep it
up!
Ms. K
To Ms. K,
I am telling you about aggression. I act
aggressive when I feel extremely anxious. I get anxious in a brand new
situation or a stressful time. I have stress when I am not able to properly act
to expectations. I go seeking my stims a lot for comfort.
Treacherous times come when my stims are not enough to calm me. I try to
get away at all costs. I will pull at people's clothes or bang my head. People
try to stop me but I don't have the ability until I meet peace again. I
understand I hurt people and I hate when I do it. I feel so sorry. To
deescalate aggression, attend to making me safe and let me have time to rest.
Peace will come again.
Nonverbal people who cannot communicate
well have a lot of fear and frustration. They aggress to show their feelings. I
was once there. It was a nightmare. I am acting now as an advocate for them. I
am teaching people to get learning about RPM (Rapid Prompting Method) and alter
people's lives with communication.
From,
Philip
