Feet
In a previous post, Jack’s feet and socks were the topic of discussion. In this post his feet once again are the topic but this time from a different angle.
Jack, like many children with autism, has regular ‘meltdowns’ usually in response to something, or a variety of things, in his environment. We can often sense a ‘meltdown’ looming, with Jack becoming more and more agitated. His hyperactivity increases and he has a tendency to go totally within himself (you can talk to him but he won’t hear you or make eye contact) just before he boils over. Jack’s meltdowns usually consist of him screaming, moaning, swearing, kicking, hitting, head butting and banging, rolling around on the ground and his body overheating.
As much as we try to avoid a meltdown occuring by redirecting him and removing or altering ’stimulants’ as best we can, there is often little we can do once he reaches a certain point within himself. We can literally see his eyes roll back in his head sometimes and his whole body seems to take over the mind. At this point we find it is best to ‘ride out the storm’, simply letting him move through the tantrum and aggravation. His body eventually reaches the point of exhaustion and he becomes calm (but very tired).
Through talking with Jack during the period of calm after a ‘meltdown’ we have discovered the final moments of the tantrum can be quite scary for him. He reports being unable to breathe properly, as well as the feeling of his body burning. We used to hold him quite tightly during these tantrums, hugging his body to us, in order to protect ourselves from lashing arms and legs and to protect him from hurting himself against walls and furniture - damage control. However this seemed to only exascerbate his feelings of not being able to breathe.
One day, purely in an effort to protect myself from being kicked, I (Elissa) grabbed his feet and held them tight. He complained and continued to try and kick for a few moments but then I started to sing to him and his body almost melted into total peacefulness. He lay motionless (though still twirling his hands every now and again) for about 10 minutes, with me holding his feet and repeatedly singing ‘Jack’s song’ (more about the song another time).
From then on ‘feet holding’ has become a regular request of Jack’s. It doesn’t always work at the time of a meltdown, but it is very comforting to him sometimes when things become too overwhelming, or when he is having trouble sleeping. Someone once told us that by holding his feet we are helping him to feel more grounded. We don’t know if that is what it is, or if it’s simply the constant firm pressure on an area of his body where he usually has problematic sensory issues. But regardless of why, feet holding is something that can give Jack a feeling of calm, and that’s good news for us.
October 10th, 2007 at 7:48 am
If it helps do it!
A lot of autistic people like pressure. Temple Grandin has written a lot about it.
October 10th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Maizie loves deep pressure too. We have a squeeze machine that she uses when she is really struggling. When she was younger she liked a weighted blanket. Now she will request that I “do that thing she likes”. I squeeze her arms and hug her really tight. She also loves it when I lay both hands flat on her head and push down with lots of pressure. She says, “That feels good! Do it again!” I have found when I can see the melt down signs coming I will distract her with lots of deep pressure stuff and sometimes I can put it off until we are in the car or at home. I know what you mean about the melt down not being stopable. It is quite seizure like. Maizie’s have gotten much better as she has gotten older. The worst was when it happened in public.
October 11th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Wow, that is so interesting. I’ve never heard of deep pressure on one’s feet working to calm a meltdown. Next time I see my OT buddy I’m going to ask her about it. I’m glad you have found a great calming technique.