SPD kindergartner-could he be enjoying these tantrums?

My DS is 5 years old with SPD. I handle his defiance, tantrums, and (I don't know what else to call it) manipulation with consistency and firmness which my smart little man hates sometimes, especially when he is determined to not do his work (schoolwork, chores, whatever). This consistency and firmness will sometimes cause him to escalate into a full-blown, hour-long tantrum complete with screams, teeth gnashing, stomping, pounding the table etc. But when it is over, and he has completed the activity he was supposed to, he is smiling and happy and clearly proud of himself and eager to show me his work and receive praise.

I'm wondering: is it possible that these tantrums feel good to a child with SPD? They almost seem like they help him regulate! Maybe it's the sensations of high blood pressure, pounding, screaming, and total immersion in heightened sensation? Is it a dopamine release?

[Jason C Bourret, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

The type of tantrums you describe are not entirely uncommon in children diagnosed with autism-spectrum disorders and they are seen in children who are typically developing as well. It sounds like you have an effective approach, in that your son eventually comes around and gets back on track, and the consistency that you mention is key.  The type of emotional blow outs that you are describing typically happen when something desired is withheld or when a child is required to engage in an activity and the regular “I don’t want to do it” repertoire doesn’t work to get him or her out of it. All of us experience frustration of that sort but our young children haven’t learned how to handle it without the blow out yet. There is no evidence to support the notion that these tantrums are a qualitatively different experience for children like your son. He gets frustrated and it can snowball into a full-fledged tantrum. The next goal for you, now that you’ve got him eventually coming around and doing the work he needs to, is to work on his learning to handle this frustration better. For typically-developing kids, exposure to social contingencies can be enough to get rid of the large-scale tantrums. For kids with autism-spectrum disorders, we have to teach this control explicitly. A good place to start is to figure out ahead of time what situations you expect to be problematic and then arrange special reinforcers for your when your son comes out of the tantrum. Sort of an “Ok, your upset, but when you’re done and you complete this activity there’s something really special waiting.” Sometimes it can be good to start with simple tasks, or just require a small amount of work at first. It’s ideal if he can experience not-tantrumming and something great happening a number of times before you get to the hard tasks.