4 year old behavior issues

[autumnmoses]

My son is 4 and a half and will start kindergarten this school year. He has type1 diabetes, vision problems & celiac. He also has a lot of behavior problems. 1. He has a problem with biting his nails (both fingers and toes) until they bleed. He will bite them until there's nothing left and then he’ll ask me to cut them more. I tell him I can't cut them more and he says that he needs them shorter so they will look nice. 2. On a recent car trip I noticed that he wouldn't go poop during the two day journey. He would tell me that he needed to go, but when I would pull over he wouldn't go. As soon as we got home he ran in and went poop right away. 3. He's very loud and does this thing with his voice that sounds like a loud voice clearing. When I ask him what he's doing he says, "I have a hiccup". 4. He's extremely socially inept. When he's around other kids he tries to play with them but does things that drive the other kids crazy. For instance today his Sunday school teacher told me that he got into one of the girls faces and was blowing in her face. I will stand in the hall and observe him sometimes and the other children are sitting quietly and my son is running around while the teacher chases him. He also hits and kicks the other kids frequently, if you ask him why he says "I didn't. My body did. I can’t help it." He also complains about the other children being too loud.  6. He has night terrors where he wakes up screaming and crying. In the most recent one I asked him what he dreamed and he said that there were needles everywhere and that he dreamed I had needles in my eyes. I don't know why he would have such vivid dreams when we do NOT watch violent programs in our home. His behavior is getting to the point where I can’t even get babysitters because no one will watch him. When I've talked to the doctor he says that my son is too young to diagnose but that the behavior is normal. I cannot imagine that it's normal to have all of these problems at once.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

No, this behavior (with the exception of the night terrors) is not at all normal. It invites immediate intervantion. A sensible place to start is to have him evaluated by a Developmental Pediatrician and then pursue additional evaluations that the doctor advises (possibly evaluations by a pediatric neurologist re: the possible vocal tic and by a child psychiatrist as well).

Relative to the night terrors, if he is waking up entirely the epiosdes are not night terrors but rathe nightmares. If he is yelling and not fully awake, do not wake him up - simply quietly guide him back to sleep.

[autumnmoses]

I forgot to mention that my son also has meltdowns over things that other kids would just brush off. For instance, today at church it wasn't his turn to say the prayer and the teacher said that he broke down bawling about it. He does similar things at home if you tell him he can't have something he'll throw himself on the ground or scream at the top of his lungs. He's supposed to start kindergarten later this year and I am worried that his behavior will prevent him from being able to go to public school as well.