Sensory and emotional meltdowns

[Kates_Mom]

I have a 13 1/2 year daughter who is on the Autism Spectrum, and has sensory integration, auditory processing and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders along her PDD NOS diagnosis.  Her dad and I are divorced and maintain very different types of households.  My aughter has been having severe transitional issues goign to his house for some time, and is being forced to follow a schedule that at her own words if very difficult for her.  The more she is forced, the more she is resisting and becoming very frustrated and outwardly aggressive when these transitions occur.  Typically she becomes so emotionally upset that it is very hard to 'bring her back' to any rational state for a long period of time.  During these periods, she becomes greatly anxious and has developed trichotillomania picking at her eyebrows until they are mostly gone.  She is also resisting physical attempts to make her go.

I wanted to know if there are any documents that can explain what is happening to a child during these types of episodes and the impact fo the same so that we can devise a better plan and approach for the transition between homes, and a desire for her to want to go to dad's house.

Thank You

Kates Mom

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Hopefully you and her father can work this out agreeably. It goes without saying that any child, and particularly a child with the array of needs that your daughter displays, requires a daily routine of structure and predicatbility. Such a structure allows them to optimize their strengths. Perhaps you and her father canmeet with a pediatric menatl health professional to explore this issue.