It almost seems as if last year, at this very time, is being replayed like GroundHog day.
J has started to head bang again, a lot.
It started off with the odd head bang against a wall and has progressed to numerous bangs resulting in a wound opening up and bleeding everytime he bangs.
I have caught him looking in the mirror in my bedrooom, walk up to the wall, smash his head against the wall, smile with a glazed eye look, then walk back to the mirror to inspect his work.
As happened last year, he leaves bloody trails where his head has touched the wall. But unlike last year he is not leaving it for me to clean up, rather he gets a cloth or some tissue and wipes it away.
There are two wounds that have opened up, side by side on his forehead. One is a lot larger than the other, and only has time to heal when he is asleep.
Last Christmas he played an angel in the school Nativity, and even though he looked resplendant in his white outfit with a golden halo atop his head, he had a huge scabby mess on his forehead.
It will be the same this year.
As before, from the pychologist, we have to ignore the behaviour. But how is that possible really?
I understand he is doing it for pleasure, and not out of frustration or anger, but to see your son bash ten bells out of his head, look so glazed and starry eyed, but with a huge grin on his face, is very hard to watch, let alone ignore.
The logic behind the ignoring is that if we say anything to him such as "no" or "ouch" he will be getting a reward from us. So to not say anything and look as if we don't care, should, in theory, stop him. But it's not working at present, and it is only getting worse.
The other night I woke up to hear, "bang, bang, bang" over and over again, and he was sitting on the top of the stairs banging the wall next to him, blissfully happy.
There has to be a link to these episodes, but nothing is standing out. I have been thinking that the change in temperature may be significant, but the head banging is a pleasureable thing for him, not a transferance of pain or irritation.
I know one day I may either have an 'aha' moment when I click or someone will moot an idea to me and it will fit. I can only hope it is soon.
