Melting Down Meltdowns: When a Tantrum Isn't a Tantrum

By Brooke Price

'Melting Down Meltdowns: When a Tantrum Isn't a Tantrum' takes the all to misunderstood autistic meltdown and breaks it down to help you learn the difference between it and a childhood tantrum. It breaks down the different therapy options and little known things you Need to look for before, during, and after an autistic 'meltdown. 'Melting Down Meltdowns: When a Tantrum Isn't a Tantrum' touches on meltdowns as children, teenagers, and adults. It gives you tips on how to manage parental stress and helps you breathe your way through managing your child's meltdown plus much more! This is definitely the go to book for the autistic meltdown!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brooke Price
• Release date: Apr 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311027238

Brooke Price

Brooke Price is the author of:Living Through Autism’s Eyes: My Journey With My SonBeautiful Disaster’s: A Look Inside of Bipolar DisorderRedefining Normal: A Real World Guide to Raising an Autistic ChildPainting the Spectrum Gold: Advancements in AutismMelting Down Meltdowns: When a Tantrum isnt a TantrumThe Monster Inside of Me: Living with Borderline Personality DisorderBrooke is the mother of a teenager with autism and a preteen with ADHD. Brooke writes real life books for real life people.

Book preview

Melting Down Meltdowns:

When a Tantrum isn’t a Tantrum

Brooke Price

Smashwords Edition

Another World Publishing Washington ©2014

Also From Brooke Price:

-‘Living Through Autism’s Eyes: My Journey with My Son, 2nd Edition’

-‘8 Simple Steps to IEP Success’

-‘Beautiful Disasters, A Look Inside of Bipolar Disorder’

-‘Redefining Normal: A Real World Guide to Raising an Autistic Child’

For Zain Mikeal and Jayde Marie. My autistic angels. Without you two I would have no idea what true madness or true innocence is. Thank you.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Your First Autistic Meltdown

Chapter 2: Defusing the Bomb

Chapter 3: The Small Things Matter Most

Chapter 4: The Wide Range of Treatments

Chapter 5: The All Too Often Forgotten Culprit- After School Stress/Overstimulation

Chapter 6: The ‘D’ Word

Chapter 7: The Adolescent Meltdown

Chapter 8: Meltdowns Don’t Stop at 18

Chapter 9: My Family Simply Doesn’t Get It

Chapter 10: The Weight of the World on your Family’s Shoulders

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Melting Down Meltdowns:

When a Tantrum Isn’t a Tantrum

Chapter 1

Your First Autistic Meltdown

If you were to ask any parent of an autistic child what they thought the truest introduction into the life of autism is they’d say it’s the sometimes brutal launch of a severe meltdown. Meltdowns are daunting, discouraging, arduous, and at times embarrassing.

First things first, a meltdown IS NOT the same thing as a temper tantrum. The two are often confused but are very different. To an outsider it’s sometimes better to leave it as a tremendously bad temper tantrum and let it go rather than explain it. Some people don’t want to learn. Either they are too lazy or too ignorant; either way there is no excuse.

We’ve all been on one side of a child’s temper tantrum or another at some point. What you observed was most likely nothing more than a power play by a person who hasn’t advanced enough to play a subtle game of internal politics. No matter where you are when you see the tantrum you’re left with a feeling that their parents were being manipulated.

I remember throwing ‘hissy fits’ in the store over a toy or at my Granny and Pa’s house because I didn’t want to leave. I also remember seeing children throw a fit in the local store as I aged and becoming completely embarrassed for the parent. Kids of almost any age throwing a fit to get what they want or in response to not getting what they want is normal. We’ve all done it as children or have seen it happen.

It’s so normal that most people can spot the You better settle your bottom down and stop acting a fool in this store look from 2 aisles away. The temper tantrum is joked about between parents and is looked at as just part of childhood. They are still extremely frustrating to the parent experiencing them. However meltdowns are about 5000 times worse than a tantrum and have the potential to break a parent’s soul.

Many parents have found themselves in tears, bloody, and shattered after being at the receiving end of a meltdown. You can see in their eyes that they aren’t sure of how they’re going to muster up the strength to do this for the next several decades. Due to meltdowns and violence there are many children that have ended up institutionalized at an early age.

It’s hard to picture how the two are so different without living our life, if you don’t have an autistic child or you haven’t seen an autistic child have a meltdown you may instantly flash to the classic image of a child having a tantrum in a store whenever your sister, cousin, or even friend tells you their autistic child melted down.

That image of the tantrum, the child on the floor, kicking their feet, screaming, or holding their breath is NO WHERE near the same thing as an autistic meltdown. Meltdowns require a great deal of strength, they always require a massive amount of patience, and without a doubt they require an immense amount of love to withstand.

Tantrums are different according to the child’s style. Tantrums are always a way to control, to get what they want