One of the blogs I follow, and list on the side bar of this blog, is Autism, Epilepsy and Self-Injurious Behavior by Kim Oakley. A couple of days ago Kim Oakley wrote on the subject of Medical mysteries, autism and chronic self-injurious behavior. As is always the case Ms Oakley writes with straight up honesty and with a view to understanding and helping her son, and others, who engage in self-injurious behavior. In this comment Oakley describes some of her son's self-injurious behavior, in what contexts it arises and how long the last episode lasted: 4 days.
Obviously 4 days is a long time. My son's self-injurious behavior has never lasted more than half an hour to an hour to my knowledge. I can't imagine 4 days of self injury, the pain it must have inflicted on her son or the courage Oakley and her family needed over those 4 days. Oakley isn't sure what caused the 4 day self-injurious "bender" to suddenly stop but she offers some speculation about what brought it to an end.
I recommend anyone struggling with self-injurious behavior in an autistic child to read Medical mysteries, autism and chronic self-injurious behavior. Oakley does not pretend to have all the answers but she gives us plenty to think about. Once again, I recommend anyone with a child with autism who engages in self-injurious behavior to visit and bookmark Autism, Epilepsy and Self-Injurious Behavior by Kim Oakley. It might provide one more piece of information to help you understand the mystery of chronic self-injurious behavior of your autistic child.
