Tantrum with the CBA

Well ... M is still doing very well overall but a kid with her issues obviously is still going to have days that are more difficult. Tuesday evening while our certified behavior analyst was visiting M gets this out of the blue thing where she wants oatmeal. She had just finished a huge dinner 30 minutes earlier. She approached her Nan and said "Give me some oatmeal NOW!" We knew right then she had developed a problem. Nan handled it really well and said that she could have oatmeal for snack after Oscar's visit.

At the time Oscar was talking with me and not working with M at all. I am not sure if she wanted his attention or mine or if it was completely not related. We were all giving her space and Oscar made a blanket statement, not to M but where she could hear him, "If M is upset about something she should come over and sit on the sofa and let the grown ups know what the problem is." She was griping and grumbling and it appeared the anger was building. E went over to where she was and because of the danger issue when M is angry Nan went and picked E up to remove him. When Nan bent over WHAM-O M hit her. At that point Oscar went over to help M. And so she attacked him, but she had a measure of control that she did not seem to have back in Jan. when she attacked the therapist that was at the house. This wasn't a rage. No one was ever in danger and M was not being harmful to herself either. All of this is good and improvement. She was simply a 5 year old having a yucky tantrum.

She ended up falling asleep so Oscar asked if he could come back the following day so that the situation was not left hanging until next week. Needless to say M was NOT happy with Oscar who stood up to her. When he came back the next day it went really well. At first M clearly did not want to speak to him but he knew just how to handle it and talk with her. He reminded her about her relaxation breathing that is helpful when she gets angry and how better to handle the situation and not to hit. She agreed and was very happy.

We go to see her psychiatrist today and I am happy that we have good things to report this time.