My son is 17 and over the past 1-1/2 years we have started to see aggressive behavior at home. He had been acting out at school for a few years prior, but not at home and not to the extent it is now. I assumed something was happening at school that he was reacting to.
Every now and then he gets mad about something (having to stop playing on his iPad to go into a rest area to use the bathroom, bed time, put his dishes in the sink, or something completely unknown). Not every time, but sometimes his response is to lash out. With us, it’s been pushing or hitting or throwing something at me). At school, he will kick over trash cans, knock stuff or lunches on the floor, or hit a teacher.
He is very verbal but can never explain why he’s mad or if someone did or said something to him. There was one incident at school that when the teacher was talking to him right after, he seemed to not even remember the incident.
Again, he’s very verbal, can do most things by himself, knows what he likes and doesn’t like, and decently capable of doing a lot of things.
I don’t know why he’s being aggressive (not something he’s seen in the home), and because he can never tell me why he’s upset, what happened, or who did something to him, I can’t determine the trigger. I’m not sure what the best course of action is. What type of therapy could address this? It it something with his diet? I may never know what is making him upset because his reactions are not consistent, I just need to know how to work with him to stop the aggressive behavior before it starts.
Notes:
-He doesn’t have a memory problem - he can remember stuff from years ago.
-He’s very verbal and although not always easy to understand, he can express very well when he does or doesn’t like or want something.
-I don’t believe he’s getting bullied.
-Other kids are not acting out like he is so he’s not copying behavior
-He was the sweetest little kid but around his teenage years he started getting more ”teenager-ish”.
I need help with this!