An 11-Year-Old Boy with Tantrums and Head Banging

• Published in: Pediatric annals Vol. 41; no. 10; pp. 1 - 3
• Main Authors: Lohr, W David, Le, Jennifer F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States SLACK INCORPORATED 01.10.2012
• Subjects: Aggression - psychology; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis; Asperger Syndrome - diagnosis; Autism; Behavior; Child; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - diagnosis; Children & youth; Cognitive Development; Comorbidity; Diagnosis, Differential; Families & family life; Fear & phobias; Humans; Male; Occupational therapy; Parents & parenting; Speech therapy; Stereotypic Movement Disorder - diagnosis; Stereotypic Movement Disorder - psychology
• ISSN: 0090-4481; 1938-2359
• DOI: 10.3928/00904481-20120924-12

CME Educational Objectives 1. Distinguish presentations of anxiety from core autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms. 2. Become familiar with developmental differences between anxiety and anxiety in ASD. 3. Know when either, or both, psychosocial and pharmacologic treatment of anxiety in ASD is appropriate. The patient is an 11-year-old white male with a history of Asperger’s disorder who presents with a history of anger and tantrums that occur about twice per week in reaction to frustrations and requests made of him. The tantrums consist of balling his fists, gesturing to hit, banging his head, grunting, screaming, and crying. He struggles with transitions from preferred activities and is upset if his expectations are not met. The parents report he also has tantrums over any mistakes he makes in his schoolwork.