Hi...It has been a long time since I posted.  MItchell has been really well, his neurologist says he is somehat of a miracle.  Mitchell has no apparant problems by looking at him..BUT...we are noticing at school he is having more and more issues with learning, mainly problem solving and he is in the process of having a series of neuroscience test which have shown Mitchell's big problem is his executive function/behaviour.  What is really worrying me though is Mitchell's anger... He can get so angry so quickly,today he kicked his football on the roof, and because he couldnt get it down, he started smashing the ground with a cricket bat before throwing it over the fence. (Thank god nobody was out the back next door at the time, or it could have been disaterous.)  I know anger issues are consistent with the damage Mitchell sustained to his frontal lobes...but how do I help him overcome this, when the control part of his brain has been obliterated?  He realises once he has calmed down a bit that he was wrong, and genuinely feels bad about it, but in the heaT of the moment he just cant stop himself.  He is 11 and a half, and I'm worried now...I can only imagine how scared I'm going to be as he gets older and going out with his mates.  Has anybody else faced this hurdle?..What did you do?  Please respond..Im at a bit of a loss at the moment.

Has a I am having the same problems jacob is 13 and his anger issues are so severe he loses control and breaks everything in the house I hasve taken him to several different doctors and all of them tell me they don't know what to do because that part of the brain was effected by his strokes but there has to be something or someone out there to help cause after he has an episode he acts like he is so sorry and didn't mean to do it and I am at my wits end I don't know what to do anymore so I completly understand

Hi, there!

One of my daughter had several major strokes in the frontal lobe of her brain, definately affecting her executive functioning and her impulsiveness.

We have tried three separate things, each of which seem to have helped - not CURED the issues, but helped, anyway.  First, we started taking her to a counselor, one that specializes in working with kids/teens with medical trauma (whether their own or a family member's).  Sometimes it helps her to talk about her feelings with someone who is not related, so that she's not worried about hurting our feelings with what she wants to say.

The second thing was our neurologist started her on a medication that is used for kids with ADHD.  It helps curb the impulsiveness somewhat, and helps her focus better.  MIND YOU - we tried SEVERAL different meds before we found one that didn't raise her BP, but did seem to have a positive effect on her concentration.  It was a LONG road trying to find the right one, because you have to try each for several weeks before you can determine if they aren't working.

The last thing was we started working with a "Behavior Specialist".  She's got a background in counseling and special education.  She consults with a lot of families of kids with autism.  Now, my daughter is no where near autistic - but the behavior specialist has been really good at brainstorming with my daughter about things that are difficult/frustrating  for her, how to adapt them, and how to constructively direct her anger/frustration when it can't be avoided.

Don't get me wrong, she still struggles with Executive Functioning and Impulsivity issues, but these three things have made her feel a bit more in control, and is helping her improve a little more each day.

Just my two cents - I hope it helps!!

Kristen

I am 30 an I am ~7 years post surgery. In the begining I would get angery very quickly. My husband and I have been working on it ever since I threw something twards him in anger. I typicaly don't recall the triggers for the  anger but my husband through experence has notaced a few things about me when I get past the boiling point.
1) I am usaly exausted from lack of sleep or lack of good quality sleep.
2) If I feel I can't explain my frustration/feelings or just loose a word.
3) If I feel excluded in doing something I want to but can't.

My husband has learned to work with me to find my words so I can express myself without feeling like he is mocking my condition. If he feels like I might start an agrument when I am exausted he says lets discuss it later (after I get some sleep). These methods don't always work so he allows me to scream/yell at him in privot untill I calm down.

It does get better as we explore our new boundries. Since he is young he will have extra emosions running around. Give him spcae and understanding. Keep disiplining the bad behavious so he will learn that those are not good ways of expressing one self. Help him find other out lets for the anger like boxing, setting up a punching bag (that is my faviroite), or writting in a journal that if he wants to share with you he can so you can better understand the disconnects( I do this too).  Always try to set the best example in your agruments too.

Good luck,
I hope this helped,
Becky

Matthew, too, can anger easily.  Here's the interesting thing . . . he seems to know who it is "safe" to be angry with.  He doesn't get anywhere near as angry at school as he does at home.  (Although his "little" brother is no longer a "safe" person to gt angry with -- and he doesn't seem to realize that).

I agree -- if he is tired he angers much more quickly.  Frustration can put him over the edge too.  And, unfortunately, frustration comes much easier to our kids than other kids. 

I find that it does help to remain calm and work to get him to focus on how he is overreacting.  Then I ask him to take some time by himself to calm down.  The scariest thing . . . he drives now.  I have had to tell him that driving is NOT a way to calm down. 

Kim