Head Banging

Since October, my son has missed more than two weeks of school. This added to the holiday vacation days adds up to being home nearly one out of three months. I'm always concerned about regression, but he did not show any signs of regression, even after missing so much school. I was very happy about that.

He has had various viruses, all involving the GI tract. Since he is so underweight, this is always concerning, because he was unable to eat, and we couldn't even get him to drink. Many times we had to force Pedialyte into his mouth with a syringe so that he wouldn't need to be hospitalized for dehydration. He couldn't tell me when he was going to vomit, so I just held him with a towel most of the time. He had a horrible diaper rash from constantly having so much liquid against his skin in his diaper that he developed open sores. I changed his diaper constantly, but it didn't help. We eventually put layers of cloth diapers inside his diaper and mixed hydrocortisone cream, lanolin, and zinc oxide and slathered it all over his bottom. This helped very quickly, and finally, his tummy troubles ended and he healed. It was horrible for him.

Also during this time, he developed the habit of head banging. He did it every once in awhile, but after being sick for so long, every time he is frustrated, or has to do something he doesn't want to do, he bangs his head hard into the wall or floor repeatedly. He bangs his head hard enough to leave a mark. We don't know if it's sensory seeking or attention seeking, so we're trying to find some sort of a balance. We've tried putting on a helmet, but I'm afraid to leave him alone with it on for fear he'll somehow manage to strangle himself with the strap around his neck. I've tried to put down a pillow for him to hit his head against, but I guess he doesn't get the feedback he wants because he keeps moving to another place. I'm trying to get him to call me and ask for help instead of banging his head, but he can't always express what he needs help with, and this is frustrating for both of us. I don't want to encourage tantrums, but I know that he's frustrated because he has more to communicate with me than he can through speech or sign language or pictures.
We are planning to move this summer to get into a better school district for when he starts kindergarten. One of the things I have heard about this district is that they're quick to pay for alternative communication devices for children, which my son needs. He can not talk very well at all, he hasn't been able to pick up much sign language, and he hasn't had much success with picture exchange communication either. He can only communicate the most basic things. So, he's nearly five, and I'm sure he has a lot to say that he simply can't. If we could use some other means of communication, I know that would help a lot. Alternative communication devices are extremely expensive, and our current school district has not approved any for my son. So, we're hopeful that we'll have a better experience and more help in a better school district.
We've heard from parents of children with special needs as well as various therapists and social workers that this is the best school district in the county for special needs children, and so that's where we're going to go. I hate to move, we'll be further away from family, we'll be in a more country setting and further away from amenities, but who cares if my son will get the services he needs.

Hopefully we can find a way to get him to stop hurting himself.