Toddler Hitting Himself

[Baby Beluga]

I have a new 2 in my care, who I have had for 1 year. This child has always had behavior problems (here and at home.) One of his biggest problems here is personal space and aggression. He will not keep his hands, feet, body, toys to himself. He is always touching another child, throwing toys at them, etc. Today he rammed another child with a toy instrument. And the other children do not like it. Part of this I attribute to him being young. However my other 2 (who is 3 months older) understands personal space.

2 year old also has language issues and is not receiving help. He says a handful of words here, but is unable to communicate with the other children. Many of the words he says are after mom has told him to say the word and/or are unintelligible. The words he says here are naming things. The only time of direct verbal communication he does with the other children is saying "bye and sorry." 90% of his communication is sounds. Grunting, pointing, squealing, etc.

DB had a very rough day today keeping his hands to himself. When he was placed in his own area for hurting others he would scratch his face and hit himself.

1) Is this normal? I am assuming it is part of how he is expressing his anger at being separated from the group.

2) How can I teach a child of his verbal capabilities to express his anger appropriately?

[Ariana]

You can try social stories and communication pictures. I am currently doing this with a nearly 4 year old dcb. I found some nonverbal communication pics and printed them off. I have a social story that shows a boy keeping his hands to himself and being a “good student”. They call them “safe hands”. Safe hands make others feel safe. People like it when jimmy uses safe hands. That kind of thing. When it is part of a story, it registers much more readily than when being disciplined. You could easily make one yourself.

There is also a book called “hands are not for hitting” that you might want to check out. I bought it but it was not useful mainly because the writing is really poorly done. The social stories are more on point in my opinion....but it might work for you.

[Jupadia]

The one child I had that would cause himself harm such as scratching or hitting was diagnosed with autism. Though when he was doing this behavior he was not yet diagnosed. He also had language delays,parents were having help with this.
What I did and worked for daycare but not at home (due to parenting style). Was I separated him and had him have a time away / out (puzzle or book offered). I treated the same way I would if it was another person. Just relating we don't hurt other's or yourself. He stoped it At daycare soon after I started to treat it as such.
He was closer to 3 then 2 at the time.

[Baby Beluga]

I've wondered (and posted) about this little one often. He has some very interesting and strange behaviors at times.

We have the book "hands are not for hitting" we read it often, but I am not a huge fan of the book. We read the "I can be a super friend" book from CSEFEL website every day at circle. I have had more success with this book (all of the kids like to point out who is/isn't being a super friend with the exception of this child.

He knows what gentle hands are and came demonstrate how to use them when asked. But he chooses to not use them a good portion of his day