Crying and crying and more crying

[CrazyEight]

I have one like this. Now, he is also very delayed and probably autistic (currently undergoing testing, apparently) so that probably has something to do with it. Sometimes he'll just stop in the middle of the room and start screaming, or lie on the floor and cry for no reason. I've tried everything under the sun to calm him, but when he doesn't communicate at all, ever, it is very difficult to figure out what is wrong. Yesterday he screamed literally ALL day, aside from naptime (thank god). Today I had to wake him up to do the school run, and he cried until pickup. Everything upset him - changing his diaper, getting his snowsuit on, putting him in the stroller, taking him out again, undressing him, everything.

When he gets like this, I've found the only thing that seems to help is putting him in a highchair or a playpen, so he is safe, and walking away. No attention, no coddling, nothing. He gets attention when he stops screaming. I know there's nothing wrong with him - he's not wet or hungry or hurt - so he gets ignored until he stops. It may sound harsh, but we're all in the same room with him, he's perfectly safe, and "usually" he'll stop within 10 minutes or so. If they figure out that screaming will get them undivided attention, they'll never stop. Good luck!