General Tips Ideas And Recommendations
There are some tips that could apply to SIB in general and specifically to head banging, no matter what the function of this behavior is.
1. Always look for advice from your health professionals.
2. A Functional Analysis by a behavior therapist will help produce a good behavior intervention plan.
3. Watch out for precursor behaviors :
- mood changes
- verbal escalation
- anxiety
If you can act on those behaviors you may be able to avoid the SIB situation altogether.A tip for those situations may be to redirect him into another task or distract her with a question : What was your favorite toy? What was your favorite food?
4. Track behaviors to understand their function
5. Understand triggers
6. Act upon those triggers
7. Medication may be required for severe or long-lasting cases.
Bringing A Compensation Claim
The ultimate aim of the compensation is, as far as possible, to put the injured child back into the position they would have been in, had the negligence that caused their injury not occurred. The challenge then is to ensure that all of the relevant points have been covered and that the compensation can make a meaningful difference to the childs life, helping them to thrive, be happy and reach their full potential. After all, isnt that what we all want for our children?
Important Considerations For Autism
Children with autism display unusual responses to environmental stimuli , problems making friends, difficulty understanding nonverbal social cues, blunted response to pain, and a focus on geometric patterns. The diagnosis of autism is often delayed despite the fact that parents often note concerning behavior by 18 months of age and less than 10% of children are diagnosed at initial presentation . A qualitative impairment in social interaction and communication as well as the presence of repetitive and stereotypic actions must be present for a diagnosis of autism . Patients with autism often exhibit profound anxiety and this is exacerbated in the setting of traumatic injury . Strategies to reduce anxiety include social stories and the use of games for distraction, as well as using favorite drinks to disguise medications. It is helpful to have a discussion with parents to help identify what may exacerbate or mollify anxiety in patients with autism .
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Focus On What You Want The Child To Do Not What You Want Them To Stop Doing
How many of you have screamed at your child, STOP SCREAMING?!!!! with crazed eyes and clinched fists?
Minimize the use of dont and stop. For example, Walk on the sidewalk can be much more effective than Dont walk on the grass for a child who might not hear the dontor for one who isnt sure where the acceptable place to walk might be. This lets the child know exactly what you WANT them to do. Stop screaming becomes, Quiet please, Dont color on the table becomes Only color on the paper. Its counter-intuitive to the ways most of us usually parent but it works. There are times when theres NO WAY around a dont/stop statement. DONT COLOR ON THE DOG. STOP HITTING YOUR BROTHER. Use your best judgement- youll figure out when you need to lay down the DONT law.
Here I ignore his screaming because he was mad that I gave one of his cars to his brother when he didnt want to share.
Here I praise him, Great job being quiet and playing with your cars.I know, it feels a little weird at first, ignoring your child while they are screaming or throwing themselves on the ground. But when they do that, they are attention seeking and giving them any kind of attention reinforces that behavior. They will learn it doesnt work and realize they get more attention when their behavior is good.
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Identifying The Complex Needs Of A Brain Injured Child With Asd
Identifying the complex needs of a brain injured child with a diagnosis of ASD requires specialist knowledge and experience. These children suffer from a hidden disability which will not be obvious by simply looking at them.
Often, it is vital to focus on reducing anxiety and pre-empting situations in which anxiety may arise, to ensure that the child is in an optimum state of mind for learning and for functioning in life in general. I know that my boys can be completely derailed for the day if something unexpected happens. Before he had his statement, I once had to take my eldest son home from school because his usual teacher was absent for the day writing reports, but he had not been pre-warned of this. He was not at all prepared for this change to his school day, and in frank terms, completely freaked out and a meltdown ensued. No-one had anticipated just how distressing this change would be from him, and to be honest, why would they have done if they had not had previous experience of ASD or appropriate training in ASD?
Often, when autistic children present with challenging behaviour, this will be mistakenly labelled as naughty behaviour and even worse, the behaviour may be punished, which will simply cause confusion and lower confidence and self-esteem.
They can also help meet the childs therapy needs, in situations where the parent may not have the time to do so due to the demands of other siblings or work commitments.
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Research Early Signs And Treatment
There’s been widespread controversy about a possible connection between vaccines and the soaring autism rates. Some parents of children whose autistic symptoms first appeared shortly after their measles-mumps-rubella immunization are convinced the shot was the cause, but repeated studies have failed to find scientific evidence. Although one small, heavily publicized British study published in 1998 suggested a link, 10 of the 13 authors publicly retracted the findings in March 2004, saying they were unreliable. The study, lead by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, only studied a small sample of 12 kids, eight of whom were diagnosed with autism. By early 2010, the same British journal, The Lancet, that published his findings retracted his study and in January 2011, the British Medical Journal publicly denounced Dr. Wakefield’s research as “fraudulent.” The British Medical Journalannounced that Dr. Wakefield had “falsified data” and tampered with his research results to give the MMR vaccine bad publicity. At the time of his study, Dr. Wakefield had been involved in a lawsuit against the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine and would have gained money if he’d won, making his research an obvious conflict of interest.
Common Signs Of Autism
Some of the more common signs that may indicate a person has autism include:
- Avoiding eye contact
- Delayed speech and communication skills
- Reliance on rules and routines
- Being upset by relatively minor changes
- Unexpected reactions to sounds, tastes, sights, touch and smells
- Difficulty understanding other peopleââ¬â¢s emotions
- Focusing on or becoming obsessed by a narrow range of interests or objects
- Engaging in repetitive behavior such as flapping hands or rocking
- Children not responding to their name by 12 months
- Children not pointing at distant objects by 14 months
Worried you or someone you know might have some of the signs of autism? The Ada app can help you check symptoms. or find out more about how it works.
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Dealing With Meltdowns And Tantrums
Sensory Strategies For Headbanging
As head banging is a sign of a childs need for release, it can be altered with other physical activities that are not harmful to the child. Some tips for giving replacement behavior for headbanging are:
1. Consider padding areas you find your child frequently bangs his/her head against.
2. Use a headbanging helmet with an MD prescription.
3. Utilize vibration. This will activate the vestibular system, and your child will thus receive input in a safer and more functional way. Examples include vibrating stuffed animals, vibrating toothbrushes, vibrating pillows, vibrating small massagers, etc.
4. Have your child sit in a rocking chair at home and school.
5. Have a yoga ball chair at home and at school to help provide vestibular input .
6. Have your child do movement exercises that go against resistance and activate the proprioceptive system.
7. Have your child do movement breaks that incorporate rotation and place the head below the heart . An example of this would be the yoga pose of Sunrise, Sunset. Have your child stand with feet planted and back straight. Your child should reach up with straight arms while taking a deep breath in.
This should be followed by your child reaching down towards the floor and touching his/her feet while breathing out .
9. Use a weighted hat/weighted halo to provide proprioceptive input to the head. A regular baseball cap is also fine, as this will still provide input to the head.
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Copy And Paste The Code Below To Embed The Birth Injury Myths/facts On Your Website:
< /p> < br /> < br /> < p> < /p> < br /> < br /> < p> < strong> Please include attribution to < a href=https://www.bila.ca/> BILA Canada< /a> with this graphic.< /strong> You can see the graphic on the < a href=https://www.bila.ca/birth-injuries/hypoxic-ischemic-encephalopathy-hie/> Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy < /a> page.< /p> < br /> < br /> < p> < a href=https://www.bila.ca/birth-injuries/hypoxic-ischemic-encephalopathy-hie/> < embed src=https://www.bila.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/HIE-6.pdf alt=What is HIE width=600px height=2100px border=0 /> < /a> < /p> < br /> < br /> < p>
Why Do Autistic Children Hit Themselves
For children with autism, headbanging is a way to self-soothe and communicate needs as a result of some form of anxiety. Babies and toddlers soothe themselves and want to feel the same as they did in their mothers womb. This is known as vestibular stimulation. Other habits that feed a childs vestibular stimulation include head rolling, body rocking, biting, and thumb sucking.
The desire to self soothe in this way can be for any of the following reasons
- Physical Pain
- Sensory processing issues
- Attempting to communicate
According to Dr. Harvey Karp, MD, rhythmic habits trigger the calming reflex in infants and toddlers. Many babies with autism headbang around six months of age, but their neurotypical peers stop doing so by three years of age.
Noha F. Minshawi, Ph.D., assistant professor of clinical psychology in at Riley Hospital for Children, says children with autism spectrum disorders show self-injurious behaviors at high rates.
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The Role Of Mitochondrial Impairment In Gut Dysfunction In Autism:
The last reason the gut causes sensory issues and, therefore, pain in children with autism is impaired mitochondrial function. Mitochondria are the energy production factories in our cells. They produce a molecule called ATP that is the fuel for every cell, tissue and organ in the body. Research on autism shows that most autistic children are not able to produce enough energy because their mitochondria are not functioning optimally. Toxins, SNPs and microbes like clostridia can all cause disruption to mitochondria leading to low levels of ATP. The gut is a long tube, up to 20 ft in adults, and requires ATP to function properly.
Rule Out Medical Conditions
Before you begin taking steps to get your child to stop hitting, talk to a doctor to rule out any other medical conditions. When depression, epilepsy, or even allergies are ravaging the body of an autistic kid, hitting may be a response to the pain or discomfort. Hitting is their way of expressing negative feelings with their body, and fixing the medical issue can resolve the hitting problem as well.
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What To Do When Your Child Hits You
Stay Calm: Although it might sound pretty obvious, the first step is staying calm. When you stay calm it shows your child that you are in control. Which, can represent huge support for him/her during a frustrating moment.
Never Punish/Yell/Spank: Keep in mind that your childs behavior is not personal. It is not that he/she means to hurt you. If you react with similar behaviors, you will only reinforce the conduct in your child, and somehow he/she will learn that it is okay to express his/her feelings in that way.
Stop The Behavior: Stopping the behavior is the first step to properly managing anger episodes.
Gently grab your childs arms to stop him from hitting you, and then calmly but firmly mention to him/her I see that you are angry but I wont let you hit me. A simple statement like this will show your child that you care and validate his/her feelings, but you are setting healthy limits.
Validate his/Her Feelings: Validating your childs feelings is crucial for his/her connection with you. This way you are letting your child know that even though you dont approve of his/her conduct, you understand the feeling behind it.
The following phrases will help you validate your childs emotions while setting boundaries:
- I know that you were very angry and this is why you hit me. Im here if you want to talk about it.
- I see how upset you are. Lets talk about this!
- Lets take a moment to calm down and see how you feel.
Remember, you are not alone!
S To Replace Hitting Behavior
The good news is you can change Behavior. The bad news is its going to take a little while. So, first things first, here are the four steps to changing Behavior.
It seems like such a no brainer, but when you are sitting in a classroom getting the snot smacked out of you all day long it gets hard to think things through logically. The only thing running through your head is how to make it all stop.
So lets break down these four steps a little more.
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What Causes A Traumatic Brain Injury
When you take a violent, hard hit to your head, your brain may experience changes in chemical and energy use as a way to compensate for the injury. These changes can result in headaches, light/sound sensitivity, and confusion. In mild TBIs, these changes are short and do not permanently damage the brain. However, with more severe injuries, these changes can last longer and result in damage to the brain cells. These effects can cause the brain to swell and expand inside the skull. The swelling can lead to even more brain damage.
Challenging Behaviors In Autism
People with autism spectrum disorder may exhibit behaviors which put themselves at risk, cause difficulties for people around them or which are not socially acceptable.
Around 50 percent of people with autism engage in behavior that can cause themselves harm when they feel frustrated, overwhelmed or unwell. Such behaviors can include:
- Banging their head on walls or other objects
- Hitting themselves, e.g. hitting their head with their hands
- Poking themselves in the eye
- Pulling their hair
- Biting themselves
- Smearing feces
A person with autism who feels frustrated, overwhelmed or feeling unwell may also display physically aggressive behavior. This can include:
- Throwing objects
- Hitting, slapping or biting other people
- Pulling other peopleââ¬â¢s hair
Some people with autism eat objects that are not edible, or keep the objects in their mouth, a behavior known as pica. It is the most common eating disorder found in people with autism spectrum disorder. People may eat anything, including dirt or soap.
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My Personal Experience Of Asd
Where a child has a brain injury, I can see that having a diagnosis of ASD can have benefits . It can really assist a parent to access the appropriate help and support for their child.
I speak from personal experience. The boys diagnoses have enabled me to secure for each of them a statement of Special Educational Needs which places a duty both on their school and on the local authority to fund one to one support for them at school and to access expert input from local therapists, including occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and an autism outreach specialist.
This makes a vast difference to their school and learning experience, helping them to develop not just academically, but also socially and emotionally.
The term brain injury is a wide definition.
Like autism, there is a vast spectrum, ranging from mild brain injury, where intelligence may be intact but some of the symptoms mentioned above may be prevalent, to severe brain injury, where there is no mental capacity and complete dependence on others.
To be able to give a childs brain injury a label that is pretty widely known and understood in education and healthcare circles can be helpful.