What To Do When My Child Is Having A Tantrum
1. Tantrum vs. Meltdown
Before you intervene in any way, try to figure out whether your child is having an autism meltdown or tantrum. As we discussed earlier, they may look similar but they need different approaches.
Meltdowns are a response to external stimulation, while tantrums can occur when a need is not being met.
It is important to distinguish the two before having a strategy to manage the situation.
2. Figure out the motivation
Understanding what lies behind the tantrum behavior will give you the key to manage it.
You will be able to respond to it more appropriately. They may want something, like a toy or attention. Recognize this want without giving it to them.
3. Remove the audience
Sometimes removing the audience from the environment, the tantrum will stop. If you noticed this pattern, like your child tends to have tantrums in crowded areas, teach them coping mechanisms in small gatherings.
Try removing yourself from the environment . It could also help reduce and stop tantrum.
4. Praise and reinforce positive behavior
Acknowledge the feelings of your child and praise them for their good behavior.
You can give them a hug, or tell them how they managed to do the thing well. These will avoid tantrum outbursts as your child will learn that they have your attention and can be successful in doing things.
5. Build the necessary skills
We have discussed before that tantrums can be caused by lack of certain skills like problem solving or negotiating.
- impulse control,
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Headbanging To Seek Attention
Children who headbang for attention may be experiencing sensory overload or deficit. In the moment, they may be unable to otherwise communicate their needs.
When children with autism experience sensory overload, their neurotransmitters cannot process the sensation. Noise, visuals, smells, and tastes can be uncomfortable and overwhelming for children with autism. The sensation of headbanging is one they can control and on which they can place their focus.
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How To Stop Autistic Child From Biting Others
There is no one answer to this question, as each child with autism is unique and will respond to different approaches. However, some general tips that may be helpful include: -Encouraging the child to use alternative methods of communication, such as sign language or picture cards, to express their needs or emotions. -Helping the child to identify and label their emotions, so that they can better understand and cope with them. -Providing opportunities for the child to release energy and frustration in positive ways, such as through physical activity or creative expression. -Creating a structured routine and environment for the child, which can help to reduce anxiety and provide a sense of predictability and security. -Encouraging positive social interactions and opportunities for the child to practice social skills.
How can I stop my three-year-old from biting my shoes? He has stopped biting people and is now banging his head against a wall, but he is biting people in classrooms and at home. Vinss claims that there is no apparent reason for his behavior. Because he lacks language skills, biting appears to be the only way for him to express himself. Because many children on the spectrum are unable to understand language, we are unable to provide them with an explanation. Teaching your child to speak a language is an effective way for him to avoid negative behaviors such as biting. Language was important to me because it allowed me to communicate with him.
Question: Why Do Children Engage In Head Banging
Answer:
Headbanging and autism can be a disturbing combination. While its terrifying to witness as a parent, its important to note its a surprisingly common behavior in many children with autism. Up to 20 percent of babies and toddlers bang their heads purposefully. Among them, boys are three times more likely to engage in this behavior than girls. Headbanging often starts at around six months, peaking anywhere between 18-24 months of age. This habit can stretch out for months , but most children outgrow this behavior by the age of three to four. This behavior may extend later for children diagnosed with autism, developmental delays, or who have suffered from neglect.
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Offer An Alternative Solution
If the biting seems to stem from frustration or anger, offer an alternative solution to manage the anger. A stress gel ball may work for this. Tell the child they may squeeze the ball when they are angry, but they are not allowed to bite. This strategy can also be used for both aggression and self-injury.
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How To Discipline Your Child For Hitting Others
Among the top parental concerns is how to discipline a child for hitting, including hitting you. When your child hits others, it disconcerting and often starts a cascade of worries and imagined scenarios involving a life of crime for their child. Understandably, parents are motivated to stop the aggressive behavior, but what works? While it seems daunting, you can learn how to discipline your children for hitting you and others and put your worries for their future to rest.
The first step in approaching your child who is hitting is to remember the meaning of discipline. To discipline means to teach and is about showing kids a better way to handle themselves and situations. Discipline is not about punishment. When disciplining a child that hits you or others, your goal is to teach them gently what to do instead of hitting.
The next step is understanding why, in general, kids hit. While children and circumstances are different, some prominent causes of hitting include:
- High frustration
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Autistic Child Hitting At School
Some autistic children may hit at school because they feel overwhelmed by their surroundings. They may also hit because they are trying to communicate their needs. If an autistic child is hitting, it is important to talk to their teacher or therapist to figure out why they are hitting and how to best help them.
An aggression is often used by a child to communicate that something is wrong with their environment. It is also possible to overcome additional difficulties later in life as a result of aggressive behavior if it is not properly addressed. If you or your family need behavioral support, you may be able to learn how to implement helpful strategies with the assistance of a licensed behavioral analyst or BCBA. You should also be aware of your childs triggers for negative behavior in order to avoid the risk of aggression. Getting started with therapy as soon as possible will lead to faster and better results. The disadvantage of teaching self-help and coping skills to a two-year-old is that this is easier than teaching older children to break bad habits. When confronted with aggressive behavior and autism-related behavior, yelling at a child with autism has few benefits.
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Make Them Feel Safe And Loved
Sometimes our children are so lost in their emotions that they cant hear us. In these situations, all we need to do is simply sit with or be near them.
Many times, we try to talk them down from their panic, but its often a waste of breath when a child is in the throes of a meltdown.
What we can do is let them know that theyre safe and loved. We do this by staying as near to them as theyre comfortable with.
Ive lost track of the times that Ive witnessed a crying child be told that they can only come out of a secluded space once they stop melting down.
This can send the message to the child that they dont deserve to be around the people that love them when theyre having a hard time. Obviously, this isnt our intended message to our kids.
So, we can show them were there for them by staying close.
Understanding Why Meltdowns Occur
There are underlying factors that contribute to meltdowns and other atypical emotional responses. The behaviors are based on limitations seen in most children with autism, including:
- Difficulty understanding social norms and conventions
- Difficulty following or using non-verbal communication
- Unawareness of others’ likely reactions to behaviors
- Sensory challenges that can get in the way of positive behaviors
- Lack of social motivation or the desire for social acceptance
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Tantrums Meltdowns And Takeaways
Both tantrums and meltdowns are manifestations of difficulty with emotional regulation skills and if they persist beyond the stages of typical development, can be associated with other diagnoses like ADHD, autism, sensory processing dysfunction, learning disabilities, depression, and anxiety.
While tantrums are behavioral in nature, meltdowns have a sensory, physiological basis that warrants different management strategies. While neither are fun outbursts to experience, focus part of your energy on proactively supporting your childs emotional regulation.
In the moments of tantrum or meltdown, use the guidelines weve outlined above to find what works for your child, and please share with Harkla what management strategies work for you!
Resources
Autistic Meltdown or Temper Tantrum? by Judy Endow, MSW. Ollibean. N.p., 10 Nov. 2016. Web. 25 May 2017.
26 Sensory Integration Tools for Meltdown Management Friendship Circle Special Needs Blog. Friendship Circle Special Needs Blog. N.p., 18 Nov. 2015. Web. 25 May 2017.
Bennett, David D. Decreasing Tantrum/meltdown Behaviors of School Children with High Functioning Autism through Parent Training. Social Science. N.p., 04 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 May 2017.
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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!
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Is Biting A Symptom Of Autism
In autism spectrum disorder , the stimming behavior of biting or chewing hard objects is known as biting or chewing. People with autism respond to stress by regulating their behavior, which is a self-regulatory mechanism. The disintegration of sensory processing has been linked to stimming behaviors in the past.
What Is Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement should not be confused with punishment. A parent can use negative reinforcement to shape behavior, and the approach uses an undesirable task to achieve results. For example, a child may dislike doing puzzles. Parent can encourage compliant behavior by cutting a puzzle activity short after the child follows directions without whining.The target behavior is following directions and the negative behavior is whining. The child learns that he is able to finish the task immediately once she stops whining. Otherwise, the activity continues.
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Yelling Threatening And Criticizing
Yelling, threatening, and criticizing your child with autism can often backfire and do more harm than good. Your child may even become more disruptive over time. Remember that the goal of disciplining your autistic child is to provide an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and not to lower their self-esteem.
How To Stop Hitting In Kids With Severe Autism
Weve been trying hard to stop this behavior, but its challenging. Charlie occasionally hits us, but its mostly strangers, or his brother, who gets hit. Sometimes, hell poke people in the face, and sometimes, like at the park, hell swat or slap them. I, of course, feel horrible about what happened, and I completely understand why the dad was angry. We try to watch Charlie as closely as we can, but it only takes a second for him to elope or lash out.
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Why These Behaviours Happen
Many autistic children have difficulties with communication, which can affect their behaviour.
Some things that can cause these behaviours include:
- being oversensitive to things like bright lights or loud noises
- being undersensitive to things like touch or pain
- anxiety, especially when routines suddenly change
- not being able to make sense of whats going on around them
- being unwell or in pain
These behaviours are not your or your childs fault.
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Managing The Misbehavior Of Autistic Children
Knowing how to discipline a child with mild autism as well as more serious autism is understanding how to manage their misbehavior. One approach is to make rules and have consequences for breaking them. For this approach to work, parents need to follow certain guidelines:
- Rules must be extremely clear with no room for interpretation. Children with autism are literal, black-and-white thinkers. Stating, Dont jump on the couch, means that they can jump on anything else.
- Consequences also must be clear and used consistently, every time a rule is broken.
Positive reinforcement is a highly recommended form of discipline for children on the autism spectrum This type of discipline teaches children to understand what behaviors are desirable and encourages them to do more of it.
Build on positive behaviors kids already use. When you catch them being good, reinforce the behavior with praise. Token boards add a visual, concrete element to positive reinforcement. The board sports a picture of a reward the child wants to earn and has pouches for kids to place little tokens you give them for positive behavior. When theyve earned enough tokens, they receive the reward.
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In March The Senate Passed A Bill To Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent What Happened
All these months later — and with the clocks set to be turned back — the Democratic-led House has not picked up the measure.
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 6, but some experts say “falling back” has an adverse effect on our health.
WASHINGTON — On Sunday morning, we all will begrudgingly turn our clocks back an hour — and in doing so, relegate ourselves to a winter of darkness.
It doesn’t have to be this way!
Back in March, the Senate passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, meaning that there would be no reverting back to “standard time” from early November through mid-March.
“You’ll see it’s an eclectic collection of members of the United States Senate in favor of what we’ve just done here in the Senate, and that’s to pass a bill to make daylight saving time permanent,” Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said at the time. “Just this past weekend, we all went through that biannual ritual of changing the clock back and forth and the disruption that comes with it. And one has to ask themselves after a while why do we keep doing it?”
And yet, all these months later — and with the clocks set to be turned back — the Democratic-led House has not picked up the measure. And it seems unlikely to do so in the lame-duck session that will follow the next week’s midterm elections.
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