When Giving Tasks Assignments Chores Etc Many Children Do Better If They Know When The Task Will End
Some examples of activities with a clear ending include puzzles, a specific number of math problems, a specific number of pages to read, a timed event , a specified way to complete a chore such as Put ten toys in the bin. or Spray the window three times and use the paper towel to wipe the spots off, a specific number of lines to write on the page for a writing assignment, etc. . See an example of an activity with a clear visual ending below:
Please cut out each word and match it to the correct picture.
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Additionally, when the task has a clear visual ending, it eliminates the need for a timer. For instance, if the child is working on a 10 piece puzzle you can let him know what comes next and no timer would be needed. This concept can be applied to anything with a clear visual ending . Whether you are using a timer or giving an activity with a clear visual ending, give a break in between for the child to do something enjoyable if he gets overwhelmed or frustrated with lengthy tasks. For example, if the child is supposed to write 20 sentences for homework, let him write ten, take a 10 minute break to do a preferred activity, and then do the next ten. .
Therapies And Supports To Improve Communication And Social Skills
Improved communication and social understanding can lead to lower anxiety and less challenging behaviour in autistic children and teenagers. There are many therapies and supports that might increase your childs skills in these areas, and help you manage your childs behaviour.
A good first step is talking with your childs GP, paediatrician or psychologist, or another health professional who works with your child. They can help you find appropriate therapies and supports for your child. Psychologists, speech pathologists and experienced Applied Behaviour Analysis practitioners can help you with behaviour management if the behaviour continues to be a problem or you need support to deal with it.
Rule Out Or Address Underlying Medical And Sensory Problems
First and foremost, its important to have your child evaluated for underlying medical and sensory issues that may be contributing to the meltdowns. Examples include the pain of GI distress, disrupted sleep and sensitivities to a jarring new school environment. So if you havent already, please consult with your childs therapist and physician about evaluation possibilities.
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder : What Is It
If children have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , it means they have difficulties with:
- paying attention for example, they find it hard to concentrate on tasks
- being hyperactive for example, they find it hard to sit still for long
- controlling impulses for example, they might say or do things before thinking them through.
Many children have these kinds of difficulties from time to time. In children with ADHD, these difficulties happen most of the time and have a big effect on their daily lives.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is, a problem with the way the brain or nervous system grows. In ADHD, the different parts of the brain dont talk to each other in a typical way. This is why children with ADHD might have more trouble than their peers with thinking, learning, expressing feelings or controlling behaviour.
We dont know exactly what causes ADHD.
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’, ‘Don’t color on the table’ becomes ‘Only color on the paper’. It’s counter-intuitive to the ways most of us usually parent but it works. There are times when there’s NO WAY around a don’t/stop statement. DON’T COLOR ON THE DOG. STOP HITTING YOUR BROTHER. Use your best judgement- you’ll figure out when you need to lay down the DON’T law.
Here I ignore his screaming because he was mad that I gave one of his cars to his brother when he didn’t 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 doesn’t work and realize they get more attention when their behavior is good.
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How To Deal With Adult Autism With 6 Powerful Behavioural Changes
Think about a situation when you are around everybody, but you feel so ghosted and isolated. Its painful, isnt it? Well, the same feeling haunts autistics from their very growing age. And adult autistics are most of the time left clinically undiagnosed, but they suffer from all the signs and symptoms of ASD .
Adults with autism spectrum experience many differences in characteristics and general qualities that make their lives challenging and miserable, most of the time. They need mental support and help to cope with a better life with the people around them.
First, you should know who is suffering from adult autism around you .
Assessing The Aggressive Behavior
How can ABA therapy be used to properly manage and control aggressive behavior in children with autism? The first step is to assess the scope of the behavior.
A board certified behavior analyst will look at how often the child strikes, whom or what they strike , and even what exactly they do . Other factors to be assessed are the childs age, the times and settings of the behavior, and how strong they are. The tactics to control violence in a 2-year-old toddler are very different from those that would be used for a 15-year-old teen.
It is also important to determine when the aggression does not take place. If a child is consistently placated when they get something they want or allowed to be in a safe space for as long as they want to be, this gives the BCBA important details on how the violent behavior can be curbed or even stopped.
These details need to be developed with an eye on the long term. The solutions are not as simple as letting the child have what they want when they are upset.
The assessment should give the BCBA enough information to determine why the child is harming themselves or those around them. For example, some children will primarily strike people who tell them they cant have something they really want or who tell them to do something they dont want to do. Other children will only have an outburst when theyre bored, not engaged, or feeling ignored or misunderstood.
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Strategy #: Applied Behavior Analysis
Applied behavior analysis, or ABA, is one of the most widely used therapies for children with autism. The purpose of ABA therapy is to help patients manage and modify certain behaviors, making it easier to overcome social challenges and avoid disruptions to learning.
Most experts recommend that children with ASD receive anywhere from 20 to 40 hours of ABA therapy per week, receiving rewards for positive behaviors while negative behaviors are ignored. ABA techniques can be used at home or in a clinical setting, providing flexibility while offering ample opportunities for children to practice and develop their skills for a real-world setting.
There are several types of ABA certifications that therapists can pursue, depending on their goals and interests. For example, a behavioral analyst who already has his or her masters degree in ABA may wish to take the exam to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst . An alternative is to earn an Autism Certificate , which prepares educators and healthcare professionals to work with children who have ASD, through a program like the Graduate Certificate in Autism at National University.
Strategy #: Relationship Development Intervention
Relationship development intervention, or RDI, is a form of behavioral therapy that specifically emphasizes social behaviors, such as taking turns with other children, learning to interpret body language and facial expressions, or improving eye contact with others. In an RDI-based approach, a therapist sets certain goals for the child after assessing his or her needs. The family then works to help the child reach those goals, while receiving feedback from and maintaining communication with the therapist.
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Put Your Own Oxygen Mask On First
If I can leave you with one last piece of advice, its this: its okay to ask for help. Im serious. As much as we want to be everything to everyone, sometimes the best thing we can do for our children and ourselves is to relinquish our control and accept the assistance of others. ABA Therapy and IBI Therapy can do wonders in improving autism and behavioral problems, and most countries offer some sort of respite care for the families of individuals with developmental disabilities like autism.
Autism and behavioral problems can be all-consuming for parents and caregivers, and while identifying and avoiding triggers, teaching self-regulatory skills, making dietary changes, and removing electronic devices can certainly help with a childs aggressive behavior, sometimes we need to be the change we want to see in the world.
If The Child Seems Over Stimulated From Sensory Input Such As In A Large Crowd Bring Him To A Quieter Place To De
Be mindful of situations where your child might feel overwhelmed before you take him there .
There are also strategies to create an environment that helps a child with autism feel less overwhelmed by sensory input. See How to Set Up the Classroom for Children with Autism and ADHD which includes strategies that can be used at home as well.
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How To Manage Behaviours Obsessions And Routines
While its important to accept the needs of those with ASD and the therapeutic nature of these behaviours, anything done in excess can become problematic, so its valuable to intervene early in teaching those with ASD to moderate these tendencies . To help a child with ASD set reasonable limits, try the following:
- Increase structure so the reliance on these behaviours is naturally lessened. Reduce unstructured situations so that the child experiences less anxiety, and only gradually loosen routines as the child gets older. Praise the child each time he or she copes well with change.
- Use visual supports such as photographs, written lists, objects, and symbols. When people with ASD can see what is going to happen, it feels more predictable to them, lessening their need for coping mechanisms. Written notes can also be useful for handling repetitive questions.
- Plan events in advance so that the child with ASD knows what to expect ahead of time. Warn the child as soon as you can about unexpected changes to plans use visual supports if you can. Also, try to arrange structure ahead of time, such as being sure the school will allow the child to stay in at recess if the outside environment is too much for him or her.
- Use social stories to help the child deal with social situations. These are usually short pictorial accounts of what to expect in an upcoming social situation. One should also teach skills around how to initiate and manage conversations.
Stabilization Regulation And Sensory Breaks
Once you have addressed your childs physical needs, its time to consider sensory and emotional regulation. Your childs sensory experiences are probably very different from your own. She is likely easily overwhelmed by information coming in through some senses, perhaps upset by loud noises, and isnt getting enough input from the senses responsible for self-awareness and regulation.
In school you learned about five senses: taste, smell, sound, sight, and touch. Two more senses are important to understand your child: the vestibular sense, which controls balance, and proprioception, or the sense of ones body in space. In many people with autism, some of the information from these senses is too much, too little, or distorted, leading to feelings of terror, pain, or disengagement.
To overcome the confusion, your child needs help stabilizing his senses. Author Judy Endow, an adult with autism, recommends sensory breaksmoments during the day when your child can fill sensory needs.
What type of sensory break does your child need?
Observe your child and see what they gravitate to when they do repetitive behaviors. That might give you some clues to what sensory activities help them regroup. Depending on your childs needs and strengths, a sensory break might include:
- spinning
- doing push-ups against the wall
- rubbing something with texture
- wearing a weighted vest or blanket
- listening to music
- taking a visual break in a quiet environment
- using an assistive technology
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Why Cooperation Is Important
Cooperative behaviour helps children succeed at school, in relationships with others and in extracurricular activities. Its also important for a happy and harmonious life.
Cooperation involves several important skills like sharing, taking turns and following instructions from others. Children need these skills to communicate and get along with others in most social situations.
Powerful Behavioural Changes Towards Adult Autistics
img source: amazonaws.com
The best support you can give to an adult autistic is by bringing behavioural changes within you. You cant cure the disorder permanently, but you can help them in every aspect.
Be Patient: It can be tough to cooperate with an adult autistic if you are not patient with him/her. The emotional and mental turmoil they go through more often is challenging to handle. Sometimes, people get impatient and treat the autistic as a regular individual.
But you have to keep in mind that adult autism is a unique disorder to take extra care of. They might not have such visible disabilities, but they have issues with social situations, coping with friends or people around them, or difficulty understanding.
It would help if you acted a bit patient with them to help them cope with their surroundings.
Support Programs: When you know the person is suffering from adult autism or is diagnosed with clinical ASD, you can take him/her to the support groups or programs. These organizations come with great hospitality and arrangement of supporting and comforting adults with autism traits.
If you are confused about which program to pick for, you can take the doctors help for a suggestion. Besides, check out different websites, such as , which are doing great jobs to heal and improve autistics .
img source: marcus.org
Give them priority to listen to their words and feelings. Its important.
img source: verywellhealth.com
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The Most Important Thing You Can Do Is Teach The Child To Communicate
Once you understand what is causing the behavior, you can work with your clinician and make a plan to address it.
If the self-injury is related to anxiety or discomfort in certain situations, social stories and priming may help ease transitions. Social stories help children practice before a situation occurs in real life, and priming provides the child with information about what will happen next to reduce their anxiety. Providing choices can also give the child a venue to communicate needs and preferences. Anything that makes situations more predictable, such as priming and social stories, can be helpful in reducing self-injury for those people with ASD for whom unpredictability serves as a trigger for the self-injury.
Teaching an alternative behavior to replace the self-injury to help the child get their wants and needs met in another way is crucial. For example: if a child bites his hand and, subsequently, his parents leave him alone whenever he bites his hand , then the most important intervention is to teach the child the words to use instead. Teaching him to say leave me alone, or something equivalent to that either verbally or through sign language or with PECS or an ACC device, etc. empowers him to have his needs met in a safer way.
Pharmacological Treatments Of Aggression
The combined negative impact and frequent occurrence of aggressive behavior in individuals with ASD have been factors in driving the focus of pharmacologic research on ASD-associated irritability over the last 50 years. Second-generation antipsychotics are the most commonly employed first-line pharmacotherapy options for the treatment of aggression in ASD. Following several large randomized, placebo-controlled trials that demonstrated robust reduction in aggressive behavior with treatment in youth with ASD, risperidone and aripiprazole were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of irritability in this population. First-generation antipsychotics, antiepileptic medications , mood stabilizers, and several glutamatergic modulators are also frequently employed for the treatment of ASD-associated irritability, though with less robust evidence supporting their use .
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Strategies For Dealing With Defiant Rude & Oppositional Students
We have five available choices when we don’t want to follow a direction:
1. Deny or swallow our feelings & comply passively.
2. Refuse in a rude manner.
3. Withdraw or run away.
4. Avoid complying by use of trickery and manipulation.
5. Make our feelings and decisions known in an respectful manner.
We want to help our kids adopt patterns #5 .