How can I help a child with autism manage his behaviour?

Question

I am a preschool teacher in an integrated childcare centre, and I have a child with autism in my class. I have never worked closely with a child with autism before, and he seems to have trouble managing his behaviour. He mainly hits, kicks, and pushes the other children. What strategies can I use to help him learn other methods of expressing his upset with the other children?

Answer 1

I work with adults with autism, but think that anyone who is autistic really just needs to understand "why". You should teach the child the reason's why he shouldn't act this way and teach him positive ways to express his feelings. It is also about positive reinforcement. When he does act appropriately, or begins to learn to do so - a reward should absolutley be given!

Answer 2

get your son a one to one for school and and one to one for after school. when he doesn't act up give him a reward over time he'll get the flow of the method and decrease his bad behaviors. thats what we did with my brother, he still acts up sometimes but its decreased a lot over the years.

Answer 3

Inappropriate behavior serves a function for the child. It is a form of inappropriate communication because the child does not have the words or other means to communicate. So in his frustration he acts out.. and typically gets his needs met. So the question you have to ask is Why does he hit, when and under what conditions. Does he do this inappropriate behaviors when children are too close, too loud, accidentally bumping into him or when they take his toys or ask to share or try to play with him? Is trying to get help or attention from an adult? Once you can answer that question (and it might be for more than one reason) then you need to teach the child an appropriate way to protest or get attention. Teach the child to say, sign, gestures or use pictures to ask for help, to say mine, stop it or to take a break and walk away from something overwhelming. Children with autism can be oversensitive and over-reactive so they may need strategies to calm themselves down and regroup in order to join back in after getting upset.

Just remember misbehavior is a form of communication and as teachers it is our job to teach them a more appropriate way to communicate or get their needs met.

Answer 4

If he has no language, this is his way of communicating that something isn't right with him.   It could be he can't be in a crowd, its to loud, ext.   Not for sure where on the scale he is.   But this may help.  You take a simple index card and write in red,,I need a time out.  He won't be able to read this, but once you start using it he will catch on.   If he is starting to act up, give it to him and say "I need a time out"  then take him to a quite area where he can do a puzzle or something like that.  Never reward his bad behavior.  But help him be able to get away from whats bothering him.  If you find he is only doing this behavior when in a group activity, don't take him away from it right away.  He will keep doing the behavior as a task avoidance and you don't want that.  Try some strategys first.  Have him sit behind or away from the other children, and sit behind him.  Re-inforce him when he is sitting with quite hands and being good.  You can use skittles, or fish crackers ext.                                                                                                        In the ABA program I work in we use count down timers too.  It gives the child an idea of how long they will be there.   Just make a card with 5 numbers you can take off with velcro.  Put them on card 5,4,3,2,1.   Show him the card, tell him he has this much time untill he is  all done.  I would start out taking the numbers off quick the first time just for him to understand.  remove 5, tell him good sitting, maby a fish cracker.  minute later, take 4 off.  great job!  only 3 more to go and we are all done. ext.  You can drag the time between numbers as you need it.  These are great for alot of things.  sitting on the Potty, when its time to come in from playground, ext.   Hope some of these ideas help.  Good luck!!

Answer 5

pictures!

they help them to relate to what you are trying to say to him.

they are called pecs.

the hitting and kicking, and etc.... is from non communication.

a structured invironment and letting him know what you expect and what he will be doing next

will improve his behavior somewhat.

don't expect too much too soon.

this takes times and patience.

find out what he likes the most and reward that for working and good behavior.

Answer 6

Children with autism have severe nutritional defeciencys.Foods allergys can cause headaches,joint pain,muscle pain.Unless these things are being addressed,you probably won`t get much improvement with their behavior.The parents need to understand this,and want to do something about it.You could refere them to the autism research institute.Kirkman labs sells suppliments especially for kids with autism,and ADHD.These kids have problems with gluten,artificial ingredients in the food.There body does not absorb nutrients.Heavy metal toxitity may very well be an issue as well.1 in 6 american children has a learening disability.Being put on ritilin or an antidepresant,is not helping these kids at all.There is virtually no cases of autism in the amish population,except in a couple of cases where the children had been adopted and were vaccinated.Besides the mercury content in the vaccines,they are administering live virusis that severely damage the childs immune system,and digestive system.Dr. Andrew Wakefield has discovered the live measles virus in the gut and bowls of autistic children.Why can`t these kids behave?They have a viral illness,attacking their immune system.You could also check out some autism bio-med groups on yahoo groups.

Answer 7

i agree with heidi, train him like you would a dog.

Answer 8

first you find something that he really likes and you put it away and through consistency and reinforcement he earns the right to play with it. but first one thing to do is learn how to protect the other children from his behavior by removing him from the others by either putting in a chair outside the door or a corner but away from everyone until he calms down but one thing to remember is these kids understand more than you think they somehow know that if you promise him 3 minutes with his favorite toy and you don't comply with it you will not get any results because somehow they know that you aren't really going to do what you say.. consistency and repetitive actions will be a gain in your favor. autistic children do not like change but can cope with it if its slow and over time. for instance if he screams put him away from the others and then when he is calm down he can rejoin the group. if he is good all day and you promised him he could play outside then for a few minutes you should do it. don't disappoint him and he wont disappoint you... also i was told that when you say 1 negative thing about a child you are supposed to say something nice about the child. praise and reward will reinforce what you say and within time it will work... just have patience

Answer 9

I would use a social story with him.....they are simple short stories that help the child learn to self monitor his behavior.  I would also try a token system of reinforcement, something that you can show him easily and discreetly to let him know that he is displaying appropriate behavior, keeping hands and feet to self, for a small discreet reward.  If he does start to have a tantrum or start to display negative behaviors and can't calm down try removing him from the situation, and letting him have a small area, "break room" where he can deal with his frustrations.  hope this helps, i included links for information on social stories.

http://autism.about.com/od/treatmentopti...

http://www.polyxo.com/socialstories/

http://www.autism.org/stories.html

Answer 10

Social stories are wonderful.  Look up Carol Gray.

Also look up 'The incredible 5 point scale' for a great method to help a child learn how to control their behaviour (amongst other things).