How do I stop headbanging of my autistic son?

Question

How do I stop headbanging of my autistic son?

Answer 1

Natalie I too have a 7yr old son that has ASD and does this behavior especially when he becomes very frustrated.The one key is to distract him before he does it.Its not as easy as it sounds but its worth a try.He also wears a properly fitted helmet at his special school and that takes the sensory feeling away.But what ever method you try good luck o.k.

Answer 2

There is not really anyway to stop your son from headbanging.  I recomend having his doctor perscribe a helmet. for him.  I know that you don't want your son to look different but the helmet will keep him safe.  You can ween him off the helmet as a reward.  When your son has gone a certin amount of minuets without banging his head take the helmet off until he does it again.  This type of reward will reduce the problems he is having without allowing him to hurt himself.  Please do not encouage him to hit his head in safe places such as on pillows.  This only makes the problem worse because it encourages the behavior and shows your approval.  I teach autistic children and hold a Masters degree in Special Education

Answer 3

Your son is probably banging his head because he cannot communicate his needs. Unfortunately, this is a behavior that requires a lot of skill to extinguish. You may want to engage the services of a certified behavior analyst. You can find one at the Behavior Analyst Certification Board website.

Here is a sketch of what needs to be done, to get you started with thinking about solving the problem.

Record what is happening right before the head banging starts. If it always happens when he wants something, you are on the right track.

The replacement behavior you can use then is to teach him to either ask for what he wants if he is verbal, or make a picture board of all the things he typically wants or needs and have him point to the one he wants. Then give it to him.

As I have mentioned, this is a very complex behavior and the above is not as simple as it sounds. I suggest you go to a "Verbal Behavior" website to learn more about these techniques. You can do them yourself, but you need to learn how.

If your son is still in school and is banging his head at school, call and IEP meeting. At that meeting request that the school district autism or behavior specialist perform a Functional Behavior Assessment on the head banging behavior. This will help you with the home head banging because it will have the same purpose.

Answer 4

You have to give him a safe place to do it. Teach him to bang on his bed or pillow. If he needs more input than that, get a few of those foam tiles for the floor (for kids with pictures, or the alphabet) and put it on the wall in his favorite spot.

Sensory behaviors can't  be stopped, you have to replace them with something. If you can't get the banging to minimize, you need to do more activities with him.

Pick up the book called, "The Out of Sync Child has Fun," by Carol Stock Kranowitz. Great book, great ideas.

Answer 5

The best way to try and stop your son from banging his head is to try to replace the behaviour with a better less damaging behaviour. Very often autistic children do move on from behaviours but usually they are replaced by another behaviour. You could try to substitute the headbanging with a positive distraction so if you know he is going to bang his head distract him with something he likes. This won't always work because autistic children are very often one step ahead of us and seem to know what we are trying to do. My own autistic child will keep a behaviour for quite a while, even if it has a negative effect on her health, and then a new tic or behaviour will replace the old one. In the meantime try to make your son as safe as possible. I would advise not to stop your son from banging his head as this will only lead to more frustration. Good luck, merry Christmas.