I have an autistic cousin. is there any way to discipline him?

Question

He knows what is going on around him.he knows when he gets in trouble.but is right to spank him or yell at him to settle down.

Answer 1

Absolutely NOT!!!!  Some individuals with autism have serious impulse control issues and just because he knows what is "going on around him" does not mean he can control his impulse to do something wrong!  You don't "punish", you redirect and use positive reinforcements with someone who has autism!  And, you do it consistently.  Would it be okay for someone to hit you for something you couldn't control??

Answer 2

Try negative and positive reenforcement.

Positive reenforcement when he does something good. Like a sticker, a token. Or something he likes. The sticker's, tokens can be saved up to get a better reward at the end of the day or the week. It depends on how much time your cousin is able to understand.

Negative reenforcement when he does something wrong. Do something he doesn't like or take a sticker, token, etc away. Yelling probably won't do any good as he will probably just tune out. Spanking will only teach him that it is ok to hit.

You can try something like time out. On a specific chair or in a different part of the house (different room) so that he realises that when he does something wrong he has to miss out for a while.

Is your cousin at school. Ask the teachers what strategies they use. If he has problem behaviour at school they probably have a behaviour management plan in place.

If they don't try consulting a psychologist or behaviour management specialist.

Answer 3

No, not at all.  That will only teach him/her that violence is a way of life that he/she needs to be a part of.  He/she will learn to use violence as a form of expression.  Trust me, you don't want a violent autistic person in your hands.  Don't ever teach him/her, in words, nor by example, that violence is okay, in any way what-so-ever!!!  

From what I understand, you cousin lacks a well defined corpus callosum, if he/she has one at all.  This is the part of the brain that gets the two sides to work together.  He/she will probably never be able to socially relate to people.  That doesn't mean that there isn't a real person in there.  He/she's just very different.

Answer 4

When a child is autistic, one must be careful with punishment.

First, if the goal is to decrease the probability that the unwanted behavior will occur again, pay attention to the effect of the consequence- did the likelihood of the behavior occurring again increase or decrease after the punishment? Children with autism may be reinforced by punishment, which creates a situation where the punishment is not only NOT EFFECTIVE but it actually strengthens the problem behavior.

The most important thing to consider when trying to change the behavior of someone with autism, is the function of the problem behavior. What are they getting out of it? Is there a way for them to get that need met in a more appropriate way? Can replacement behaviors be taught?

I think you need to look at your question as one of effective vs. noneffective instead of one of right vs. wrong.

He may know what is going on around him- but he may lack the ability to cope & self-regulate. In addition, his ability to express his needs and feelings is probably compromised.

Answer 5

Positive reforcement.

Tell him/her ''If you get off the floor and stop screaming, we can read a book together'' or something he/she likes to do

and also love him/her alway. When they are haveing a meltdown, we think it's bad for us but it's worst for them, it may be that he/she is overstymalited and has to much going on take a break. go some where quite a peace full, remove them from the current place.

hopes this helps!

Answer 6

punishemnt as you described does work with soem peopel with autism-]

the preferred method is to reward the person when they are behaving appropriately (positive reinforcement) while quietly redirecting the wrong behavior