Paraeducator with special needs kid question:)?

Question

I have a autistic student who has started biting me daily, and its very consistant with it. The child is a 4th grader and is a good sized kid, and quite heavy. Today he bit me in my arm while I was restraining him from hurting himself and others. He left a hefty bruise, and swelling but it did not break the skin. He is biting everyday and only me. This is extremly frustrating because he knowes it up sets me, and thats exacly what he's looking for. The child is a very difficult child, and we are running one of the most severe centers in our city/state. Yes, I knew what I was signing up for when I took this job, but still i'd like some ideas or suggestions. He is our worst case in the entire school, and he's a big handful yet he can be a very sweet boy at times as well.

I'm just looking for tips on getting him to end the biting, and move onto something less painful-I guess:)...I swear i'd rather be punched then bitten. Bites hurt like h**l!

Answer 1

I totally agree with everything suggested to you by Miss Behavior,especially finding the antecedent to the behavior.I would just add, you shouldn't have to deal with this behavior alone.Sometimes it is harder to see what is going on when you are in the thick of things. Hopefully the child has a good Behavior Specialist as part of his team,who can observe and help you identify this,as well as helping with the visual chart and explaining it to the child.I also agree,you have to have no reaction to the bite. I know it will be extremely difficult but I think with these suggestions,you will be able to eliminate the behavior.Good luck!

Answer 2

Firstly we need to find out why he is biting you. It would be helpful to make an observation chart and record at what time these incidents happen. Make notes on what you were wearing, what perfume, what you were saying, any environmental changes such as noises eg another child's voice, a chair scraping on the floor, another person entering the room. In other words try to record everything. Usually a pattern emerges, eg the same time, indicating he may be hungry and have low sugar levels, or thirsty,or anxieties may be increasing before certain lessons or playtime. The main thing to remember is that all behaviour is a form of communication, we just need to find out what he is trying to say.

Social stories by Carol Grey are also very good for children with autism. These can be found on the internet or her books may proove to be useful to you. The stories will explain visually to him why it is an unwanted behaviour. If he is feeling anxious when he is biting you there is no point giving him verbal explanations about what he should or should not be doing because quite simply he will not be able to process the language when he is in this state. Displaying a 'No biting' symbol or showing him one before the incident  i.e a picture of someone biting with a red cross through it may also help. Visual communication will be far easier for him to understand. You must also understand that this behaviour is not acceptable just because he has autism. You should not be hit, kicked, or punched!

He may also be doing this because he likes you! I know that may be quite hard to understand but I have come accross this before. This is where the social stories are useful to explain to him that you like him but do not like the biting. You may think well surely he will know that I don't like it by my reaction. It is easy to assume that he knows it upsets you but he may be misinterpreting your reaction. Here we have to remember that they can find it very difficult to underatnd social situations good or bad and have difficulties understanding emotions and facial expressions.

What ever he is trying to communicate we need to give him another and more appropriate way to do so. You do not say if he is able to communicate but sometimes even when they can P.E.Cs symbols is far easier for them to use if they are feeling anxious. P.E.Cs can also be found on the internet.

I hope some of this may help him and yourself and that you are able to move onto communicating in a less physical way.

Answer 3

trade with another paraeducator for another child...the change will take you out of the line of fire but it will also give documentation if he bites another educator with the same role  then the behavior is not limited to a particular person but to the role in the classroom...change is not good for these special needs children but sometimes it does take them out of a routine they have developed and gives them an opportunity to break the  routine...is the child on meds?  sometimes those dosages need to be changed as the child grows...if he bites your forearms the always wear long sleeves so he gets a mouth full of fabic...and be direct with an authority filled "NO"...with your experience you have probably tried everything but sometimes you start trying those things again because one might work the second time or third time around...good luck

Answer 4

In terms of behavior analysis, it is helpful to understand that if a behavior continues, it is being reinforced in some way. So the behavior has a purpose and it will be helpful to find out what that purpose is.

Organisms only do things for three reasons:

*To get something, like attention or a preferred activity.

*To avoid or escape something, like a non-preferred person or activity.

*To communicate their needs.

Given that, it would be helpful to note the type of activity that you are doing before he bites you. This is called identifying the antecedent to the behavior. If you can figure this out, you may find that he is trying to escape a non-preferred activity.

This sounds more like an escape related behavior than an attention seeking behavior, but we can't rule that out. It may be that you are attending to other people when he bites you, which then could be considered attention seeking.

At any rate, the main problem for autistic children is communication. You may want to try to figure out what he is trying to say when he bites you and to teach him another way to express himself. Sometimes allowing him to use some visuals to say what he wants can be helpful.

Be very careful with your reaction when he bites you. Try not to show anything on your face or in your voice. I know this is going to be hard, but ASD kids are very alert to emotional expressions.

Finally, you may want to consider a cost response in that when he bites you, he loses a preferred activity and when he doesn't bite you he gets an extra treat. You MUST make a visual If/Then chart so that he understands the concept.

For an example, I had an ASD girl who was taking off her clothes and running around the room tearing things off the walls. I made an If/Then chart which showed clothing on the ground and a girl ripping things off the wall. On the Then side, I had a picture of a swing set with a line through it.

For the positive side, I showed a girl doing her work and for the Then side, I had a big blue ball that she truly loved.

I worked with her before she had the problem and when she did the behavior, I went over the chart with her and held her back from recess. It didn't take very long to get the idea across.

Good luck and thanks for caring about a very difficult child.

Answer 5

I"m new to the whole special ed thing, I am volunteering in a special ed classroom where a lot of low functioning EBD students are held. The best thing I can advise with the lack of experience I have had so far, is take him into the hallway, restrain his arms to his side, get down to his level, stare him straight in the eye and talk in a firm but gentle way that it is not okay to bite and explain why.

Sorry I am not much help, but just try a bunch of things and see what works!

Answer 6

I would ask the Special Education teacher what he/she thinks may be the problem.

Do you normally wear a certain uniform/color to work that may be different from the other teachers?  

It could be the color that alarms him, if so.

Are you louder or quieter than the other teachers?  That could be it.

Try getting "down to his level".  I have heard of many educators and assistants being able to "reach" autistic children by mimicking their habits while teaching them...

If he rocks, rock with him...whatever he seems to do to soothe himself...unless it's something obscene or hurtful, obviously, mimick.

By reaching "his comfort" level, that may be something that you can use to work with him in the future.

Example:  my Chiropractor has an autistic son who LOVES tye dye, and when my daughter wears it, she's his friend for the day.

If my son wears something with baseball (another love of this child...well, he's 26 now), my son is his friend for the day.

Answer 7

You need some form of distraction. If he shows signs that he is going to bite you, you need to have something close to hand that will instantly distract his attention elsewhere. You also need to avoid the triggers that lead up to him wanting to bite you. If he does bite you try not to show any reaction as this is what he is wanting from you. Most autistic kids do present with these unusual behaviours and they won't stop only change. So do try to distract him into doing something else other than biting. Good luck.