What can you do to help a child who has autsim with his behavior in school?

Question

What can you do to help a child who has autsim with his behavior in school?

Answer 1

a positive reinforcement system is often teh preferred method-

generally-to stop x behavior-the child is reinforced while he is not exhiniting the behavior

for hand flapping-

each segment of time without hand flapping a reinforcer is given-if hand flapping occurs-quick redirection is given and the time period starts again...

Answer 2

Without more details it's hard to help you. In general , however, I can tell you that having a predictable routine in place if essential to getting behaviors under control.  It's a big help if this is written down for the child (or if it's posted with picture icons, again, it depends on the age/severity of the condition)

Answer 3

Most children with Autsim should have either a IEP (individual eduaction plan)  or IFSP (individual family service plan -depends on age) or a 504 Plan in place..the choice between the IEP/IFSP and a 504 plan depends on the severity of the autism.

A 504 plan is a legal document falling under the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is designed to plan a program of instructional services to assist students with special needs who are in a regular education setting.

An IEP  is designed to meet the unique educational needs of one child. The IEP must be tailored to the individual student's needs as identified by the evaluation process and must help teachers and related service providers understand the student and how best to work with that student. In other words, the IEP should describe how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and how the school staff and student will work together to help the student learn better.

The IFSP  (ages 3-5) is set up to identify individualized supports and services that will enhance the child’s development. The IFSP can be used as an IEP for the child if certain terms are met.

Part of  being evaluated for special education is that the child is to be assessed in all areas related to the their suspected disability. If their behavior interferes with their learning or the learning of others, they must consider strategies and supports to address the child’s behavior. These strategies & supports are to be included within the IEP/IFSP or 504 Plan..when they start, what they are, how long they will be administered, etc. If they have addressed the childs behavior already in the IEP/IFSP or 504 Plan, then a meeting needs to be held in order to review the IEP/IFSP or 504 Plan  to consider new strategies & supports to address their behavior.

If one has not been done yet, request from the school a FBA (functional behavioral assessment). They can assess the child's  behaviors and create an BIP (behavioral intervention plan) and add it to their IEP/IFSP or 504 Plan . A team (which includes you) would need to consider positive and effective ways to address that behavior. The team would discuss the positive behavioral interventions, strategies, and supports that the child needs in order to learn how to control or manage their behavior. If the team decides that the child needs a particular service (including an intervention, accommodation, or other program modification), they must include a statement to that effect in the child's IEP/IFSP or 504 Plan and in the BIP.

Something else to consider is to see what may be causing the behavior, such as sensory issues, frustration, etc. Keep a log of when the child acts out, what was the child doing just before they acted this way and so on, you may notice a certain pattern/certain something that could be causing this behavior.

Contacting a local CARD center (center for autism and related diseases - usually at local universties) can be very helpful as well..They offer free classes which include behavior basics I & II, they base it off ABA (applied behavior analysis) in which both teachers and parents can attend (parents must put their child into their database and attend an orientantion first). They will  go to the child's home and work with the child, parents, siblings, etc on techniques to use to help control the behavior...they will go to the school (if ok'd by the school) and work with any teacher, aide, etc on the techniques as well.

If it is your child, look into your health insurance, most will provide a certain # of hours for behavioral counseling... eg my son has autism and has a behavioral counselor that come to our home once a week to work with him and me on his behavior.

Answer 4

You need to be more specific. Is it severe or high functioning autism? How severe are the behaviors and what is the child doing?

  The first thing you need to do is structure the environment. Create a picture schedule the child can follow so they have a sense of routine. Be aware of what may bother the child (sights,sounds,smells) and try to avoid those if possible.

  Use less words and more pictures or sign language. When giving directions be as specific as possible with the least amount of words. (EX: don't say "you are talking too loud, I need you to be quiet" say "quiet" and put your finger to your lips).

  Work with the team to make a behavior plan. Imbed motivators into the schedule for the student to work for. The behavior plan takes a look at why the student is misbehaving (attention, escape, sensory) and works on what triggers the events, how the team can prevent the events, what steps to take when the student misbehaves. The plan should be explicit and everyone that works with the student should be trained in how to enforce the plan.

If you can give me more info I can help you with a plan. Just email me. Good luck.

Answer 5

Since the term "behavior " is a broad spectrum, I am at a loss as to methods to help modify the actions. But being a teacher of students with behavior issues , I have found that positive reinforcement works really well for most small annoying behavior. Violent, aggressive, and /or dangerous actions usually require some type of intervention and or medical checkup.

Answer 6

The trick is to realize that all behavior has a function. It's likely that most people do not understand the antecedent (causation) of the behaviors. Because most kids with autism have communication disorders, it's very difficult to work through and realize what causation is. In a school setting, I would request a functional behavior assessment from an outside source. It is very difficult for those who have a perceived notion of what's causing behavior to look at behaviors clearly.

First rule out sensory input and medical issues. There have been so many cases of children in pain, and not able to share. Ask parents about recent check ups. For example, there was a child who kept hitting herself in the throat, and it turned out she had reflux. A child who kept biting herself or items, had an absessed tooth. Kids who hit others may have ear infections and the noise of classmates is hurting them. If the room is busy with pictures and color, or with noise and kids, then clear a space for them where they can work without being overwhelmed.

Next, rule out associations. If the child has associated escaping from class when she has a negative behavior, she will quickly learn to utilize that (it's amazing how quickly they pick those up, and yet my daughter couldn't talk until she was six lol!)

Finally, check expectations and reward systems. Children with autism do not have an intrinsic desire to please others, so it is important to make good behavior worthwhile, and to reward until they are capable of associating themselves. If they are having to work for too long, they will resist ALL learning in fear of not getting a break. In fact, kids with even high functioning autism have brains that cannot truly comprehend beginning and end. Every task presented seems like it will last for ever. So be sure to clearly outline what will happen, the steps, and try to keep it under three to five steps, many kids with autism have trouble with serialization, even of preferred activities (hence the so-called stim)

This is long, but hopefully helps.

Answer 7

The  thing  that  you  could  do  for  a  child  that  was   diagnosed  with  autism is  to  enroll him / her  in  a  special  school.  Special  schools  are  designed   to  cater  children  with special  needs.  There  curriculum  is  well  planned  and    it  is  individualized  so  to   achieve  the  Individualized goal/ objective   for  a certain  individual.   Other  than  that  ,  support  and  understanding  which  comes  together  with  love  and  acceptance  is  the  best  thing  that  you  can  give  to  a  child  so  special.  This  applies  to  other  special  children.

Answer 8

Send them in a special school for those who has an autism, where they can be  given a better management for it!

Answer 9

A child who is diagnosed with autism and attending a main stream school should either be statemented for special educational needs or be on an Individual Education Plan. Either of these would contain strategies to help the child with their behaviour in school, if the child should reach crisis point there should be a plan in the statement or IEP of how this should be dealt with. Generally children with autism thrive on routine and continuity so that should be adhered to as much as possible. Also the parents of the child should be involved and consulted regularly as they usually know the child best. As the autistic spectrum is so large it is difficult to generalise and each child must be treated on an individual basis.

Answer 10

It may help to have a paraprofessional who can take child on breaks when child needs them.  This could be a walk in the hallway, or just sitting in the corner on a bean bag for a minute.  Something brief and calming, possibly with sensory input, will help regain concentration.