Autism-World

Q: I was shopping with my hubby and 4 yr old autistic son and boom out of the blue my son has a meltdown, tantrum, hitting his head on the floor crying screaming everything.he did this over a toy. It made me question myself as others gathered. Was he simply overstimulated etc or was this a regular normal fuctioning temper tantrum. It was so hard for me to tell because it was over a toy. I didnt know if I should disipline or comfort. I hate this part of it so much. I wish he could tell me why he freaks out. I feel so sad because it makes me second guess myself regarding how to handle the situation.(sigh)

Answer:

One way to look at such intensive acting out kinds of behaviors is that regardless of the reason, it remains an unacceptable means of communication overall. So, as a thought to your first question, unless he is acting out due having hurting himself or following exposure to a scary or otherwise frightening situation, it is generally not advisable to provide too much comfort and feedback.

At the same time, the reason he is carrying on is absolutely important and relevant and it is definitely very frustrating not to be able to ask him more directly. How we actually respond, more specifically, is directly related to function of??r cause and effect relationship involved in??ny given behavior. This means that how to respond is driven to a degree by the function or cause of the behavior. This is the basis for use of the functional behavioral assessment.

When acting out is done to escape an overwhelming sensory environment (which definitely can happen), a best initial strategy is to simply remove the child from the offensive environment to one which is minimally stimulating, offer some empathy, and let him or her kind of reorganize. This can also inform us if the acting out was more due to sensory overload rather than a personal kind of demand (like for a given toy). But even then it is important, I think, not to overdo the empathy or comfort.

This is because we still want to teach the child how to better respond and let us know when he or she needs to back out of a situation. Too much social input when he is acting out risks further enhancing this particular kind of behavior while reducing his motivation to learn alternatives routes to escape when he or she needs a break (which we all do sometimes).

In the circumstance you note here??and at least on the surface, I would have viewed the episode as a one in which he was demanding to be given the toy. An FBA which would include examining for similar scenarios (for instance, does he act out in a similar way when denied other higher preference requests) would help figure out the degree to which the environment you were in today would predict this particular kind of episode.

It is also worth noting that a single severe behavior, like acting out, an very easily have very different functions or reasons based on sometimes very different conditions. In one situation, it might be to escape sensory overload while in another, the acting out might primarily be for access to something really desired (as just two quick examples).

So, rather than second guessing yourself? to speak about similar circumstances and how he and you all? responded. For instance, was it effective or not? and why or why not do you think this was the case? What do you think was the reason for his behavior this, and in other circumstances, what was he trying to accomplish or get?

Think about these other situations when he acted out in a similar way and whether there were different triggers and conditions. This can also then help to generate an augmented communication system that he can learn to use under these different conditions to say, for instance, “need to leave NOW!” when sensory overload is involved. And the FBA can help us to better predict such scenarios. I have been able to teach children this alternative to acting out over the years with success, but it takes a little time and a careful FBA.

Think about what happened but don’t second guess or feel less able??because this is not the case at all. It is a process that requires information and time. And for another thing, your son is hardly the first 4 year old, with or without autism, who has carried on in a toy store! And remember that most of those who gather to stare couldn’t manage such episodes or care for the unique needs of your child on their best day!

Technorati : autism

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Autism Resources.