Autistic children often have difficult behaviors because they lack the ability to communicate their needs and wants in an appropriate way. To eliminate the unwanted behavior, the child needs to be helped to have their needs and wants met in a constructive way.
Making the Plan
Image titled Make a Behavior Intervention Plan for an Autistic Child Step 11
Target only one behavior at a time. Different negative behaviors likely have different causes, and thus different solutions, and it is too difficult to address all of these at once.
Talk with the child about the behavior, if possible. The behavior may be a solution for a given problem (e.g. humming in class to drown out unpleasant sensory input). In this case, your goal is to expand their repertoire of ways to solve the problem.[1]
Encourage self-advocacy.[2] Teach the child to speak up, using words or AAC. Reward this by paying attention and respecting what they have to say.
Explain other people's thoughts and feelings in a clear, concrete way. It may help to draw stick-figure pictures, with thought bubbles, where you and the child can write down what others are thinking.[3]
Keep a log, if you can't ask the child. To identify possible reasons for the behavior, keep a log of what happens before the behavior, the behavior itself, and what happens afterwards. It won't be as direct as asking the child, but if the child cannot speak or use AAC, it is your best bet.
Example log entry: At 4:30, Joey came into the kitchen and grabbed two cookies. When I told him he could not have them, he began to throw a tantrum. When he calmed down, I gave him a cookie.
After math class, Marcia and her peers went to the school assembly. Marcia grew increasingly agitated as we waited, and began chewing on her fingers. This escalated until she was viciously biting her own arms. An aide took her to the office so she could calm down.
Making the Plan
Image titled Make a Behavior Intervention Plan for an Autistic Child Step 11
Target only one behavior at a time. Different negative behaviors likely have different causes, and thus different solutions, and it is too difficult to address all of these at once.
Talk with the child about the behavior, if possible. The behavior may be a solution for a given problem (e.g. humming in class to drown out unpleasant sensory input). In this case, your goal is to expand their repertoire of ways to solve the problem.[1]
Encourage self-advocacy.[2] Teach the child to speak up, using words or AAC. Reward this by paying attention and respecting what they have to say.
Explain other people's thoughts and feelings in a clear, concrete way. It may help to draw stick-figure pictures, with thought bubbles, where you and the child can write down what others are thinking.[3]
Keep a log, if you can't ask the child. To identify possible reasons for the behavior, keep a log of what happens before the behavior, the behavior itself, and what happens afterwards. It won't be as direct as asking the child, but if the child cannot speak or use AAC, it is your best bet.
Example log entry: At 4:30, Joey came into the kitchen and grabbed two cookies. When I told him he could not have them, he began to throw a tantrum. When he calmed down, I gave him a cookie.
After math class, Marcia and her peers went to the school assembly. Marcia grew increasingly agitated as we waited, and began chewing on her fingers. This escalated until she was viciously biting her own arms. An aide took her to the office so she could calm down.
