Managing Problem Behaviors in Children with Autism and Developmental Disabilities

Common problem behaviors associated with Autism and developmental disabilities (including tantrums, noncompliance, aggression, and self-injury) can interfere with day-to-day activities at home, in school and in public. Dr. Cy Nadler of Children's Mercy Kansas City's Department of Developmental and Behavioral Sciences shares a variety of strategies based on the basic concepts of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) that can help children and families prevent and reduce these daily problems.

[smellycat]

I sometimes feel overwhelmed with having a child with autism. The screaming, meltdowns, self harm, I can't communicate with him. I break down sometimes because it's hard. Nobody in my family has a special needs child so I feel isolated because they aren't really they're for me. I will never give up on my son, he has speech/ occupational therapy and ABA. I just wish it could get easier already, it's a hard thing to deal with.

[lindawilliams]

I am the mother of a 28 year old child with autism. I was the first familly member to have a special needs child. Do not give up on your child because we experienced the screaming, meltdowns, and the lack of communication. From my experience, I had to become my child's teacher and it was hard. She became the center of my universe. If I talked on the phone, it was limited, usually 5 minutes before she had a meltdown. So my circle of family and friends knew to speak quickly because I couldn't talk on the phone. But as much as possible, I treated her as a neurotypical child.

Once it was clear she could understand some words, I held accountable for her behavior. For example, the screaming was allowed in her room but not around others in the house. If she tantrumed in the store, I warned her we would leave if she continued. If she continued, we left everything in the cart and went home. And the ride home involved me calmly telling her that she can not fall down in the store or scream in the store. Once she attempted to hit me and I got down on her level and gave her eye contact and told her she can not hit "No Hitting" and she lowered her hand. One night the meltdown went on for so long, I sat on the floor in the family room and wrote a social story about a little girl looking for the magic word box. Try and remain calm because they are sensitive to mood changes. Even today if I raise my voice, my daughter will come out of her room and ask "You okay?"

Fast forward, she graduated from high school, went to prom with a date (of course I was sitting in the parking lot of the venue), and played cymbals in the marching band. She is still not conversational. But she responses to two choices ( do you want chicken or beef for dinner) and she understands First -Then ( first church, then your Iphone). When I see her with odd behavior like walking with her hands balled up in fists, I whisper to her "Open your hands. Look around others are walking with their hands down." Communication isn't always verbal. My daughter would stand in from of a specific cabinet when she wanted a snack.

Last week her work program had a cookout. I asked her what did they eat and she actually talked! She said, "Baked Beans, sweet potatoes (I think she meant potato salad but I didn't correct her because I wasn't present at the cookout), chips". Then I asked her was there any meat. She responded, "hot dogs, hamburgers". She has never done that before. So I keep an expectation that she will continue to improve her communication and social skills.

Of course, this does not happen the first time, the tenth time, etc. It takes a lot of repetition but the behaviors can get better over time. It will take a lot of patience, catch the child being "good" and use praise Excellent, Great Job, etc., and correct not-so-good behavior immediately by offering a better choice. You can not wait until later to address unwanted behaviors. By the way, once my daughter turned 8, I went back to school to become a spec ed teacher which I did for 17 years before retiring. I wish you all well!

[nrgoeur]

excellent video in important aspect of managing a problem child, very clear and crisp presentation, very useful for lay person also.thank you

[petercarlson]

Thanks Mate it is helpfull! Well articulated practical advice for broad application for various individual needs..

For all the care givers out there, take courage and be kind to your self as you discover what works for your child.

[ee-hdis]

Thank you so much for this video. 🙏🙏 student here, really really appreciate it🙏🙏

[Kidsdowelliftheycan]

After 36 years teaching children with autism I agree with this content until it skips over the most important part of behavior management…understanding why a child is misbehaving. Rewarding/punishing/ignoring the wrong thing only helps short term but only invites kids to create new ways of satisfying their needs/unresolved problems.

[Ashleyntv]

its so hard dealing with my child with autism im struggling to deal with day to day basics I don't know what to do anymore and not having help makes it worse I just want my son to grow up and be okay and not struggle as much I feel like im. not doing any good for him

[cb]

Great video. Do know where I can find resources for the right kind of consequences? Instead of punishment.

[bohansenboh]

I'm a Behavioral Tech (ABA therapist) working with autistic children can be very challenging and being a or the parent for an autistic child is even harder. One of the big things that has helped me in my therapy is to ignore problem behaviors and always stay calm. Something parents do (sometimes) is to respond to distress in an unproductive way, by jumping when their children yell or act out. It's a very natural reaction because you love and care for your child and don't want them to struggle, however when you don't require and provide effective, efficient and respectful communication from your child he or she learns that you respond to tantrums, yelling, hitting and unsafe or unproductive behavior. This dude in the video knows his stuff, when he talks about problem behaviors getting worst before they get better, he's right. But overtime, when your child wants something, so long as consequences for functional communication are consistent (a consequence of "asking" for something is getting that item) you should see results.

Also if your child acts in a way that is distressing it's important to keep your emotions out of it. One of my clients kicked their sister the other day. Their mom took away their tablet and wanted to cancel their fun lunch activity she had planned, because she wanted the consequence for her child's behavior to be proportional to the distress that she felt as a reaction to her child's tantrum. This is normal and she's actually a really good mother, but when you bring down the hammer it only incites your child to further frustration and if you give attention to problem behaviors that frustration will manifest in more of the same behaviors. I told her not to cancel her lunch activity and the child immediately responded positively and accepted the loss of their tablet as a consequence of their poor behavior.

Also NEVER yell at your child. I don't say this because your child never deserves to be yelled at, children often do. But when you yell at your child (especially if you do it a lot) your child learns to only respond to the tone of your voice and not the content of your words.

[jessicamontaperto]

Disney Store Catalog which no longer exists. Disney Princess ballet Dolls, nightgowns, Lunch/Dinner at the mall. Pjs, Swimsuits, beach towels with balls, T-shirt’s. & last item Disney Princess Tent. Was finished just a month before my 9th birthday. It’s was the best birthday present I gave my mom!. Short sleeve Ariel nightgown. Cover ups. This was from October 03-June 16th 04. Please don’t lose hope on this milestone.

[latrishablakey]

I wish the teachers and resource officers at the schools could and would learn this, my son told me at age 8 (now 12) the teachers would not listen to him or TEACH these skills he could not do or master, they disciplined him and got suspended do to being so frustrated with the teachers and students.

[andrewvanornum]

Hello, Thank you for the video! My girlfriend and I are having trouble with our 7 year old Autistic daughter. She doesn't want to learn anything. She just wants to play games all day and be loud and screaming happy on her great days and screaming and crying on her bad days. She has an IEP and a therapist but it doesn't seem to be helping all that much. My girlfriend is constantly tired and she is taking online courses herself while juggling our 7 year old, and 11 year old. Are there any things we can do to help calm her down and make it easier and more fun for to learn? Any help at this point is much appreciated

[beckacheckaenterprises]

I appreciate this however you’re using a very monotone voice and it’s quite rushed and plain, I have HFA and I’m finding this difficult to follow; I’m trying to help HFA children, anyone have any other links to behavioural issues and how to overcome, sorry for the feedback but again I appreciate it and I’m sure others will benefit from this, thank you for posting!!

[cathyolague]

Thank you for your presentation. My 4 yr old grandson is newly diagnosed. These tips and tools were just what I was looking for to help me be a better Nanna. Now I just need to find some good books as well on the subject.

[anitakuryla]

I feel overwhelmed with my special needs daughter when she gets upset or angry and I have tried everything to calm her down even to have a breeze or ask her what is making her upset her communication is not that well I have tried to use a tablet to have her tell me why she’s mad or upset I don’t know if it has to do with the change of the bus

[anamercyvillalta]

Thank you for sharing. I learned a lot from this video. Is there a way to print your slides so I can have them in my personal binder?Thank you

[fatimamohammad]

The sound is very low cant concentrate or understand

[evsweej]

Your herbs has work wonders in my family.
Thanks for the help Dr Oyalo for saving my son from autism spectrum with your herbs. Your herbs is the best.

[pamelabibby]

AUTISM GET MISJUDGED SO DO ASPERGERS PEOPLE BUT JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE GETS ANXIOUS IT DOESNT MEAN THEY HAVE AUTISM DOES IT?

[jshir]

Autistics are Not problem people who need to be "managed"
Most of the accusations against autistic people such as there anger are coming from the greater rage of society against the marginalized.
For example I have autism and have received death threats from 'normal' people and have been the victim of verbal violence from people whom I never wronged