Posted by Brought to you by PSN
Highlights in this interview:
- Find out why limiting verbal interaction can play a large roll in behavior support
- Learn why age is a contributing factor in integrated therapy
- Become familiar with distinguishing the difference between your client and their peers with similar diagnoses
As formal educators, it has been ingrained within us to know your clients. What may work for some children, may not work for others in most cases. However, as newer tools and strategies are coming into development, there are broader solutions now becoming available.
PSN: So what have you found works best when entering into a behavior situation with a child diagnosed with autism?
Interviewee: It’s a good question. Limiting verbal interaction as much as possible. As much as you can limit verbal interaction because it’s very very overwhelming. Depending on the child you can even use tools such as weighted blankets. We have kids in the past who it’s been really helpful when it comes down to that. [transitions into next non verbal coping strategy]We’ll write down, like say for instance there stresses about upcoming like hour, 2 hours. So we’ll write down like the next three things that are going to happen; and we’ll show that to the student. It really depends on the child because for some of them, they feel that that’s really kind of condescending, so it can escalate behaviors. So you just have to kind of know the kid whether or not their writing is going to be helpful or not, so decreasing verbal is big, writing is a potential option. If you can focus on something else that can be very helpful like sometimes different choices, or things like that, can be very effective. You don’t want to use things that you would use as rewards as coping strategies. You have to split those and be very specific about that, so like I wouldn’t have a student use a computer game as deescalation strategy because then it would be encouraging them to repeat that behavior. It shows them that that is effective in getting a reward as opposed to a coping strategy. Those are the few things.
PSN: And then when they are in the heat of their worst behaviors. What is your personal take on that, what do you do?
Interviewee: Again, it depends on the kid. I’ve had kids who they really appreciate when you are very reassuring and comforting. So repetition of, “We’ll get through this”, “It’s okay. This is just a moment in time”. Those sorts of comments can be helpful for some kids. For other kids they can concentrate more on what they are focused on if you try to be reassuring ,so for some kids you need to just kind of give them the space. Like make sure that they are in a safe place. I think, Step 1, if they are in the middle of a behavior is checking out your environment and making sure that there is nothing that they can hurt themselves or somebody else with. And then process. I think the environment is big. I think for some kids just step back and let them have their meltdown. Don’t respond at all. For some kids avoiding making eye contact or staring at them could increase the behavior, so avoiding that could be helpful. And then for other kids it might be proximity, like actually being close and being with them and reassuring. It’s very much individual basis from what I’ve seen.
PSN: And I definitely could identify with that like thinking back to like how you would treat a student versus your own child too is a huge.
Interviewee: Yes. And age of the child matters a lot.
PSN: Definitely.
Interviewee: Because when I was in the Middle School [teaching] there would be kids who I would literally hug them and you could just feel some of the tension decrease like in having that contact. But again that’s so specific because with autism typically person to person contact is not helpful. But with that student at that age it happen to work really really well for her. But now she is in High School I would not even consider that strategy.
PSN: Inappropriate with the setting?
Interviewee: Exactly.
PSN: But again thinking like the elementary age, that would be something that’s, I mean I know sometimes that’s what is needed very strong pressure, in the form of a hug machine, weighted blanket, etc.
Interviewee: Yes. The pressure can be really helpful too. I’ve seen weighted blankets really effective. I know Temple Grandin invented her squeeze machine which I think is a really interesting concept as far as like adding pressure without human contact. But because I’ve worked with other students that hasn’t really been a preference. I’ve been in schools where those have been available but students haven’t really chose those especially in the middle of a meltdown. I haven’t really seen them opt for that.
PSN: Did you ever worked at the elementary level?
Interviewee: No. I did some practicums at the elementary level and I worked in at Day Care when I was in college, and there were some students who had just been identified as being on the spectrum when I was there. But I haven’t worked extensively at the elementary level.
PSN: Because it is very different. I guess you say that they’ve learned some of their coping strategies by the time we get them at the high school age level.
Interviewee: Yeah, and I think verbal is big because at the elementary level especially for student with autism verbal could be a big challenge. Like voicing what they are actually experiencing is really hard but their communication skills improve a lot by the time they get to high school especially with the direct instruction that they get at the elementary, middle school level.
PSN: And I think schedule plays a big part of it too.
Interviewee: Yes, being very very specific about scheduling. Anytime you can go over a schedule in advance. That could really be helpful. One thing that I worry about and this is probably just me but is the the balance between flexibility like working and being flexible and establishing a routine because routine is huge with autism. But what you don’t want or what I worry about for students is that if we establish routine so much that anytime there is a wrench thrown into that routine that it can be chaos because they don’t understand how to manage that change. And so building up those routines will also looking for ways to practice the need for flexibility. I think that would really be important. And recognizing that if there is break in routine it’s not a failure on the parent’s part or even necessarily on the teacher’s part. That’s how life is. Like that’s what it is. So helping them navigate what that change looks like or how to respond to a change in a routine.
PSN: I think that’s probably why some of the people that are at district levels seem more suited for an elementary setting, because those behaviors manifest more at the elementary setting when you don’t have all the strategies in place yet. By the time you get to a high school setting/age , you’ve had the years of practicing them [coping strategies] and now it’s just getting them finely tuned.
Interviewee: Right. What is hard though is to find strategies that apply to all situations because there is only so much that you can anticipate ahead of time. I don’t know, like you can teach about. Okay, so there is going to be a convocation this Friday like that’s going to be a change, a break in schedule. It’s not going to look the same as other days. How are we going to prepare for that? What are you going to need when you come in that morning talking through that? But then if there is a fire drill or there might be leaks/smoke in the kitchen and there is fire that you can’t predict. It’s like you are now preparing for those moments can be tough if you don’t even know to anticipate them.
PSN: Right. Hoping for the best; the best choices to be made by all staff and hoping that for the students as well. But expecting and preparing for the worst.
Interviewee: And I love, there was a quote that we went over in a training that was specifically for like managing crisis but they said, “You need to run to the scene but walk through the door.” And I think I really liked that because it just shows how important it is that you get there quickly and you do everything that you possibly can but the second you get there your mindset need to be on calm. It needs to be on, “How do I make sure that I don’t personally escalate the situation”, which can be a big challenge especially when emotions are involved. Like there are kids that I’ve known for years and it can be more difficult to manage my emotional response in those situations. And I can’t even imagine what it’s like for a parent to manage that emotional response when it’s their own child dealing with that. That would really be hard.
PSN: That calm is contagious mentality can make or break a behavior management situation.
Interviewee: Yes. I completely agree. And I’ve seen situations where it’s almost palpable like the difference when you see a staff member who is calm handling something, the difference and the time that it takes to decrease that level of anxiety and to deescalate. It’s kind of amazing when you can actually see that difference. Because I’ve seen staff who have been very calm and I’ve seen staff who can get very upset themselves and can kind of panic; and it really is that calm is contagious. Like if you are calm then the students is more likely to be able to calm down than if you’re ramping it up. And I know a lot of people struggle with. Well, I want them to know that this isn’t okay. But I think in 99% of cases the kid knows it’s not okay. They are not dealing it because they think it’s acceptable or okay. They are doing it because they don’t have any other strategies or skills to handle the frustration. And, a psychologist too talks a lot about that that kids do well what they can and if they can’t then they end up with behavior concerns. And with autism there are a lot of challenges that they face with communication and things like that, self regulation. It makes sense that we see these behaviors because it’s not like it was for me when I was a kid and I naturally learn those things. For some kids they just need that direct instruction on how to handle that stuff.