Some children with Autism exhibit what many people consider to be "challenging" or "inappropriate" behaviors. I have worked with students who frequently scream, hit, bite, and kick. While it may seem that these behaviors are random or uncontrollable, I have found that in most cases, behavior is communication.
Imagine being unable to speak at all, or have your speech limited to a few words. Without a traditional way to express your needs, wants, and feelings, your actions would need to speak for you. This is an experience common to individuals with Autism. When you look at behavior from this viewpoint, a hit or bite from an upset child could mean, "Hey, I'm scared, and don't like that!" or "This task is too hard and I don't know what to do!"
Behaviors can also represent a misunderstanding between teacher and student. An example that comes to mind is a preschool student that I worked with this year. He came to my classroom from his preschool class once per day to work on verbal language and communication. He came as snack time was ending, and sometimes brought his snack with him to finish it in my classroom. The first week of working with this child, I attempted to carry his snack with me as we walked down the hall. He immediately started crying and threw himself down on the floor.
My first reaction was that this student simply did not want to leave class and come to my classroom. As I was about to gently explain to him that it was time to go to Ms. Caldwell's room and that we would be back to his class soon, I stopped to think about what else he might be communicating. I knelt next to him, and asked softly, "What do you want?" He looked at me and reached for the crackers in my hand. I realized that he wanted to finish his snack and I realized how this might have looked to the child: someone is taking my snack from me!
I opened the bag, took out a cracker, and said, "We're going to have snack in Ms. Caldwell's room. Let's stand up, and you can have one cracker while we walk there." He immediately stood up, took the cracker and held my hand while we walked down the hall to my classroom peacefully.
I don't believe in "rewarding" students' challenging behaviors or giving in to "tantrums." However, we need to look at what the child is trying to communicate through their behavior. We can then look at what we can teach the child to do instead of having a tantrum: such as pointing to the cracker, saying the word, "cracker" or giving a sign for "cracker." When we try to see the situation from the child's perspective, we may discover ways to help increase his or her ability to express needs more effectively.
Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed. of http://www.PositivelyAutism.com/
