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Autism Behavior Problems at School

by jennifer

Hello, I'm a mother of a 3 1/2 year old boy with a diagnosis of PDD-NOS Autism. He was diagnosed early last year and has been receiving speech therapy and early intervention since then. In May I decided to stop working and stayed with him at home while my husband was deployed. By the time I received the approval of Tricare for ABA services, he was already fully potty trained, and his speech increased tremendously.
Since August, he started to receive ABA and his cognitive skill level has increased so much that it is very impressive. He can read early reader books, count, do patterns, puzzles up to 48 pieces, spells, etc. He has also developed a lot of expressive spontaneous language. So, it was time for our first IEP in where the school agreed with me that his cognitive level was too high for the special education classroom they had available at that time.

The school system now pays for a private preschool setting for him to go with no aide. Now, he is exhibiting some behavior of throwing items for no reason even when he is not mad and today he bit his teacher when she was trying to put him in circle time. The preschool director told me that they can’'t accept that behavior and that it needed to stop. His ABA therapist is currently out of town and I don'’t know what to do to help him. Some people believe that he needs to be with typically developing kids in order for him to model their behaviors etc, but others believe that he should stay at home until it is time for school. . So my questions are:
1. How I can help him stop that behavior?
2. Why if he needs that social interaction, do many readings and people suggest for him to stay at home? Won'’t this prevent him from learning how to act with the rest of society?


Comments for
Autism Behavior Problems at School

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Jan 08, 2010
 Behavior Mod Techniques
by: Dana

Hi Jennifer! One suggestion I have is to put a behavior plan in place for your son. You need to give your son a reason to want to be in school and behave while he is there. Motivation is key to help him have a successful day.

You can use a reward system where he earns edibles throughout his day for behaving. You can break it down to activities. If he walks in and does what he is told, he earns a cheerio or whatever is motivating to him. If he walks to circle and sits down without any issues he earns another and so on.

Your son may still need the support. Can you shadow him or when the therapist comes back can she be his shadow and that be part of her therapy with him. I say that because if preschool is where he needs a lot of help, then much focus there is needed. It is hard for a little one to transfer from home and one on one to a classroom without support. If not then she will have to do the work. You would think that everyone would want to help your son be successful and would encourage any help possible.

Would the teacher be willing to use a behavior system for all the children? I am thinking of green light, yellow light, and red light. All the kids start on green. If they have behavior issues they go to yellow and so on..

I am thinking of is making a picture schedule of events for your son to help him transition between activities. It could be small but very visual. Most children on the Spectrum are visual learners. You can make it a velcro system, where he sees the activity on the picture, does the activity and then removes the picture and put it in an "all done" envelope.

Socialization is important, but I honestly feel that a trained shadow could be a huge factor in helping your son be successful. Depending on your sons ability to understand the expectations and possible behavior plans will determine how long it is necessary to have one. Shadows are there to help a child stay on tract. Socialization needs to be taught.

How does your son communicate with the teacher? That is also an important factor. If there is a barrier that way, a shadow would also be helpful in that department, and/or pictures. If cost is an issue, see if they will allow you to do it, or sometimes college students are looking for experience

Your son also might need a lot of reinforcement throughout the day for awhile. Meaning that a reinforcer may need to be delivered with verbal praise every 5 minutes then have the time increased. Reinforcement should be delivered discretely so it does not interrupt the class.
Your son also might need a lot of reinforcement throughout the day for awhile. Meaning that a reinforcer may need to be delivered with verbal praise every 5 minutes, then have the time increased. Reinforcement should be delivered discretely so it does not interrupt the class.
Your son may need a lot of reinforcement throughout the day for awhile. Reinforcement should be delivered discretely so it does not interrupt the class.

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