Strategies to Improve Behaviors of Youth with Anger and Autism

Anger Management

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

1. Consider Cognitive Behavior Therapy to help the student to calm down in anger overload situations. The student may feel embarrassed, humiliated or rejected because of special education status, other issues, or his inability to complete school assignments.
2. Teach the child to respond assertively but in a controlled manner helps him not to feel humiliated or put down.
3. Teach the child one catch phrase is an effective cognitive strategy that can be used. For many children, one such phrase is, “everyone makes mistakes.”
4. Teach the child another useful phrase to use is, “Is this a good risk?” Since children with anger overload are often risk takers, they like to try new challenges, including those that are dangerous or likely to provoke a negative response from adults.
5. Use nonverbal cues, such as the adult putting up his hand like a policeman does to stop traffic, can de-escalate a situation.

 

Social Skills Training

Example: (if the child throws tantrums to get desired objects, parents should specifically teach the skill of asking for objects)

1. Identify the target social skills to develop.
2. Teach the skills and talk about why each is useful or important.
3. Model the skills through active demonstration.
4. Help the child practice the skills in a controlled environment while receiving feedback.
5. Assist the child in generalizing the skills by practicing them in new environments.

 

Behavioral Strategies

1. Stay calm. “When a child is expressing a lot of emotion, and the parents meet that with more emotion, it can increase the child’s aggression,” she says. Instead, try to model emotional regulation for your child.
2. Don’t give in to tantrums or aggressive behavior. For example, if your child is having a tantrum at the grocery store because she wants a particular cereal, don’t give in and buy it. This is rewarding, and reinforces the inappropriate behavior.
3. Catch your child being good. Reward good behavior, even when your child isn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. If dinnertime is problem-free, say, “I really like how you acted at dinner.” Treats and prizes aren’t necessary. Recognition and praise are powerful all on their own.
4. Help kids learn to express themselves by naming emotions. For example, you may say “I can tell you’re really angry right now.” This validates what your child is feeling and encourages verbal, instead of physical, expression.
5. Know your child’s patterns and identify triggers. Do tantrums happen every morning before school? Work on structuring your morning routine. Break down tasks into simple steps, and give time warnings, such as “We’re leaving in 10 minutes.” Set goals, such as making it to school on time four days out of five. Then reward your child when he or she meets those goals.
6. Find appropriate rewards. Don’t focus on financial or material goals. Instead, try rewards like half an hour of special time with mom or dad, choosing what the family eats for dinner, or selecting what the family watches for movie night.

Autism

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

ABA a technique used by professional behavioralists to teach children to learn and is most often geared toward students with Autism. However, many of its strategies are applicable for all and may be best applied at home and school during the early to mid stages of child development.  Research has shown ABA as an effective strategy for teaching skills for communication, daily living and to replace problem behaviors.

1. Break a task to be learned into small steps.
2. Reward the child for each step, even when support and re-teaching is needed.
3. Best results are obtained when tasks are used each day so that the parent/teacher can use positive reinforcement, re-teach, review and give the child multiple opportunities to repeat the task until mastery is demonstrated independently.

Atypical Language

1. Elevate language skills to an age-appropriate level.
2. Demonstrate appropriate pitch, tone, and rhythm in speech.
3. Increase appropriate social language by reducing the frequency of repetitive, out-of-context speech.
4. Increase appropriate use of pronouns.

 

Instructional Strategies

1. Break down directions into short, simple statements using predictable and consistent language.
2. Speak at a slower rate and use gestures and visuals during verbal directions and instruction. This strategy could be particularly helpful for unexpected transitions.
3. Reinforce learning through practical and familiar activities that foster generalization.
4. When teaching new tasks, provide repetition, over-learning, and opportunities for practice.
5. Provide student with clear, consistent expectations and behavioral limits. Provide immediate reinforcement for task-directed behavior.
6. Predictable routines and reminders for upcoming behavioral expectations
7. Teach cooperative social skills (turn taking, sharing, etc.).
8. Student may benefit from continued opportunities for small group and individualized instruction.

 

Inattentiveness, Detachment and Withdrawal

(in his / her own world)

1. Develop more efficient organizational skills.
2. Increase compliance and appropriate follow through with instructions.
3. Increase participation in tasks that require sustained effort.
4. Increase the ability to remember how to complete simple tasks.
5. Increase ability to sustain attention when completing homework, chores, and other required activities.
6. Reduce hurried and careless mistakes in school work.
7. Increase ability to complete homework and chores successfully.
8. Increase task completion.

Instructional Strategies: Academic Detachment

1. Seat them near the schedule, allow them to have a copy of the schedule.
2. Visual cues – related to schedule as well.
3. Be aware that changing desks could be anxiety provoking for them.
4. Ability to think imaginatively is often impaired which leads to problems in creative writing.
5. With group work, make the role of each group member very clear. Initially, the autistic student may need to have a passive role.
6. Stopping an activity that is not complete or simply moving to a new activity can be problematic. (Schedule for the child to view may help with transitions).
7. Consider sensory factors which could be problematic such as sounds (fans, loudspeakers, fire alarms), visual (light or background patterns), tastes/smells.
8. First/Then boards (helpful for behavioral concerns such as First you put your materials in your desk then you get to line up).

 

Stereotypy

1. Reduce self-stimulatory behavior (e.g., hand flapping).
2. Interact appropriately with toys and objects.

Atypicality/ Unusual Behavior

Home

1. Explicitly explain what is happening and provide positive role modeling of effective communication between others. Explain situations, describe behavioral expectations, or other people’s actions to help your child understand. Be clear and detailed, so there’s no room for confusion or doubt. Verbal alerts and warnings to upcoming changes in daily routines that are predictable.
2. Individual visual schedule/calendar: Visual schedule systems are an easy way to provide students with consistent cues about their daily activities and behavioral expectations. They provide a structure that allows a student to anticipate what will happen next, helps him/her to prepare and plan for his anticipated behavioral responses. Pre-panning and modeling helps to reduce anxiety by providing the student with a vision of his/her day as well as modeling of acceptable behaviors. It also helps to promote calmness between transitions and helps the child respond and adapt to challenging and/or changing situations.
3. Use games to develop cognitive flexibility and expand his tool box of productive behaviors. What is this? Take a “regular” object and see how many different things you and your child can pretend it is. You may have seen this on the show “Whose Line is It Anyway.” Pick my bag, for example, get them to pack their bag to go to the beach – they would need a towel, sunscreen, a hat, and a bathing suit. Then get them to pack their bag to go skiing. The bag should look very different – now they need a snowsuit, mittens, hat, boots, etc. As the child packs his physical tool box, ask him to pack his mental tool kit of positive and productive behaviors. “Introducing self to others, describing his packed items to others, asking others what did they pack and why, and so forth.”
4. Frontloading is a way of preparing your child ahead of time for what to expect, and also for possible scenarios and what they can do. Before outings and events, we talk about what to expect, what things might happen, what things might be hard for the kids, and what they can do while they’re there if they’re struggling.
5. Praise them for showing flexibility.

 

At school

1. Immediately reinforce academic-related and on task-directed behavior.
2. Consider the restriction (use timetables, bells, schedules as aids) of electronic device use.
3. Provide increased structure in environments with predictable routines, ‘must do’ tasks, time for completion, and visual and verbal reminders for upcoming behavioral expectations.
4. Consider using if/then statements to introduce, support and reinforce positive social engagement and active academic participation.
5. Consider using progressive reinforcement on a schedule to incentivize academic task completion.
6. Introduce structured social opportunities to include explicit teaching of the unwritten rules of the social environment. Concepts that may be helpful are:
7. Noticing others in environment.
8. Appropriate response to social approach.
9. Decreasing interrupting and/or intruding behaviors.
10. Increasing the use of speech and speech approximations.
11. Increasing ability to engage in structured learning activities other activities in a variety of ways.

 

Peer Socialization

1. Increase the ability to seek out other children for socialization.
2. Increase ability to carry on appropriate conversations with other children.
3. Improve social relations with peers.
4. Increase the amount of play with others.
5. Increase the ability to understand and respond appropriately to humor.
6. Increase interactive play with others.
7. Improve quality of peer interactions.
8. Increase the ability to respond appropriately when speaking to other children.

 

Adult Socialization

1. Increase the ability to respond appropriately in conversations with adults.
2. Increase ability to carry on an appropriate conversation with adults.

 

Social/Emotional Reciprocity

1. Increase the ability to share enjoyable activities with others.
2. Increase the ability to look at others appropriately while talking with them.
3. Increase the ability to appreciate and understand the views of others.
4. Improve the ability to understand the feelings of others.
5. Increase the ability to appropriately recognize social cues.
6. Develop the ability to respond appropriately to other people’s thoughts or feelings.
7. Increase the ability to share and express pleasure when interacting with others.
8. Increase the ability to respond appropriately to others’ interests.

 

Sensory Sensitivity

1. Increase appropriate response to tactile stimulation.
2. Increase the ability to respond appropriately to loud noises.

 

Attention

1. Develop more efficient organizational skills.
2. Increase compliance and appropriate follow through with instructions.
3. Increase participation in tasks that require sustained effort.
4. Increase the ability to remember how to complete simple tasks.
5. Increase ability to sustain attention when completing homework, chores, and other required activities.
6. Reduce hurried and careless mistakes in school work.
7. Increase ability to complete homework and chores successfully.
8. Increase task completion.

 

Behavioral Rigidity

Develop the ability to appreciate a broad perspective and reduce the focus on details with these suggestions:

1. Explicitly explain what is happening: Explain situations, expectations, or other people’s actions to help your child understand. Be clear and detailed, so there’s no room for confusion or doubt. Verbal alerts and warnings to upcoming changes in daily routines that are predictable.
2. Individual visual schedule/calendar: Visual schedule systems are an easy way to provide students with consistent cues about their daily activities. They provide a structure that allows a student to anticipate what will happen next, reduce anxiety by providing the student with a vision of his/her day and promote calmness between transitions.
3. Story‐mapping: These activities basically walk the child through the process of any experience. This technique has been very successful when utilized consistently for introducing children with Autism to new activities and outings. For example, if a child were to have a doctor’s appointment these activities basically walk the child through the process of visiting the doctor’s office. You can use photographs from the clinic, the elevator and the doctor’s office to help prepare your child for what they will see and do on that day.
4. Eliminate unnecessary transitions.
5. Change board: Purchase a magnetic whiteboard to hang on the fridge. Record anything happening that day that is outside of your child’s regular routine. Teach your child to check the change board every day along with the calendar. Leave the board blank unless there is a change in routine
6. Use games to develop cognitive flexibility. What is this? Take a “regular” object and see how many different things you and your child can pretend it is. You may have seen this on the show “Whose Line is It Anyway.” Pick my bag, for example, get them to pack their bag to go to the beach – they would need a towel, sunscreen, a hat, and a bathing suit. Then get them to pack their bag to go skiing. The bag should look very different – now they need a snowsuit, mittens, hat, boots, etc.
7. Frontloading is a way of preparing your child ahead of time for what to expect, and also for possible scenarios and what they can do. Before outings and events, we talk about what to expect, what things might happen, what things might be hard for the kids, and what they can do while they’re there if they’re struggling.
8. Praise them for showing flexibility.

 

Sensory Processing

1. Use visual aids (PECS, words, cards, charts) to augment comprehension
2. Use daily visual reinforcement program for self-monitoring
3. Provide immediate feedback using verbal or gestural cues
4. Use token board or behavioral contract
5. Use a coping card with behavioral coping options
6. Use prompt hierarchy (emphasizing visual and gestural prompts rather than verbal
7. Allow student to stand (if necessary) to complete work
8. Allow motor breaks throughout the day
9. Use multi-sensory cues

 

Social Skills Training

1. Use social stories
2. Provide role modeling (e.g., social skills)
3. Provide peer modeling from socially competent peers
4. Provide adult modeling
5. Provide social skills training during recess and free time periods

 

Communication Skills

Home

1. Talk about the day’s activities.
2. Talk with the child about the books you read together.
3. Talk with the child about the TV programs, videos, and games that you watch/play together.
4. Keep books, magazines, and other reading material where kids can reach them without help.
5. Help kids create their own “This Is Me” or “This Is Our Family” album with photographs or mementos.

Work/Study Skills/ Organizational

Individual Instructional Strategies

1. Have student repeat back directions
2. Provide task analysis for multi-step tasks
3. Break large chunks of work into smaller parts
4. Use graphic/visual organizers (e.g., organizational, attentional issues)
5. Provide notes for lessons in (subject)
6. Provide outlines for lessons in (subject)
7. Use visual cues (PECS, words, charts, cards) to review schedule, expectations
8. Ensure student writes homework assignments legibly
9. Ensure student has homework assignments and materials before departure
10. Provide study carrel or dividers for independent work
11. Provide preferential seating
12. Provide seating away from distractions
13. Provide seating without visual distraction in visual field (windows, etc.)
14. Structure for minimal auditory distraction
15. Provide task analysis; breaking down goals into small steps
16. Use manipulative materials to increase participation in learning experience
17. Provide peer tutoring/paired work assignment
18. Provide visual markers to guide the student on tasks that are spatial and sequential (provide an arrow to show where to start and in what direction to proceed when computing a math problem)

 

Whole Group Instructional Strategies

1. Create classroom exercises requiring the student to work independently for at least 15 minutes.
2. Create classroom exercise that requires the student to continue to work on hard classroom assignments without becoming discouraged or quitting.
3. Introduce more structure and set routines for accomplishing tasks.
4. Keep a family calendar, write important due dates (homework and class projects).
5. Introduce checklists.
6. Assign student classroom chores that involve sorting or categorizing such as emptying trash into (a) biodegradable or (b) recyclable containers.
7. Get ready for school the night before (select school outfits, pack lunch, organize backpack).
8. Use color coded or differently shaped containers, closet organizers, boxes, and bins for favorite toys.
9. Buy your child a planner, encourage her to write important dates or even add a journal section to record her thoughts or interesting events that happen throughout the day.
10. Organize schoolwork by subject.
11. Establish a homework routine.

At Home

1. Introduce more structure and set routines for accomplishing tasks.
2. Keep a family calendar, write important due dates (homework and class projects).
3. Introduce checklists.
4. Assign chores that involve sorting or categorizing (an example: empty trash into (a) biodegradables, (b) recyclables).
5. Get ready for school the night before (select school outfits, pack lunch, organize back pack).
6. Use color coded or differently shaped containers, closet organizers, boxes, and bins for favorite toys.
7. Buy your child a planner, encourage her to write important dates or even add a journal section to record her thoughts or interesting events that happen throughout the day.
8. Organize schoolwork by subject.
9. Establish a homework routine.