What can you learn about working with children that have Down Syndrome or children that are on the Autism Spectrum from these videos?
Preventing Problem Behaviors at School for Autism Spectrum Children
Post:
Children on the Autism Spectrum tend to have periods of bad behavior. They can become over-stimulated by too much noise, social stress, or high work demands. Teachers, often, inadvertently reward bad behavior. The student will have an outburst due to frustration, so the teacher will send them out of the class. This shows the student that they can get out of doing their work by acting out.
You should try to build in breaks before they are needed. Award behaviors such as, staying on task or getting a certain amount of work done. Build in scheduled breaks designed to meet each child's needs. Have them walk around the school with another teacher, sit in the library to read, or go see the counselor depending on what is best for them. Some students benefit from quiet meditation or breathing techniques. Another way to help keep their behavior in check is to keep their days predictable. Have their schedule in their binder or on their desk, so they know what to expect. Give them something to fidget with-- a stress ball, manipulative, fabric swatches, Velcro, etc. Children on the Autism Spectrum take things literally, so what could be harmless teasing to other children could really upset them emotionally. Some students benefit from listening to music or using noise cancelling headphones.
Her child, CJ, displays some very aggressive behaviors. He bites, pulls hair, pulls earrings, head-butts, and scratches. Some of his triggers include loud noises and frustration. He would attack his little sister, Taylor, while his mom was driving. She had to buy a new car to enable CJ to have his own space in the car. He shares a room with Taylor. While she is asleep, CJ will come to her bed and bite her. Their mother had to move Taylor into her room. CJ is very aggressive towards the youngest child, Christian. Taylor tries to protect him, so then, CJ attacks her. Their mom has to step in. She sends the other children to a room away from CJ while she tries to talk him down. You have to be calm and soothing. If his behavior is too aggressive, she gives him time to calm down before she tries talking to him. She said the best way to deal with these behaviors is to have a strategy. You have to know what to do given a certain situation. As teachers, we are not immune to their attacks. We have to be prepared and know what to do if these kinds of situations arise in our classroom.
This is a very impacting video. Often times, we like to limit people that have a disability because we thing they can't do something. The truth is that they can do everything we do. It may be in a different way, or it may take them longer. Either way, they can accomplish the same tasks that we can. Megan is a perfect example of this. She doesn't let her disability stop her from doing anything that she wants to do. We need to stop telling our children that they can't and show them that they can. We are the most influential people in a child's life. What gives us the right to tell them that they can't do something? Who are we to crush a child's dreams?
Very good post :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lacey,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea for a blog post and you are right it is something that we have not touched on in class. The videos were very interested and I learned a lot from reading this post. Great job!