In today’s video, I’m addressing a super common question I get from parents and professionals around the world – “How do I de-sensitize a child with autism to loud noises or prevent situations that cause him or her to freak out?”
As both a parent of a son with autism and behavior analyst, I know that kids with autism have a lot of problem behaviors surrounding all kinds of situations.
If you think about a child you know with autism you could probably fill in the blank easily to the statement “My client or child with autism freaks out when ___________.”
I often get questions from both parents and professionals about how to address these situations. The tricky part is that this is pretty complicated and gets more complicated as a child grows bigger and stronger. It also can become dangerous to treat these problem behaviors because sometimes when you put a behavior on extinction, the problem behaviors can escalate and get worse before they get better.
The point of this short video blog is not to give you two minutes of advice and potentially escalate problem behaviors. But what I can tell you is that the key to dealing with any kind of problem behaviors related to any kind of trigger is to start with assessment.
The goal is to prevent problem behaviors by systematically raising the demands very gradually so the child remains in a calm state and does not freak out. It’s not just about controlling problem behaviors either. Children with autism have a lot to learn and when they are not in a calm state, this is just not possible.
So as a behavior analyst I am on a mission to increase language and learning skills while reducing problem behaviors for children and adults with autism. If you’d like to learn more about turning autism around for your child or client with autism, make sure to download my free 3-step guide right now.
