Not a paerenting thread - Autism thread

Steinhauer

Steinhauer

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A friend of mine had his son diagnosed with autism several weeks ago. He wants me to take care of his son 2 days a week, and I recently took care of him. He isn't a handful, he is about 10 handfuls. Getting on to him for bad behaviour like you would any other child will not work. I learned that quickly.

He is "ok" with me, he knows I am "safe". When he starts to get aggressive and have a tantrum, I will pick him up and hold him and he calms down. I don't send him to a corner or a room. He is 4 years old.

He has trouble communicating what he wants, when he is told to do something he just shouts angrily "go away" and will push you away. Then the next minute, he is smiling and friendly.

Any pointers? His dad (my friend) wants to see if I can communicate with him with sign and wants me to just spend some time with him. He seems to be more calm when I am around because I don't pressure him and I just let him be.

Any change in his routine, or when someone is around he doesn't know, he flips out and breaks down.
 
Does he have High functioning autism? Kids with autism may have severe spoken language issues, so they might find ASL easier to use.
 
He is going in next month for further tests. He is almost 4 but still wears diapers and does not verbally communicate except for just a few words ... i.e. "wow" "go away" "help me" "Thirsty" "hurt"
 
Look up Positive Behavior Support and Augmentative Communication- it benefits children with autism. They need stability and predictability in order to function.
 
missywinks said:
Look up Positive Behavior Support and Augmentative Communication- it benefits children with autism. They need stability and predictability in order to function.
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I am wondering if tactile sign would have a more profound effect.
 
Steinhauer said:
I am wondering if tactile sign would have a more profound effect.
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Unless he also has a vision loss, that would likely be unwelcome and obtrusive.

My 2c on the matter would be to visually sign everything you say around him, he's old enough to get the idea if you keep it up.
 
Aleser said:
Unless he also has a vision loss, that would likely be unwelcome and obtrusive.

My 2c on the matter would be to visually sign everything you say around him, he's old enough to get the idea if you keep it up.
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Ok, will do.

He likes to pinch people. When I was watching the cartoon network with him, he was lying against me unexpressive, then he would pinch my elbow. He would do this repeatedly (pattern???) the whole time with no expression.

Almost like he was completely unaware he was doing it.
 
Steinhauer said:
Ok, will do.

He likes to pinch people. When I was watching the cartoon network with him, he was lying against me unexpressive, then he would pinch my elbow. He would do this repeatedly (pattern???) the whole time with no expression.

Almost like he was completely unaware he was doing it.
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maybe that cartoon network is scaring him.

better start figuring out the best way for him to communicate his thought. drawing? music? computer?
 
Jiro said:
maybe that cartoon network is scaring him.

better start figuring out the best way for him to communicate his thought. drawing? music? computer?
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Maybe, all I can remember is it being about this dog, old man and an old woman - it was a little scary to me, that cartoons are not as good now a days.

Spongebob sucks :giggle:
 
Jiro said:
maybe that cartoon network is scaring him.

better start figuring out the best way for him to communicate his thought. drawing? music? computer?
Click to expand...

He likes to draw. A lot. Rather, he likes to color.

Which is kinda cool - I like to draw too.
 
Steinhauer said:
He likes to draw. A lot. Rather, he likes to color.

Which is kinda cool - I like to draw too.
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I'm guessing what he draws is not something conventional. Probably very abstract or maybe little disturbing. Might be a good idea to have a professional to look at it to interpret it or something.
 
Jiro said:
I'm guessing what he draws is not something conventional. Probably very abstract or maybe little disturbing. Might be a good idea to have a professional to look at it to interpret it or something.
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When I helped his parents move last year, his room had crayon scribbles all over the walls. Just up and down strokes. I should have taken a picture of it. There were more crayon scribbles than paint. There were no circular scribbles, all were in straight up and down strokes.

His room was an absolute mess. He is doing better now, has more order and routine in his day. He is being taught that unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated (time out).

I felt bad for the house painter that had to paint those walls, crayon bleeds through paint.
 
Steinhauer said:
He likes to draw. A lot. Rather, he likes to color.

Which is kinda cool - I like to draw too.
Click to expand...

Steinhauer said:
When I helped his parents move last year, his room had crayon scribbles all over the walls. Just up and down strokes. I should have taken a picture of it. There were more crayon scribbles than paint. There were no circular scribbles, all were in straight up and down strokes.
Click to expand...

missywinks said:
Look up Positive Behavior Support and Augmentative Communication- it benefits children with autism. They need stability and predictability in order to function.
Click to expand...

Jiro said:
Might be a good idea to have a professional to look at it to interpret it or something.
Click to expand...

If he likes to colour may it could be incorporate into his communication program.

The autistics I no very well are very into tactile signing(and body signs) for communication. The parents thought we will try diffident communication program a month and have a unbiased professional asses videos of the children using the programs. After trying tactile signing the children stopped wanting to try new communication programs. Now the kids only use tactile signing. pces will reused later for communication in public. If pen/paper dont work At the moment the they need tactile terps to communication in public. As the kids dont understand pen/paper have uses outside school. The kids are A B students
 
Wirelessly posted

Try setting up visual cue cards with expressions of emotions like happy, sad, mad etc. Each emotion with different colour. Blue for sad yellow for happy red for mad. Make up cue cards for food, chores and use them for him to communicate with you when he is all upset and in the middle of his tantrum. Autism is difficult for everyone involved including the child. Making things easier for the child lessens meltdowns. The diaper will come off at his pace and at his self confidence level. Knowing when to go to pee-pee or poo-poo is a hard mental task & takes a lot of work with praise. Keep it up as you defitinely have a calming presence if the boy prefers you to watch him.
 
Steinhauer said:
Ok, will do.

He likes to pinch people. When I was watching the cartoon network with him, he was lying against me unexpressive, then he would pinch my elbow. He would do this repeatedly (pattern???) the whole time with no expression.

Almost like he was completely unaware he was doing it.
Click to expand...

Again, you need to look into POsitive Behaviour Support because they use reinforcers to get rid of problem behaviour.
 
inmate23 said:
If he likes to colour may it could be incorporate into his communication program.

The autistics I no very well are very into tactile signing(and body signs) for communication. The parents thought we will try diffident communication program a month and have a unbiased professional asses videos of the children using the programs. After trying tactile signing the children stopped wanting to try new communication programs. Now the kids only use tactile signing. pces will reused later for communication in public. If pen/paper dont work At the moment the they need tactile terps to communication in public. As the kids dont understand pen/paper have uses outside school. The kids are A B students
Click to expand...

It is interesting to see how he adapts to his environment. He is already used to me. When he sees me, he smiles and waves. I can see the recognition in his expression.

When I watch him, he is into everything ... exploring every nook and cranny in my house. I had to put those plastic plugs in the electrical sockets and make sure there was nothing dangerous he could get into (my firearms are well out of his reach and locked up just to note - he could never find them even if he was trying to look for them).

When he is done "exploring" he will go sit in a corner and just look around. He is definitely aware of just about everything - he is just unable to express himself.
 
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