Autism
and Tantrums
You
are here: Home
> Children
with Special Needs > Autism and Tantrums
There
is a fact about tantrums and it says that not all children
display such behavior.
|
There
are various factors of such anger outbursts
and these include autism, ADHD,
mental health conditions, behavioral development,
environmentally contributed stress, temperament, developmental
stage, age, and fatigue.
The
parents' response to the temperament of the child
may also aggravate the condition.
|
|
Reacting too strongly to
stubborn behavior or readily giving in to the demand of
the child is a big no-no when dealing the tantrums. Autism
and tantrums are closely related. Aside
from the fact that autism is a contributor to the behavior,
there is definitely nothing wrong with autistic children
displaying tantrums.
|
Despite this acceptable
medical fact, parents and guardians often regard tantrums
as a top problem in young autistic patients. Children
may act irrationally usually with heightened fear,
anxiety, panic, and rage.
These actuations also
involve distracting manners, like pushing other children
away, opposing contact with others, uncontrollable
crying, and screaming. Although quietly unavoidable,
these distracting behaviors are particularly common
among autistic children.
|
|
Parents find it hard to prevent
these disturbing actuations from happening. In fact, biting,
pinching, and hitting are inconsolable, and may last for
a long period. Panic, aggression,
and rage will continue from childhood, through adolescence,
and even until adulthood. Satisfaction or consolation that
puts an end to these tantrums hardly ever take place.
The most effectual and ideal
way to handle tantrum behaviors is to ignore the act. Parents
must teach their children how to express and manage anger.
Parents or guardians need to recognize the causes of the
child's emotional instability. Never blame, reprimand, or
even shout at the child. In autism, the best course to do
is avoid menacing and malicious responses. There is always
a reason behind every child's obstinate attitude. Be patient,
explore, and be understanding about the challenges you are
facing with your child's behavior. The key is to give, not
to give in.
As much as possible, parents
should mediate the behavior while the patient is young to
avoid the frequent recurrence of these bad habits in the
future. Autism demands open communication, not tolerance.
It requires gentle pampering, but not sadistic approaches.
What Causes Disturbing
Behaviors
Tantrums
are very common among children. They start to occur when
the child reaches fifteen months. However, these destructive
behavior patterns intensify between 2 to 4 years. Children
with no autism typically rage when they are anxious, when
they anticipate something to occur in their favor, and it
does not take place immediately.
They get angry when parents
ask them to do something. Alternatively, they feel upset when
they cannot accomplish a simple task, such as tying their
shoelaces or buttoning their shirts.
Most people might regard
autism as an abnormal condition, but young autistic patients,
like ordinary children, are also prone to these frustration-triggering
events.
To deeply understand how
autism affects tantrums and vice versa, parents must need
to look at how autistic patients act or respond to stimuli.
Like most ordinary kids, children with autism also rely
on rituals. They form these habits as they grow.
These rituals then become
the building blocks of the autistic child's structural behavior
or commonly as the structure. The structure is simply a
method, a set of rules that define how the child acts upon,
responds, and decides after a given stimulus. Like normal
children, autistic kids also experience difficulty and intensity
of the information they collect using their senses. However,
a lack of learning ability hinders children with autism
to react cognitively to their environment.
Overwhelming changes in the
environment and incomprehensible stimuli cause disturbance
in the structure of the child. He may even feel uneasy with
the subtle changes that occur in his surroundings. Events,
like waking up at atypical hours, going to school in a different
way, going to school using the bus instead of the car, or
a hidden favorite toy are push button activators of autistic
tantrums. For a child with autism, the world becomes confusing
when things are not in order anymore. The child has to decide
between imposing his own structure and responding to the
changes of his world. He thinks that he is right, but because
he is confused, he ends up in rage, either to catch attention
or simply to manipulate the situation.
Another likely cause of challenging
autistic behaviors is the lack of communication between
the parents and the patient. When there is an expected change
in the environment of the child, the parents must explain
to the child the purpose of the changes. Parents then must
teach the child how to react accordingly and explain to
them the consequences when the child does not act appropriately.
On the other hand, the parents must also learn to respond
to the message of the child through his tantrums. His tantrums
may mean that the child is hungry, in need of diaper change,
or wants to go to bed.
Recurrent Tantrums
A challenging behavior of
a child becomes disturbing when it frequently occurs after
the age of three. The behavior that comes with autism is
no excuse here at all. The best way to prevent the recurrence
of tantrums is to apply a time-out. Time-out refers to the
removal of the child from the stimuli, allowing him the
necessary time to quiet down, and thus, teaching him a lesson
that tantrum is not a tolerable behavior.
The time-out approach may
not work for all children. However, parents must take time
to let their children learn. Interestingly, most children
eventually learn ways in handling tough emotions that cause
them temper tantrums. Over time, they will improve their
skills in communication, learn independence, and be familiar
with the advantages of possessing these skills. If the child
still displays challenging behavior after four years, he
definitely needs professional help in dealing with his anger.
Unimproved behavior that starts or continues to show during
the first years of school is also a sign of unknown issues.
This may mean that the child has difficulties mingling with
other school children.
The best time to talk to
a specialist is when:
- Parents have serious issues
about their child's tantrums
- Parents notice that their
child continues to show temper tantrums after four year
- The child turns temper
tantrums into brutal behavior
- Parents are afraid to hurt
their child and do not know to manage their child's tantrums.
Challenging behavior patterns
may also imply social, emotional, and medical problems,
especially if the child is developing hurtful behavior.
Hair pulling, scratching, biting, and kicking are no longer
typical tantrums. Check for these other disturbing behavior
patterns:
- Child breaks or throws
things
- Child inflicts self-injury
or bangs head uncontrollably
- Child's behavior recurrently
lasting more than 15 minutes thrice a day
- Child does not improve
temper tantrums at his fourth year
- Child intentionally hurts
the people around him when his temper tantrums strike.
When these destructive behavior
starts to develop, it is best that parents send their child
for medical treatment. This is often the advisable option
if you do not want to hurt your child or if you have difficulties
managing your child's tantrums. Remember to seek medical
treatment if:
- Your child has frequent
and long-lasting tantrums
- Your child continues to
display stubborn behavior after 4 years of age
- Your child resorts to violence
or self-injury.
During these critical times,
parents need both professional advice in managing tantrum
episodes and direct involvement in the improvement of the
behavior. The best thing that parents can do is make the
environment more comfortable for the child. You should allow
the child's structure to improve. Avoid disturbance when
the child is busy with a task. In addition, allow your child
to have his own space when necessary.
Back to Top
^
|
