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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.
Children
with Special Needs -> Autism and Tantrums
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