I have a soft spot for children, some time ago, I remember seeing a mother and child struggling. Upon taking a closer look, the child was an autistic child who was trying to grab the bag of another woman standing close by, to prevent this from happening, the mother of the child had to struggle with the child and hold his hands firmly, as the little boy struggled back.
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What I had my mind filled with was what the mother of the child had to go through handling this child daily and on the other hand, what the child had going through his mind also. It was indeed an unpleasant sight for me.
Sometimes, autistic children tend to express their emotions through aggressive acts towards themselves and towards others. The injurious self-behavior could make the child kick, hurt, and sometimes even throw objects at themselves. It is believed that these children hurt themselves for either of these reasons;
- Being stressed and anxious.
- Trying to escape from really stressful situations.
- Inability to communicate wants and needs efficiently.
- Inability to appropriately understand what is going on around them.
- Prior sleep deprivation.
- Social anxiety.
Preventing an outburst from an autistic child may not be so easy, but it is highly important to have strategies to handle the children when the behavior happens.
Aggression is that general characteristic that has the potential ability to cause harm, be it physical or verbal. Based on research, the rate of displayed aggressive behavior could be higher in children with Autism spectrum disorder(ASD) than in other children.
First of all, parents and caregivers need to learn how to stay calm in a situation where the child is showing off this aggressive trait. Most of the aggressive outburst shown by affected kids happens because the child has mixed up emotions that have been built up, and adding your own emotions to the entire situation isn't going to help at all.
For the safety of your child, make sure your child is not close to anything that could harm him. Or stay in an enclosed space, staying in an open space may be a better option. You may require extra help with restraining the child during an episode, so be sure to call for help when that happens.
At the point of display, you should try not to say too much too, because the child is stressed, and it might be very difficult to understand what anyone is trying to say., especially when the affected child has difficulty understanding languages.
Physical exercise could also help out, jogging, running, or working on a treadmill, have also been shown to reduce the activities of aggressiveness in an autistic child.
Parents are advised to seek out long-term strategies to prevent the situation from re-curring by avoiding situations that could trigger the events, children should also be advised to express their needs in a positive manner rather than a self-injurious manner.
Since the traits displayed by autistic children vary from one to another, there is no general treatment to handle them, help will be provided to them based on the symptoms displayed.
Parenting on its own is a lovely difficult task, attending to the needs of special kids is even more demanding, but you also need to look out for yourself as a parent. You can take some time away while you have someone else look after your kid/kids while you enjoy some peace for the sake of your sanity.
References.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/autism/behaviour/common-concerns/aggressive-behaviour-asd
https://www.tpathways.org/faqs/why-is-my-child-with-autism-so-aggressive/
https://www.tpathways.org/faqs/what-should-i-do-if-my-child-with-autism-hits-me/
https://behavioral-innovations.com/blog/aggression-in-children-with-autism/
https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/autism-aggression-treatment/
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