Autism - Controlling Anger Outbursts

Although outbursts and temper tantrums are typical with every 2 year old toddler, they can be magnified and deemed uncontrollable with a child who has autism regardless of age. Children under the umbrella of autism have difficulty communicating their wants and needs with others, have difficulty with social interaction, can develop fixations and obsessions and display repetitive, unusual behaviors. I am not saying that every autistic child looks the same or exhibits the same behaviors (especially since there are various levels of severity) but there are common characteristics. My son was diagnosed by not one but two different psychologists (a school psychologist and a clinical psychologist) based upon these characteristics however he received help and has been moving forward in his progression. At one point he was non-verbal, used a lot of echolalia, developed various fixations, excessively drooled and had excessive, at times uncontrollable outbursts. He is now successful and knows how to control his anger (with a little bit of assistance from me). I'm here to talk about those outbursts and offer suggestions to others on how to control those anger outbursts.

Picture a child talking to you using an indecipherable language, looking at you with eyes of rage because you do not understand him, saying over and over again phrases (for which you still do not understand him) then resorting to banging his head repeatedly against the wall. That was my son and one of the many anger outbursts that he had when he was younger. I have now come to understand that my son felt frustrated that he could not communicate effectively where others would easily understand him. It is important to supply ways for a child to communicate to prevent the reoccurrence of a tantrum. What I did was asked him to use gestures by pointing to objects then I would say what that object was. For example if he wanted a ball, he would point to it and I would say "ball". In time, I used a sentence "I want the ball." My son began to say words but had trouble putting the words together to form a sentence. With repetition (a characteristic demonstrated with autistic children), he would repeat the sentence and then say it on his own.

Another time, at the age of three while in his car seat, he began screaming for what seemed like hours. (I thought I would end up in a car crash) Later on, I realized that we were going home using a different route. My son was use to the same route however I was trying to avoid traffic. At that moment, I wanted to scream myself but I knew my frustration would not help him. It is important for autistic children to have consistent routines. If the routine changes, tell the child beforehand so the child will know what to expect. I didn't forewarn my son so the change was unexpected for him and caused a "loss in his equilibrium". To avoid an outburst, offer them choices to choose from. When these tantrums are slowly becoming controllable, the parent can begin to present adaptable, unplanned activities.

These clues can help ward off tantrums from happening. They worked for me. Hopefully, they will work for you.

You can read more at my blog at http://raisingsucautistic.blogspot.com/ .