Disciplining the Autistic Child

Every parent will inevitably face a time in his or her life when he or she must discipline his or her child. But what happens when the child has Autism? What methods are effective in disciplining the Autistic child without traumatizing them? As an Autistic child is not the same as a normal child, care needs to be taken when disciplining an Autistic child. If you are a parent who has just found out your child has Autism, and you are wondering how to effectively discipline your child, the below strategies will be a nice guide so as to get you started in the right direction.

Disciplining the Autistic Child: Taming Tantrums

Every child throws tantrums. Most do it because they are mad that they did not get their way. An Autistic child, on the other hand throws tantrums for different reasons. When an Autistic child throws a tantrum, it is not for reasons that are intentional. These children tantrum because they are very frustrated, more than likely due to communication troubles. So what must you do if your Autistic child is tantruming? How would you handle such a circumstance?

First and foremost, do not hit the child for tantruming. Experts are extremely strongly against hitting Autistic children as a means of disciplining Autistic children. What you should do in these instances is just ignore the tantrum: or you could talk calmly to him until he stops. But when he behaves in ways that are acceptable, lavish him with praises and small rewards. Through positive reinforcement, your Autistic child will begin to understand what is acceptable and what is not. When you praise your child for behaving, don't just say "awesome job." You need to be specific, as Autistic children, or Autistic individuals of any age, cannot read between the lines. They need specifics at all times. An example of a specific praise is, "Awesome job for talking nicely."

So long as you remain consistent in reinforcing that tantruming is not an acceptable behavior, your autistic child will learn better ways to carry himself. Furthermore, you can work with your child to develop a system of communication, so he will not feel the need to resort to tantruming when he is unable to get his point across.

One system of communication that seems to be the most effective is picture cards. The way this works is that there are cards that have pictures of certain drinks, foods, objects and activities on them that the child can show you should he desire them. For instance, let's say that your Autistic child wants to have a cup of juice; however, it is quite difficult for him to communicate this to you verbally, which could then lead to a tantrum due to feeling frustrated about not being able to get this point across to you. But if he has a card that contains a picture of a cup of juice, he can show this to you, and you will be able to supply him with the cup of juice. Everyone wins in this situation because he gets what he is asking for, you understand him, and there is no tantrum.

Disciplining the Autistic Child: Teaching Acceptable Behavior and Following Rules

While it is extremely important that children have consistency, Autistic children need consistency more than anything. Because Autistic children depend on sameness, the same consequence needs to be given for each offence every time the offense occurs. Disciplining the Autistic child cannot depend upon the mood that you are in when the incident occurs. Disciplining the Autistic child in this manner will cause confusion, and the Autistic child will become very frustrated and troubled, as he only thinks in black and white and cannot read between the lines. For instance, if your Autistic child hits his sister, then he needs to take some chill time on the chair, and it needs to be that same punishment every single solitary time. When he behaves appropriately, such as not hitting his sister, you must praise and reward him and be specific. For instance, your Autistic child is playing nicely with his sister, he wants to hit her; however, he exercises restraint by not hitting his sister because he remembers what will happen if he does. You see this, and you praise him lavishly by saying something like, "You did a wonderful job not hitting your sister. What a good boy you are. I'm so proud of you for not hitting your sister." Eventually, your child knows that you approve of him redirecting his anger to something else, choosing not to hit his sister. Do you see how this works?

Disciplining an Autistic child may seem very overwhelming. However, with these simple tips in mind, it will make your job as a parent much easier and allow the disciplining process to run more smoothly.