Today I started my online classes for better understanding/educating of people with autism. So far, they seem directed towards children ages 3-16. There is of course the concern that the tools I'm learning won't help an autistic male almost double that age, but I'm willing to try. There's always the hope that repetition will help Jordan learn positive behaviors, and make the negative behaviors less and more bearable.

The first lesson was about ABI (Antecedent Based Interventions). Basically, prevention of the negative behaviors such as screaming and self abuse. At the core, it is a non-punishment/non-ultimatum based way of stopping negative behavior by providing choices. It involves monitoring the child, taking note of all environmental aspects of when the behavior occurs (who's present, what's the noise level, where is it happening, etc.) and changing that environment by offering choices based on the child's likes or interests, so that the behaviors occur less.

One of the examples they gave was a child did not want to participate in free play during school time, and instead wandered the classroom. He would throw a fit whenever he was asked to participate in an activity. The mother of the child noted that his favorite toys are toy people and clay, and shared this information with the child's teachers. The teachers decided to approach the child with the choice of either clay or toy people during free play. At first the child ignored them, but when approached again he chose the toy men. They then directed him to the area of the room where the toy men were, and though he screamed because he didn't want to go over there, he in the end decided to play with the toy men. After more than two minutes of play, they allowed him to wander around the classroom again. A few minutes later, the child decided on his own to go play with the toy men for a little while. Not only does this enforce good behaviors by only offering the child the choice between two things they enjoy, but it also teaches the child about making choices in general.

Jordan tends to throw a fit, scream, and hit himself whenever we leave a restaurant, or when he knows we're heading home. He also does this whenever someone leaves the house. I was wondering how this sort of approach would work towards my situation, but I'm coming up with some ideas. One thing I could do is give him a choice of snacks once we're in the car, or maybe let him choose the cd we listen to. When someone has to leave the house, I could give him the choice of things he likes to do such as jumping in the pool or taking a shower. I don't look at is as really rewarding the negative behavior, just redirecting Jordan through choices so that we can avoid it. It's an interesting idea.