Coping with aggression in any child can be difficult, but how do you deal with aggression in a child who doesn’t understand the world around them, an autistic child who uses aggression as a means of control and communication. What do you do then? How do you stop the aggression without taking away their control? Without stopping the communication process?
Like most issues with autistic children, the answer isn’t really black and white. After all, the reason they may be acting out may differ from child to child. And the trigger points may be different as well. It will take some trial and error to figure out the cause of the aggression and then a way to remove it and replace it with a more positive behaviour.
Watch for their triggers. This means keeping an eye on what is occurring right before the aggression presents itself, and what is happening right after the aggression begins.
Is there something occurring in the environment around them before it happens? Perhaps something sensory related. A loud noise, a strong odor, something scratchy touching them. Pay close attention to the things around them. The aggression may be presenting itself as a means of them expressing their upset over the stimuli.
Once you’ve discovered the trigger for the aggression, you need to remove it, or minimize it.
If it’s loud noise such as the vacuum cleaner that does it, try and vacuum when they are not home, or give them noise canceling headphones to wear while you do the vacuuming. Is it a certain fabric, get them different clothes and bedding that is more suitable to their senses. Whatever the thing is that is upsetting them and causing the aggression, so your best to remove it, and with it’s removal, the aggressive behaviours should disappear as well.
If all else fails, you may need to contact your doctor, as there are some medications that can help them regain some control of themselves and prevent the more explosive, dangerous aggressive behaviours that may present themselves. Medication may not be the answer you were wanting to hear, but it can be the only option when you exhausted all other routes.
Aggression in any child can be difficult to cope with. Aggression in an autistic child can be even more difficult to cope with due to their lack of communication skills. By learning what causes their aggression, we can make modifications to the environment around them to reduce the aggressive outbursts.
