Behavior charts self harm

1) Hello, I am trying to find a better way of documenting self injurious behavior for an autistic adult who will regularly self harm on a low key level but then occasionally depending on anxiety levels will hit himself with anything that he has in his hand. I do have ABC charts but could benefit from a chart or form that will show at one glance the patterns over a month or 6 months when the adult has been involved in the more severe aspects of self harm, this is because these incidents occur less regularly and the patterns can be disjointed and difficult to correlate over the course of a year in particular. Would anyone know if there are such charts available that ABC charts could be compiled onto? 

2) does anyone have any suggestions to help support an adult to enjoy the cinema more? The person will request to go there and will occasionally enjoy the movie. However on other occasions it will be quite a trigger for heightened anxiety which will lead to grabbing and pulling. If a sad event happens in the film (some one dies) this can cause quite a scene due to upset and yet these are regular features in films, other times it may be nothing to do with the film but rather the environment. I guess what I am asking is if anyone has experienced this before in cinema trips or if there are certain techniques you have found successful during cinema outings? 

Thanks in advance for any advice or support :) 

  • Thanks for your post, I get your points totally, Thanks for sharing :) 

  • Thank you for that clear distinction between self injury and self harm which I hadnt thought through before, but thanks also for all the other things you have said which have been a huge help. I am seeing a behavioural specialist soon and maybe they can offer more advice. As for the cinema I was thinking of taking along a sensory item  or something to squeeze on during the times of anxiety rather than squeeze tightly on our arms, I'll just try out these things along with the other thoughts you have shared. Thanks again

  • Thank you for responding. The purpose is to see if there are any particular months or events that I may be missing that are causing the self injury, I am referring to someone with severe autism who is none verbal and cannot express reasons for this, I think if I could chart the occurrences over the course of time as they are not regular I would be able to see a clearer picture. This is the intent of having the documentation but I also understand that  afterwards I may not have any clearer picture or any more insight than before, however I might get a clear picture and that would help me to help him and that's worth a try, I think. 

  • First of all, there's a distinction between self-injurious behaviour and self-harming behaviour.  The difference is intent.  Self-harm is intentional.  Self-injury may be caused as a result of some other challenging behaviour, or as a way of coping (biting, etc).

    Charting of these behaviours is used in professional care (usually with severe autism) in order to establish antecedents and triggers, and can be used in a proactive approach to understanding behaviour and (hopefully) effecting change in the course of time.  How about creating a chart in Excel - or even, if you don't have the computer skills, simply making up one of your own?  The benefit with something like an Excel spreadsheet is that you can extract data automatically.  Maybe get in touch with a local autism unit or behaviour therapist and see if they can suggest anything to help you.

    The cinema issue is difficult.  Even I, at the high-functioning end, have problems with interruptions, the proximity of lots of other people, etc.  It would obviously be useful if there was some kind of key with films which could give warnings about possible visual, aural or emotional triggers - like with the strobe-light warning for epileptics.  Maybe it's about finding out as much as possible about the film before going, and then perhaps trying to make the visit at a less busy time.

    Sorry I can't really be more helpful.  I understand the problems, though.

  • Is it just me thinking that if I found out someone is trying to record my behaviour efficiently this would feel very patronising and would destroy any trust I had? It's quite a sensitive issue and knowing someone is keeping a tally of it I would put more energy in trying to hide it and therefore have less for dealing with the problem it is a response to. People simply getting the A wrong over and over again, possibly even despite explaining, (or not wrong as such, but missing the most important because it doesn't seem of any significance to others) is another issue that I can imagine will be quite common with someone with ASD, so the whole recording may not actually answer the questions in the end.

  • Regarding your 1st enquiry, may I please ask: what exactly are you hoping to achieve by documenting these behaviours in this way? What do you require a 'chart' for? For what exact purpose will the 'data' of this 'chart' be used?