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Behaviour Help!

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Hi,

I am a playworker at a centre for children with special needs. One of my key children has autism, fetal alcohol syndrome and is blind in one eye. He is a whirlwind! The behaviours I am struggling with most at the moment is his throwing of objects - at people (including other children), and his running. The combination of the two makes it difficult for me to intervene before he throws the object because he is so fast.

I am having trouble working out the purpose of his throwing - it may be attention seeking; he laughs if I tell him no or make him apologise and seems to thrive on the discourse that follows.

It is virtually impossible to put him in a time out, he will just run away, he will not stay put. I have gone into a quiet room with him (with no throwable objects) to calm down, which works while he is in there - as soon as he is out he is back to his usual whirlwind self.

My bosses are thinking of telling his parents we can't have him here any longer - which is a real shame, because they could do with the break and I think he is a lovely boy - he's very clever, he loves being in a swing and singing songs with me and generally, I enjoy playing with him - we have made great progress with his speech and he has started to call me by my name and involve me in his outdoor play (which is where we see less of the throwing - trouble is, I can TRY to keep him outside, but he will RUN inside, perhaps only to throw something, then run back out again).

I have asked his dad about what to do about his behaviour - he finds making him stand still and telling him off sternly the most effective way, because it wastes his time and he hates to have his time wasted, but I don't think he is making the connection between throwing the toy and having to stand still and be told no.

The best thing I can come up with is try to keep him away from any hard objects he can throw - this is extremely difficult, especially when there are other children around playing with the toys. He has also started hitting other children for no apparent reason. I could really use some help with this, if anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it.

Thanks for reading :)

  • You could try PECs and social stories if you haven't already.  It may be that he needs to see it in front of him as an explanation rather than have it told to him.  Maybe he  doesn't process verbal information that well.

  • Hi - do you think he sees it as a game?  My son didn't throw things but liked to run away + be chased, luckily it was in gardens etc!   He may think it's fun.  Also he may be over-stimulated in the nursery with lots of things going on.  As you said, he quietens down when you take him to a less stimulating environment.  I'm wondering if there's a way you can have him in that sort of environment more often or whether the practicalities of your job would prevent this?  If my son was going somewhere which was a "busy" sort of place with an unpredictableness about it such as lots of people, noise, not enough routine etc, then he'd get highly excited/agitated.  I agree it would be a shame if he wasn't able to keep attending so I hope some of these thoughts are of some help.  

  • I have previously explained, but it probably didn't go in the first few times so I should repeat it. When he laughs I have told him 'It's not funny' and he will repeat this. I will certainly try telling him again the reason we do not throw things. Thank you.

  • Are you explaining to him why he isn't allowed to throw objects?