Does your child do this?

What sort of rewards should I give her?

So to give a bit of background my daughter usually runs when I walk towards her when she is having a meltdown or isn't happy with something. When my daughter is having a meltdown I usually try to make her laugh to calm her as that works most of the time.

When I spoke to her she said that she doesn't even know she does it sometimes as when she is having a meltdown she can't control herself sometimes. She also said that when I try to make her laugh, she gets confused as she "can't think properly" and doesn't know "whether it is time to play with mummy and run as mummy comes towards her". 

To be honest I don't even think she knows herself most of the time that she has done it.

She also does it when she isn't happy with something and I come towards here and same when she is having a meltdown so I think she is trying to tell me something when she does it to be honest.

She will probably do it for a few more years yet.

(  ...Me again. I should say, when talking to children over 5 Years old (!), talk to them as if they were an adult, and if they do not understand something, then talk them through that considering what they do know. Children (apparently) appreciate that.

...Also they might surprise You, and/or say something which You also may not know... in which case talk it through carefully whilst admitting the limits of any knowledge while taking Your need to protect them into consideration. I add this last part since Your Child is Autistic and may know & 'feel' a lot of things which You might not...!  )

Hello,

Thanks for the advice, I will reply to you both later when I have more time.

My daughter is still awake now so I am going to try and talk to her and see if she knows why she does it.

Hi,

My 8 year old son also does this, quite frequently. It can start off in good humour and quickly escalate to more impulsive behaviour (refusing to stop running in circles). I had a horrendous time when he did this at an airport and wouldn't stop despite them calling us to the gate. In the end, I just had to grab him and practically drag him to the gate, which wasn't my finest hour as everyone was staring, he was struggling & screaming and I was crying!

Apologies, this probably isn't much help but I just wanted you to know that this does happen and I appreciate how difficult it is. In situations where he isn't putting himself at risk, I usually sit/stand close by and ask him to stop. I will then start walking away and see if he follows. Distraction tends to work and he loves my phone, so might get a game/picture up that he likes.

It is a very difficult situation, especially if there are lots of people around/staring, but being calm and trying to distract are best solutions in my case.

Greetings. I am not a parent & am just passing, but I suggest/ask a few things:

Is the child happy whilst doing this? Then it is seen as an attention-seeking game.

Are they serious looking or angry while doing this? Then it is attention seeking and trying to tell/show You something else.

'Find a way to stop them doing it'... not really, no, apart from asking them why they do it, do *not* tell them off for it depending upon the reason, use something to distract them from doing it, give massive rewards/more attention when they do something else or cease doing it.

Also there is the thing about the running away being a form of "stimming"/stress relief... in which case find a similar chasing game + environment in which to play in, and reward them there instead of in a shop/public place.

...Stress relief and Rewarding "good" behaviour may apply here... but You do not give much detail, so that is all I may dare suggest just now... someone else might post better suggestions later. (Someone who is a parent.)