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Autism, Impulsivity and a System which can't see past behaviour!

AnthonyV

Good evening,

This is my first time posting here.

My 11-old daughter was diagnosed with Autism around 6 months ago. She transitioned to secondary school in September and things haven't been great for her. To be fair to the school, they have listened and do come across as though they want to help. We have applied to the LA for an EHCP Needs Assessment which they have refused to complete. We have been to mediation and the LA has maintained that they do not need to complete an assessment. As such, we are awaiting a Tribunal date. 

Things have been difficult for our 11yo. She has always been quite impulsive and has remorse after doing impulsive acts (things like stealing adults' things that aren't hers and drawing on walls). She started to self-harm shortly after starting secondary school and has complained of children bullying her. We have raised these issues with the school. However, she has been suspended for 3 days today after taking a knife to school and telling one of the bullies that if she carried on, she "could stab her". Now, this is obviously very concerning. 

I want to understand how best to support my daughter, but I don't quite understand impulsivity in Autistic children/Children with Autism. I don't subscribe to the behaviourist view of people and believe that environments contribute to individual rationalisation of choices. I also have a good understanding that each child is individual. 

Can anyone recommend any good books, podcast episodes, or other resources which might help?

Thanks in Advance.

Ant

  • Hello AnthonyV,

    Welcome to the forum and thank you for your post. I am very sorry to hear the difficulties you are experiencing. We have an "Advice and Guidance" section on the National Autistic Society website with lots of helpful advice.

    May I suggest the section about behaviour. You can find the link here:

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/behaviour

    Here you will find advice about different behaviours and hopefully some helpful strategies. 

    You may also find the "after diagnosis" section helpful. Please find the link here:

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/diagnosis/after-diagnosis

    We also have a section on education which may have useful guidance. 

    www.autism.org.uk/.../education

    I hope you find some useful advice in the pages above. 

    With best wishes, 

    Anna Mod

  • I second looking into ADHD. Monotropism is a link between the two and when young, it does seem Autism and ADHD can be mixed up, but Autism will be a difference in communication, while ADHD will have an ability to speak the Typical social linguistics and read most others.

    A note on impulsivity: Autistics will have difficulty with task-switching and while all children can benefit from finishing one task and then moving on to the next, Autistics tend to thrive with this while ADHD'rs really have difficulty here. But pair up an ADHD'r with the ability to multi-task and lighting bolt ideas with an Autistic who must finish each thing to completion and you'll find an excellent team! 

    I say this but recognise not everyone will be afforded the ability to work with their potential. An Autistic who isn't in an environment where they're allowed to button up every detail may find themselves unable to think properly, full of frustration and accident prone. When they're children, they won't understand why. 

  • Because of impaired social abilities, autistic children can often not perceive social methods to escape bullying, so resort to threats of, or actual, physical retaliation. This is because no other response seems viable. This is compounded by autistic children often having few or no friends. Having said this, impulsivity is more a facet of ADHD than autism, but many people have both. The difference being that ADHD is amenable to medication, whereas autism is not. It may be useful in the longer term to seek assessment for ADHD for your daughter.