By Bailey Powers

As parents, one of the biggest challenges you may encounter is establishing an effective way to manage your child’s challenging behaviors at home. As you may know, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may exhibit behaviors like elopement, self-injury, aggression, extreme irritability, or tantrums (O’Nions et al., 2017). One way for parents to address these behaviors at home is through the implementation of evidence-based interventions and strategies. Evidence-based interventions or strategies are those that are supported by research findings and have demonstrated beneficial outcomes for target behaviors (Forman et al., 2008). Because evidence-based interventions and strategies are backed by research, they can help reduce some of the challenging behaviors that your child may be exhibiting, as long as they are implemented often and as intended.

It may be overwhelming to sift through the research to find what will work best for your child. It is my goal to provide you with a couple of evidence-based interventions that can be implemented in the home setting to help manage some of your child’s challenging behaviors. Below each of the broad categories, you will find specific strategies and resources that you can adapt to your child’s needs. Remember that these strategies will show the best results if implemented frequently and as intended by the research. By addressing the negative, unwanted behaviors with these strategies, you can focus more on the positive behaviors and support your child in succeeding behaviorally, emotionally, and even academically.

Visual Supports

Children with ASD likely have deficits in their receptive and expressive language, making it difficult to communicate their wants and needs. When a child is misunderstood or has difficulty communicating, the child can become frustrated, which may result in challenging behaviors. Rao and Gagie (2006) state that visual supports can help children with ASD because they are part of everyone’s communication system, can attract and hold the child’s attention, make abstract concepts more concrete, and can help children express their thoughts. By implementing more visual supports in your home, your child may have an easier time understanding your expectations while also communicating their own wants and needs. Examples of visual supports from Rao and Gagie (2006) that you can use at home include:

• A picture schedule to help with morning, bedtime, or other routines. Include pictures of each step or action within the routine (e.g., a picture of a child brushing their teeth).
• A visual organizer with icons of choices for playtime, food, etc. Include pictures of things such as the child’s toys or favorite snacks/meals so they can express which of the options they would like.
• A rules/expectation chart with pictures to illustrate each rule.
• A first/then board (find more information here for step-by-step implementation)
• A social story to teach social skills (examples of social stories can be found here)
• Additional examples of visual supports can be found at this link.

Reinforcement

According to Kucharczyk (2013), reinforcement can be used to increase the frequency of positive behaviors and even reduce the frequency of unwanted behaviors. There are two types of reinforcement: positive and negative. Positive reinforcement is when something is rewarded (a tangible reward, edible reward, activity, etc.) after a child engages in a positive, desired behavior. Negative reinforcement is when something is removed that the child does not want (e.g., removing a demand or request) to increase the desired behavior. It is important to note that negative reinforcement is not the opposite of positive reinforcement – both are used to increase positive behaviors (Kucharczyk, 2013). I will briefly explain below how you can implement reinforcement in your home. A more detailed, step-by-step process can be found here.

• Identify and define the target skill/behavior you would like to address.
• Identify potential positive reinforcers that your child finds interesting – it may be best to ask your child! View an example of a reinforcement inventory here.
• Create a reinforcer menu for your child.
  • This is a great opportunity to incorporate a visual support – include images of the reinforcers so that your child can clearly see the options.
  • Allow the child to select the reinforcer that is most interesting to them.
• Determine when your child will receive the desired reinforcer. Is there a specific time of the day that you will look for these behaviors?
• Implement continuous reinforcement – try your best to immediately provide your child with the reinforcer after the desired behavior. Also, make sure to address what behavior you are providing the reinforcement for (e.g., “Thank you for sitting so calmly at the dinner table” or “Thank you for waiting your turn to play with the blocks”).
• Try your best to catch your child engaging in these positive behaviors as often as possible!

Conclusion

             It can be difficult to manage challenging behaviors at home. It might be equally as difficult to find strategies that will work for you and your child. Research indicates that the use of evidence-based interventions and strategies like visual supports and reinforcement can help address some of the challenging behaviors that your child might be engaging in and in turn promote positive behaviors. While it does take time and consistent implementation of these strategies, it is worth trying to see if they meet your child’s needs. More evidence-based interventions can be found at https://www.txautism.net/interventions.

 

References

 ABA Educational Resources. (n.d.). Social stories. www.abaresources.com/social-stories

Hamilton, M. & Loring, W. (2011, March). Visual supports and autism. https://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/Visual%20Supports%20Tool%20Kit.pdf

Children’s Autism Services of Edmonton. (n.d.). First-then boar: Tip sheet. https://childrensautism.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/first-then.pdf

Forman, S. G., Olin, S. S., Hoagwood, K. E., Crowe, M., & Saka, N. (2009). Evidence-based interventions in schools: Developers’ views of implementation barriers and facilitators. School Mental Health, 1(1), 26.

Kucharczyk, S. (2013). Reinforcement (R+) fact sheet. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

O’Nions, E., Happé, F., Evers, K., Boonen, H., & Noens, I. (2018). How do parents manage irritability, challenging behaviour, non-compliance and anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorders? A meta-synthesis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48(4), 1272-1286.

Positive Partnerships. (n.d.). Reinforcement inventories. https://www.positivepartnerships.com.au/resources/practical-tools-information-sheets/reinforcement-inventory

Rao, S. M., & Gagie, B. (2006). Learning through seeing and doing: Visual supports for children with autism. Teaching exceptional children, 38(6), 26-33.

Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism Training [tslat]. (n.d.). Interventions. https://www.txautism.net/interventions

Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism Training [tslat]. (n.d.). Reinforcement (R+). https://www.txautism.net/interventions/reinforcement-r