I work with Autistic and Downs students. I am a TA. I love what I do, I feel that my working with these students is a very important call. The Autistic students in my class are from different parts of the spectrum, some are academically higher functioning, right down to regressive autism.
I have always believed that everyone, (no matter what disability they may have), deserve the same opportunities and respect.
Now having said that....my problem is that there is a new student who is having more and more agressive episodes. I tried to record what we were doing, what the lighting was, noise, etc...can not find any connection. Nor any repeated situation that would cause an episode. I have tried ignoring when the pinching starts, then I have tried to get the student's attention focused on something else, to no avail. It starts with pinching, then pulling hair, to kicking. To date, the student has not attempted to go after another student, just adults. The episodes are random, and the student can go 2 days without any at all. This student is in the early teens, and I once read that hormones can bring the episodes on more frequently. Do any of you have a teenager that has had increased aggressive behaviors? Is so, what has worked for you to help calm your child or just completely stop an episode from escalating all together?
I would like help in finding a solution to help this student.
Thank you I don't know about girls but boys often do have aggressions increase or first occur at puberty. Testosterone is the human hormone tht CONTROLS aggression. In nature, the male was originally the hunter and protector. Testosterone helped males develop large, strong muscles and have the motivation to track down food and keep the homefront safe from enemies. That is still natural within the male due to testosterone. Of course, like nearly everthing else, the autistic brain has a harder time adjusting. I've heard this called Cycles of Rage. My own son, who was not aggressive prior to puberty, went through a very aggressive period. He was already on Risperdal to control Tourette's tics, so the doc slowly raised the Risperdal to the point where we got our happy and manageable son back. Some behaviors are controllable without meds (as a school employee, you can't control whether the parents accept meds as an alternative or not -- it's written into education law that schools cannot require medication). The best way to try to manage behavior is to get a Functional Behavioral Assessment done on a student and then have an autism consultant (psychologist, master teacher, BCBA) create a postive Behavior Intervention Plan that is written into the child's IEP. All staff needs to be trained to be consistent with the plan and parents should get training in how to incorporate it into the home. If the BIP is monitored closely enough, it may become clear whether some of these behaviors are simply uncontrollabel without meds. Depending on the situation, the parents may choose to go the medication route. Or not. But at that point, the school will have done all it can.It could be that the rewards are no longer rewarding. OFtentime, rewards have to be updated. Sometimes weekly. Perhaps the mom can give you some new ideas for rewards. The BIP could be FINE. Whoever did the last FBA/BIP should be consulted about this. There may be no need to reinvent the wheel if all that's needed is more air in the tire. Good luck.Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question. I will see if an updated FBA has been done, and if not, will request that one be completed.
We do already have a positive BIP in place, and are following the current IEP to a "t".
Thanks again:)
Good Afternoon,
I work with Autistic children in an Elementary School (K-4). I just found this site today and look forward to learning from so many people who have application experience.
I retired from the Business (Director) and Academic World (Adjunct College Instructor) in 2004.
One of my goals is researching the Educational System from K - 16. Along the way I subbed in a Special Education Room and was fortunate to work with an Autistic Boy. I am now full-time and have gone back to school to learn more about Autism.
I am concerned that many Special Education Teachers/Leaders do not have enough enough numbers and experience for the amount of Autistic Children that are now being mainstreamed.
Colleges and Universities are now offering degrees and certification endorsements but this will take time for educators to catch up. Unfortunately, many of these same higher level of institutions are making/offering these degrees at the Graduate Level which prevents the Aides, and TAs who have the most knowledge from being in positions to make changes at the appropriate levels within a school system.
I have been keeping a log/case study on my Blog with my experiences, struggles and successes since 2006.
My post is on-going and would be to long for this post reply. My only intention is to learn and share information.
http://qualityg.blogspot.com/2006/12/autistic-students-stayi ng-in-general.html
http://qualityg.blogspot.com/2006/10/quality-education-mains treaming-autism.html
I am so glad I found this forum.
Greg