HOW DO YOU DISIPLINE YOUR ASD CHILD/FRAGILE X?

[AngP2585]

Just wondering how you use disipline when you have a child with ASD or something similar?
My son is 3 years old and has fragile x syndrome which shares similar traits to autisim. My son bites and hits myself, and my husband but not with anyone else. He seems really well behaved for everyone else.

What should I do? Some proffesionals have told me to ignore the behaviour as he wont understand but I think he understands more than they think. Any tips?

I'm having a similar problem. Ds just finds any kind of 'discipline' hilarious which is not great. We've tried ignoring, time out, sticker charts yarda yarda but nothings seems to have an effect. If he wants do do something he doesn't care and will carry on regardless. It's totally exhausting, especially when his behaviour is directed at dc2 and up sets her. Sorry I don't have any advise but your by no means alone

There are a couple of things I'd recommend, first review this article by Dr. Braden and Dr. Riley - marciabraden.com/assets/2010/07/Reality_Check.pdf

I'd also read Dr. Braden's other columns available on her resource page:
marciabraden.com/?page_id=104

Second: Try to determine what the behavior is communicating, start a log to track behaviors, just needs to be simple date/time and comments. Comments should contain the behavior, what went on before and during, and after, how did you respond. I'll keep a chart for about two-three weeks before I'll try to analyze it, gather first, then take a hard look at it. Can you determine the function behind the behavior? Can you identify triggers? Sometimes you might need to modify how you respond.

Keep in mind every child is different, what might work for one child may not work for yours, so understanding the function behind the behavior, what the behavior is communicating is very important.

What ever you decide it will be important that you and your husband are consistent, same approach.

Good luck.

Ds school have just been really helpful, we explained our problem and they have given us some cards that say 'no biting' or 'no pushing' etc... with a picture of the action with a red line across it. I had to try one out (the minute we got home) and it seemed to work!! Not had to use it again yet so may have been a fluke but thought I'd share this with you as it may be something you could try with your ds? I just showed him the card and verbally said 'no pushing' it's the first time he seemed to understand that I wanted him to stop this behaviour so fingers crossed. My ds is very visual and they do this method at his school so this may not suit all but i'll be chuffed if it does work as it seems a much kinder/fairer way of explaining what is good/bad behaviour to him