Question about ASD Hitting and Kicking

[tacal]

Hello, I posted recently to say I was worried because DS was being hurt by a boy at school who regularly hits, pushes and bites other kids in the class. Until now my ds has been very passive.

A few days ago he hit a girl at school. Ds has difficulty understanding when people are pretending. The girl was pretending to be a character and ds didnt like it so hit her. Then, yesterday ds kicked me. This is really unusual behaviour for ds.

I am worried about this. Do you think he is copying the behaviour he sees in class from the other child? Or do you think this is a sign he is not coping very well at school?

Any advice will be very much appreciated. Thank you

I don't know how old your ds is, but it is common that passive compliant children can only go so long with their needs being unmet and as the social world gets more complex and they get more disorientated the most successful way of dealing with their anxiety is to hit. i.e. whatever it is they don't like is stopped or they are removed from the situation.

This tends to reach a peak around Year 3 when many children with SEN are encouraged to leave MS in favour of a special school, or behavioural unit.

At this point in time it would be sensible to do a functional analysis or an ABC chart. Then you can analysis it. i.e. does the behaviour always occur at transition times, involving the same girl/teacher, or does it happen straight after literacy when he really ought to be getting a learning break rather than straight into playtime which is very stressful?

As for copying the behaviour, well he might be. But that isn't the reason he does it, nor the reason he'll do it again. He'll do it because it offers him something he isn't getting any other way. You need to find out what it is, and don't blame him (though of course encourage him to cease if that is within your power).

Hi Starlight, thank you very much for taking the time to reply to me. My ds is five and has been at school since September. He has been showing signs of anxiety recently.

I will start a functional analysis, thank you for the suggestion. I have a meeting soon with school and ed psych. I will discuss the functional analysis with them and ask if the teacher will do one too. When he hit the girl it was on a Friday afternoon when they were all allowed to play with whatever they wanted as a treat. There would have been no structure, lots of noise.

It is such a change in behaviour for him, I am quite shocked!

don't forget it is nearly christmas and all the routines are being disturbed.

I agree about Christmas
Ds gets a little violent at school this time of year as all routine goes out of the window and his
Predictable routine is disrupted.
He does enjoy Christmas but for one day and not October till December like schools do.

Thank you all for the replies. You are right about the time of year being difficult. My ds becomes more anxious towards end of October (Halloween) and it continues until things settle down in the New Year.

Polter - my ds is on waiting list for O/T who will hopefully help with the sensory issues. What sensory activities could I suggest to the school to help reduce my ds's anxiety? Ds can get angry when people touch him if he is anxious. I wonder if the girl he hit had touched him. I can see that identifying the patterns and triggers will be very beneficial so I hope the school will help me with this. But as you say, when school can not see the difficulties it is really hard to get them to help. Are there any other things you have found useful at school? Does your ds use a move n sit cushion or ear defenders? Are there any things that you have found useful for him to have?

Fascinating thread, and thanks Starlight - our DD is in Yr 3 and we are having a rough time of it at the moment (trying to get her into a special school next year).

Christmas is also a tricky one every year.

What is the ABC chart? Our DD doesn't have an ASK but learning diffs. but anything that could help her sounds brilliant.

Thanks v much.

Has she a statement litdog?

Yep 25 hours one on one a week

I did not know what an ABC chart was either, litdog. I googled it and it sounds like it will be a really useful tool for me to have. Thanks again Starlight.

The ABC chart is a data collection sheet used to determine possible causes for a particular negative behavior. ABC stands for antecedent, behavior and consequence. The information collected can help to address certain repetitive negative behavior.

litdog sorry your dd is having a rough time. I hope things get better soon. Good luck getting her into a better school.

Thanks tacal. We have rough times and mostly good times. But when they are rough they are horrid!

I will google the charts later and talk to her therapists about them.

Re: your son's sensory issues, we have tried big firm hugs to calm DD down, which work, ear defenders, which don't (they stress her out more) and playing classical music - also good.

I love this board - always such a source of brilliant info when the sh*t hits the fan.

I love this board too litdog! Thank you for the suggestions for the sensory issues. I will try classical music, I think that could work for my ds. Big firm hugs calm my ds down too.