Special Needs
ASD and aggressive behavior
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what has worked for them in regards to ASD and aggressive behavior towards other children? We just recently received a dx and aggression has been one of our main issues.
TIA
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Re: ASD and aggressive behavior
DS was like this last year and we just got our diagnosis last year as well.
He would bite, kick and hit only because he was unable to communicate his wants and needs.
I had to up his therapy by adding 6 hours a week. Speech- 2 hours, OT- 1 hour, Behavioral- 1 hr., ABA- 2 hours. The aggression has decreased. And this is just private services outside of school since January. We only had OT and behavioral and speech last year.
In school, it is speech-30minutes, ot-30 minutes, pt- 30 minutes, social work-30 minutes per week. (It is a short amount because DS is in school for like 2 1/2 hours and school is out).
It has been a rough year for us.
What strategy works is going to be directly related to what function the aggression serves. It could be anything from teaching words/signs to communicate needs to medication.
In my DS's case, what has worked has ultimately been a combination of maturity, medication, and ABA, in that order. DS1 was dxed with ASD when he was 3.5, and aggression has always been a part of his presentation. His behaviors are mostly a function of a highly inflated sense of justice: when he feels challenged or wronged, he reacts physically in an impulsive way. We implemented ABA first, attempting to teach him to "use your words, not your hands." After 8 months of ABA with no consistent results, we started adding in meds. Several trials and 2 years later, we are at a point where the aggression is mostly (but not entirely) under control. He will be 8 in September, and it has been a loooooong road to get to this point.