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Autism & Asperger's Syndrome (Expert Forum)
3 yr old with PDD-NOS being very aggressive
Answered by
Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA - autism
The New England Center for Children
MA
Questions in the Autism & Asperger's Syndrome forum are answered by researchers at the New England Center for Children. Topics covered include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Antisocial Personality Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Autism, blindness, bullying, clinical depression, deafness, dyslexia, mental retardation, and social alienation.
3 yr old with PDD-NOS being very aggressive
by MelanieAnn85, Nov 19, 2008 02:52PM
I am a single mother and I am in need of help or advice. I have a 3 yr old son that was just diagnosed with pdd nos. He is currently attending an early education daycare but he is being very aggressive with the other children in his class and with me. I have no idea how to stop this behavior, Currently he is biting, pinching, grabbing, pulling hair, kicking, slapping, yelling, shoving and pushing. This past month he has recieved 19 incident reports this month. And I am afrid that its going to get worse. He is can be a very sweet little boy but then there are time that he can be so mean where anything and everything makes him become aggressive. And he seems not to be scared of anything, he climbs on everything and he is very friendly with strangers but the moment they do something he doesnt like he get so mean. I am scared about the fact that he is so friendly with strangers because he doesnt look for me when someone new is around or at a new place he just goes up to people that are there.I have been told that there is a issue with his sensorys andhe is always trying to feel and touch everything even if i tell him not to because it could hurt him and he can be very rough with other kids. There are no behavior therapist where I live so I dont know what to do to help. I will appreciate any advice anyone can give me thank you...
Doctor's Answer
by Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA, Nov 20, 2008 09:55AM
, Nov 20, 2008 09:55AM
I would expect that a behavioral intervention would be succesful in reducing your son's aggression, but I do recognize that it can be difficult to identify professionals qualified to help. I recommend that you visit the website of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (bacb.com) where you will find a directory of service providers by state. In most cases, interventions involve teaching the child to communicate appropriately (e.g., for ask for attention or a toy, or to request a break from an unpleasant activity) and to decrease the "pay off" for aggressive behavior (e.g., minimize attention, don't "give in" following tantrums). Your child should be receiving speech services. It is much easier to discourage aggressive behavior and tantrums when a child has more appropriate ways to communicate.
It would be really useful if triggers to these aggressive behaviours can be established as this way, you will be able identify the causes and try to deal with them more effectively.
If he is verbal, then you could perhaps start with teaching him very simply negotiation vocab. e.g. stop it, i don't like it, no, etc.
Ensure that you are not reinforcing any tantrum behaviour and try to re-direct the behaviours to something more appropritate wherever possible.
Amber Q