My son is 11 with Autism. He has severe behaviors . His biggest problem is frustration and than anger which is caused by the frustration. Last year was a nightmare. He is severly delayed. I have been told until his behavior is controlled he will not learn . He functions as prschool but is going in the 5th grade. My question to you all is what should I ask for in his IEP?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks, Gail

Wow! 4x a week that is super . Here where I live in Ca we have to fight for 1x a week. I am thinking it has alot to do with a verbal child a a pre-verbal child. From my experience a ton of goals can be very overwelming for the IEP team and make it harder for the child to meet them. What about focusing on like say 5 of the most important ones that way you lnpw they will work on them and he will meet them 100% Here if a child meet them 80% that is considered a goal achived for the year. Also how do they kep track of meeting his goals . Do they go back and revist them say a year later to see if he still knows how to do such and such. I think alot of us forget this. I know I have.

His IEP says nothing about pragmatics, however he has a ton of goals and he gets speech four times a week. He has a wonderful speech theraphist who has been with him since he was three years old. He was non-verbal till he was five. She has brought him a long ways.

There are certified master trainers of Facilitate Communication around the country. To find out more information about the communication system Sue uses, google the Facilitated Communication Institute, Syracuse University. They have getting started videos and books if you are not near people already typing. Gail a while ago I wrote a post on the Home page titled SUE RUBIN this is about a youg women with Autism that uses this device . I e-mailed her mom and this is the reply she sent me. I thought it may be helpful to you to. If you want to read what I wrote about ue go to my compisitions it's tilited Sue Rubin . Your son is very Handsome he almost looks like he could be my son's brother.

The idea of an AT device sounds like a great one. It does sound like pragmatics (social use of language)to me as well - and also possibly some language processinf (putting together what he wants to say). If he can get help with these things - if will probably reduce frustration! He has a speech therapist - yes? What do the evals from this person say about pragmatics and processing - if anything?

Also - he so needs an OT for that fine motor piece. What do they do to help him with that? Can he type? Do they ever let him do that? DO they give him some extra time? Can he dictate some of his work? Does he have a 1:1 who can take him to a quiet space to do writing? Deb

We have been documenting behavior at home all summer and I have really been observing him the last couple of weeks. I have noticed that two thjings will really set him off. That is frustration and demands. He has a lot of language but has a hard time getting it out. Than he really gets frustrated cause he can't say what he wants to say. I live in Rural Nevada about 70 miles east of Reno. There are very few services in my town. There is no ABA providers. The school lost their ot people so Anthony hasn't had ot in a year.
The school says he acts out because he dosen't want to do his work. Anthony says it's too hard. He hates to write because he has such a hard time with fine motor. He also has many sensory issues. noise really agiates him.
However I had a long chat today with NV Disability. They say it sounds like he has a problem with pramatic speech skills and I should ask the school for a AT Evaluation. It was suggested that a comunication board might be the tool he needs and might help some of the frustration.
Gail

I can't believe all the posts,
Thank you so much!

Back in Indiana, they had someone called a "behavioral specialist," whose job it was to get to know the child and parents and find out what motivated the child, what stressed the child out and things like that. She then put together a behavioral plan for teachers and aides to use. Also, are there sensory issues that contribute to his anger? Daniel needed earplugs and a hat to wear to school for about 4 years. These things decreased his anxiety, which decreased his aggression.

Hi Gail,
My son is now 28. It's been a long time since he was 11 but he too was a handful at that age. Sometimes hormones are starting to kick in and that causes physical feelings to get in the way of thinking. My son is verbal. But his grammar is not correct most of the time. The school would call and say he was having an episode. They would put him on the phone with me and he would say the lights were humming at him. Sometimes flloresent lights make a sound that we NT's don't pay attention to.

If the school's routine was changed like having a meeting in the auditorium or having a fire drill this would cause him to escalate into frustration. I learned early on that he could not have sugar nor caffiene. This only drove him up the wall. IEP's are what you want the school to help you do for your child. Always Always take someone with you to take notes. None of these new methods were available when Beau was in school so I had to watch and learn. Making charts of what is going to happen that day is helpful. Rewards for good behavior is helpful. Watching the diet is a big thing. Beau always took his lunch. Helping him at home with his work and being a part of how he learns is important. We all learn differently. Beau's speech therapist was a big help to me and to the school. I pray you will get past this. The meds Beau started on at 14 really helped him a lot to stay calm and focused. If I can be of further assistance please let me know. Deb is really giving you some good advice.

At our IEP's I had his tutor that took the notes. She pointed out that the one on one help she gave him never caused frustration. He was always there with pencil and paper in hand ready to learn.

Praying for you,
Shirley

It is so true that it is that he is "not available" to learn - and that the reason may very well not be his own. That is what I was trying to get at with the idea of the ABC charting... Detective work is needed here - a reasonb for the "behavior" needs to be found - then it can be addressed and your son's "availability" can increase. Good luck! Deb

Teachers may say that the child "won't be able to learn" until the behaviors stop. It's not that they aren't "able" to learn - it's more that they are not "available" to learn - that's a big difference.

All behaviors have a purpose. With ASD it is difficult to peel away the layers of purpose that make be creating responses, as well as responses that may be used for both "good and bad" things happening in his environment.

It might be helpful to ask the team to start documenting the "challenging behaviors" as well as the "setting" in which they occurred. It may take a lot of detective work on the team's part, but if it could be determined the purpose of the behaviors - what does he want - and then create an environment that would prevent the behavior from occurring in the first place, you may have some success. So...ask the team for more specific information, documentation of behaviors, settings and perhaps their perceived triggers (which may or may not be your son's.) Then you might have a chance to set up some therapies/PECS/etc. to start addressing the teaching, the availability of learning and prevention of behaviors.

I hope I did not put you on the spot! WOW! What wonderful answers! You also helped me a ton! I sure hope this helps you Gail. I don't know if this is a thought or mabe you already have a Aplyed Behavior Company working with him Or ABA . Where I live they sometimes besides having the service at home work with the schools to. Wishing you the best please tell us how the IEP goes . LOL Quincy

My daughter is working with an OT ) Occupational Therapist) after school. The insurance pays for it and they are working on her behavior. They use rewards, like a TV show or a cute book or stuffed animal after GOOD behavior. When she is behaving badly, she doesnt get the reward. If he is on the preschool level, then maybe that would work for him. Just an idea.......works for us so far. :)

I alsmost forgot - is there a psychologist on his team - or is there a psychologist who consults to the school? Ask for his/her presence at the meeting and ask specifically for their input. What has been done? What has worked? What has not? What do they suggest?

Good luck! Deb

1. I would bring someone with me who would be less emotional than I. Someone who takes great notes. I would ask that person to just quietly listen and to take notes about everything.

2. I would ask for tracking of behaviors. There is something called ABC charting. I find it very useful. It stands for Antecedent - Behavior - Concequence. Every time the behavior occurs, it is tracked. First the Antecedent (what happened - or what was happening) - then the behavior (what specically did the child do?) - and then the Consequence (what was the result of his behavior?). Sometimes you find a pattern that ends up being helpful.

3. What do you do when he is frustrated at home? What helps him de-escalate? Can any of that be incorporated easily into the school environment? If so, what and how. Request that they "try" some of it.

4. Also, request they try these things at the first sign of frustration. Dont wait until he is angry because then there is nothing to be done except to wait.

5. Ask for a follow-up meeting in about a month to discuss what is working and what is not.

Deb

First a note on frustration. For children with ASD (and many others) language is so hard. When they become emotionally involved, this decreases their ability to get language out - and this causes the frustration to increase - and it becomes a vicious cycle.

One thing I have created is an "emotion book" - it has been very helpful to many children - I even had an older silbling request that we make a frustration one for her - and we made it together. Anyway, I usually accompany it with a social story that explains that when you are frustrated (mad, sad, etc) you tend to react in a way that is not ok. This is a time to pull out your "Frustration Book". The story also explains its use.

The book itself is a tiny little thing that can be clipped to a belt, put in a pocket or kept on a backpack. Each page of the book is a suggestion for something that helps that child to calm down. What is really nice about it is that if the child's language is going, the child can use the page he needs kinda like a PEC to show an adult what he needs at that moment. If you are interested in doing something like this, just send me a note and we can talk more about how it works. You can also see a sample on my web site (the address is on my home page). Go to the social link.

Deb

Hi Quincy, Anthony is verbal but still hard to understand sometimes. He didn't start talking till he was five. He has a lot he wants to say but has a hard time with sensory motor planning and can't always get out what he wants to say. Needless to say this frustrates him. His frustration is caused through many things like, senory issues, not being able to make something work, or able to find something, and having to leave the house. It's hard with schedules because he can't read. So I put pictures on them and than he gets mad. Today he asked when will his brain grow so he can learn to read? About broke my heart.
Gail

Hi Gail How does your son communicate? Verbal or Pre -verbal? If Pre-verbal I would suggest starting with this area as one idea. Befor my son has means of communicating he was very frustated . We use PECS which stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. What do you believe is causing his frustation? I know you will get alot of good feedback on here . I wish you the best having more then one that has special needs alot on your plate. Please keep us posted. I really feel adiffrentdrummer is a good one to answer this too. Oh another thought a visual schedule , not to confuse with PECS it's diffrent and can be done many ways. He may need to know what is going to happen next through his day. Hope this helps Quincy!