Children with ASD Don’t Have Tantrums...perspective from Mrs. Hartley

Students with autism don't have tantrums.

They have meltdowns.  Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects 1 in 68 children (according to the CDC).  As prevalence increases so should an understanding of how to handle behaviors displayed in the educational setting.

It’s my job, as an educator, to help kids diagnosed with ASD replace inappropriate behavior with something socially appropriate.  I also believe it’s my job to help gen ed teachers deal with difficult behavior.  I‘m back in school working on a degree in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with an emphasis in Autism (to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst).   ABA is the process of applying the principles of behavior to bring about changes that are socially appropriate.  I hope I’ll be able to better help my students and peers with this degree.

About behaviors…every behavior has a function.  The functions are to gain access to an item or activity, attention, or escape.  Rarely does a behavior have only one function.  The first diagnostic criteria for autism is a delay in communication.  Children are most likely trying to tell you something if they’re having a meltdown.  If Oliver screams and cries each morning during morning work, maybe he’s hungry.  If he screams and cries during music, maybe the noise is sensory overload.  Maybe he needs appropriate attention (“catch him being good” and reinforce).  Jacob may request to go to the bathroom every time you say get out your math books or maybe he makes loud comments or maybe both.  Most likely, Jacob has a reason for not wanting to get out his math book.  Maybe it’s hard and he doesn’t understand so he’s asking to go to the bathroom (escape).  If he’s calling out inappropriately, most likely his peers are looking at him or laughing (attention).   If James is taking toys from other kids without asking (attention/ access to item or activity), maybe he doesn’t have the necessary social skills to ask if he can play too.

Children with autism are often resistant to change in schedule or routine.  Unexpected changes can cause a meltdown. They’re not having a tantrum, they actually may not have the capability to appropriately process the anxiety created by a change in routine.  The heightened anxiety and lack of appropriate ways to handle it can lead to a meltdown.

To determine the function of a behavior, one of the first things to do is gather data on exactly what’s happening before, during, and after.  It’s often called ABC data.  Antecedent (what and who was going on), behavior (what the student did) and consequence (what happened immediately afterward).  This may sound labor intensive, but there are forms that make it easy.  (Please keep in mind, this explanation is a simple breakdown of one piece of the puzzle to figure it out – not the inclusive process.)  If this data is collected over a period of time, you may begin to see a pattern develop.  The pattern will help in determining a hypothesis on why the behavior is occurring.  From there interventions can be put in place and replacement behaviors can be taught.

Children with autism don’t have tantrums, they have meltdowns.  They can have friends and behave in a socially appropriate way if we give them the tools they need.  We first need to determine why the behavior is occurring, develop strategies to deal with the behavior, and teach replacement behaviors (which often involves teaching communication).  Children with autism are like all children, (or human beings for that matter), they want interaction, (physical and verbal), they want to be accepted and they want to have friends.  It’s up to us to help make this happen.

Mrs. Hartley