Handling autism meltdown

Dealing with autism can be hard especially for parents and one of the most challenging parts of it is handling meltdown. In some autism study behavior is often called episodes; the term meltdown often referred to an episode that can make any sweet child go sour and beloved can become despised, complete with screaming, anger and histrionics for hours or you can define it as bad temper tantrum. Meltdown is a good word to describe this kind of episode and its really hard dealing with it because it’s like a tornado that occurs with out warning and all you can do is ride it all out. It is important also to consistently track or record each episode and behavior of kids with autism. Behavior Tracker Pro is an iphone application that can help parents track the behaviors of their kids especially the meltdowns.

When encountering meltdowns, it’s really important for any parents, guardians to be calm in these situations and not being affected by the situation irritably, by doing this will help parents of any guardians to perform appropriate actions in this situation and not making it worse.

Here are some characteristics of meltdowns.

* During a meltdown, a child with autism does not look, nor care, if those around him are reacting to his behavior.

* A child in the middle of a meltdown does not consider her own safety.

* A child in a meltdown has no interest or involvement in the social situation.

* Meltdowns will usually continue as though they are moving under their own power and wind down slowly.

* A meltdown conveys the feeling that no one is in control.

* A meltdown usually occurs because a specific want has not been permitted and after that point has been reached, nothing can satisfy the child until the situation is over.

How to handle a melt down:

* Recognize the signs that a meltdown is impending.

* There is a certain trigger before the meltdown—determine what the trigger is.

* If the trigger is fairly insignificant, such as him wanting to hold the red ball in the store, decide if it is worth it. A red ball is a small price to pay for a quiet shopping trip.

* If the trigger is something that is not possible to resolve, such as the one in the tractor story, try to distract your child by moving to another location in the store and finding a reasonable substitute that will divert her attention.

* If you are in a restaurant and a meltdown is approaching, reach for a new or very special toy you have hidden in your purse. Something complex, like a hand held puzzle, can work well.

* As you are working to distract your child, speak softly to, him about his behavior and let him know that it needs to stop. Don’t dwell on what he can’t have at that moment, but reiterate that he needs to slow down and stay in control. Stay calm so he has no idea you are panicking over the thought that he might lose it.

* Persist in any calming techniques that work for your child. Some children will respond to a hug while others will not want to be touched; this is a matter of “whatever works.”

You will not always be able to defuse a child that has autism bent on having a meltdown. If the cycle progresses and he reaches the point-of-no-return, you have two options. You can decide to ride it out or do something to make the kid calm down.