Are There Any Anger Management Techniques For Autistic Children That Are Successful?

With many of the children on the spectrum I have worked with, their anger management techniques have mostly come from PT/OT therapists or from ADHD books and techniques. Maybe look up some of those and see what you think. I know one that worked well for me had something to do with “your engine” it taught the kids to think of their anger as a motor and they used a paper meter to let people know what they were feeling so that you could curb the feelings before they escalated to a behavior such as head banging. Good Luck in your search!

One of my closest friends has an autistic child and since he was young she has always made him behave just like his brothers. If an adult is speaking to him and doesnt respond she stops him and says, Mrs. x is speaking to you and you need to listen. If he starts flipping out she sits him down and calmly says..first name you need to stop this behaviour or you will have to have a time out away from all the things you like. Do you want that or do you want to be with the rest of us? Yes he has a disablity but she doesnt treat him any different she approaches it differently. He needs calmness not anger. I have seen her son come such along way over the past 6 years that I have known them and I give all the credit to his mom and to the school he goes to. Alot of people send their child with autism to public school and I think it is important to find a school that is trained to suit their needs. A young man with autism was at my kids school and he just was not getting anywhere. His parents wanted him to be as “normal” as possible. My friend finally convinced them to send him to the school her son goes to and wow in 2 years what a difference. I have a non autistic child that did the whole headbanging thing as a toddler and we put a helmet on him and made sure he did not take it off. It worked!!! Find some other parents with autistic children it would be great for you to have people that really get it.

I am a preschool teacher of autistic children. What’s worked for my students with this behavior so far is to replace one behavior with another. If you are wanting him to stop head banging, then perhaps instead give him a stress ball to squeeze instead. Autism is tough because there are a lot of sensory needs that must be met in order to eliminate behaviors. Something to ask yourself is, What is causing him to become angry in the first place? If you can figure out what makes him angry, then perhaps interventions can take place to alter the behaviors. It’s hard to give the exact advice you are looking for since so many factors goes into any one behavior. I hope my suggestions have helped. Good luck to you.

Is he head banging out of anger or is he just “stimmy”? If he is using it as a way to handle frustration, you need to provide a replacement behavior. My son has a little alligator clip that he keeps in his pocket. The “clack clack clack” sound is a little annoying, but it’s a pretty healthy way to deal with frustration until he’s calm enough to work it out. He also likes the little stress balls filled with sand, but his favorite is the “clacker”. Then, if he’s really having a hard time, we go to a quiet room, like the bathroom, and calm down and talk about it.