Aspergers and aggressive behavior

The 2 essential factors every parent needs to know
to cope with aggressive and violent behavior in
their Asperger’s child.

For many parents of children with Asperger’s
Syndrome; coping with violent and aggressive behaviour
can be a very difficult challenge indeed. In this article I
will outline the 2 essential factors that you need to know
to cope with such behaviors.

Aggressive behavior in the child with Asperger’s
Syndrome occurs for a reason, just as it would with any
other child. No child ever really just “acts out” for no
apparent reason whatsoever. The key is in the words
“apparent reason” – there is ALWAYS a reason but the
major challenge for the parent is often working out what
that reason is.

Inappropriate behavior, whether mild or severe, generally
occurs in order to:

1. Avoid something – for example a child may become
aggressive and shout before getting the school bus; as they
want to avoid going to school.

2. Get something – for example a child may lash out at
another child because they want to get the toy that the
other child is playing with.

3. Because of pain – for example a child may show a
range of challenging behaviors to their parents because they
feel in physical pain, such as having earache.

4. Fulfill a sensory need – for example a child may lash out
or shout in the classroom if it is too noisy, too busy, too
bright, too hot, or strong in a particular smell.

So the first step in reducing or eliminating this behavior is to
determine the need that it fulfills by looking at the four
categories above. The second step is to teach them a
replacement behavior, which they can use to communicate
what they want or don’t want. It may even involve using
some of their obsessive or self-stimulating behaviors (like
hand-flapping, rocking, pacing) as a replacement behaviour.
This is because it would be far less intrusive to others than
aggressive behaviors, but still serve the same purpose. It
could also be about encouraging the child to express their
feelings or negotiate verbally. For other children they may
communicate through another method like emotion cards,
drawing, using symbols or “talking” through a puppet.
You know your child best so you need to determine this.

This process takes time and initially, depending on the
behavior, you may not have time. If the behavior is severe,
then you need to remove the child from whatever situation
they are in at the time immediately. Simply insisting that
they stop the behavior and participate in whatever is
occurring will not benefit the child or you; unless you
remove them from the situation first. Maintaining
your child’s routine will go a long way towards reducing
the need for inappropriate or aggressive behavior in
the first place. Because for children with Asperger’s
routine is a great source of stability and comfort for them.

So just to recap the 2 critical factors for coping with
your child’s aggressive and violent behaviors are:

1. Identify the real cause of the behaviour from the 4
main categories above.

2. Teach the child to communicate the real cause of
the behaviour to you in a less harmful manner.

Copyright © 2007 Dave Angel