Autistic children are very senstive to the energy of others and what you can do to help...

Autistic children are extremely sensitive to other people’s feelings and energies and often very reactive to their environments.

Some of the challenges that I have observed these children face is that often they do not know how to self- regulate. What I mean by this is these children have a really hard time sometimes being able to manage different situations or losing control of their emotions and completely blowup, having little self control. They also may have difficulty connecting to and expressing different emotions.

I have observed when working in the classroom, as a student support worker, that one moment an autistic child can be calm and focused and centred, then completely explode with anger and frustration the next. Over the years I have learned much about how to read the autistic childs energy, I was learning to recognize the triggers and to try and prevent a meltdown, before it happened, they are very good at giving us signals. I love learning from these children, every child is so unique and different, that no single way of managing their behaviours works well for all of them, but often a combination of techniques.

Being aware of our energy and feelings is essential when dealing with autistic children. The way we feel and behave could make the difference between a child having a great day or a complete meltdown.

A really great example of this is a situation I was involved with as a student support worker for an autistic child in a low functioning learning room. “Michael “ was an autistic child who had very violent, aggressive, tendencies. He could be very loving and gentle, then his behaviours could escalate to being very violent, throwing tables and desks. I was working with him for a while. There were two teachers who ran the classroom. The first teacher had an amazing calm demeanor and treated ‘Michael” very calmly, respectfully and gently. He responded extremely well, by becoming, calm ,focused, sociable and happy .’Michael “ was also very sensitive to loud noises, he liked the environment to be quiet and peaceful. The other teacher was very different, very loud, scattered and hyper and got “ Michael” very wound up. He got really agitated, nervous and angry and frustrated around her. One day I was in the classroom and he started to bang the table and kick his feet. I could see he was getting triggered by the teacher, I calmly went up to “Michael” and whispered “ let’s go the sensory room” , “o.k” he said as he shuffled his feet. We left the classroom, his voice was starting to get louder, so we ran ran to the sensory room. “Michael” found a corner to relax and unwind. I laid on the floor calm and still, looking at a children’s book. After 10 minutes “Michael” laid down beside me and said” hello” very  quietly. I said “hello” back very softly and smiled at him, sending him love and calming energy to him

 I realized how valuable a skill it is to have an awareness of these children and to be able to try and pin point their triggers and manage it before it escalates.

I am so very fortunate to work with autistic children and learn so much from them. Sometimes their behaviours may not be so severe and may involve more anxiety, apprehension and an ability to express some feelings.

 

What we can do to assist in managing an autistic child sensitivity to their environment.

1/ Provide an environment that is calming for your child and not over stimulating such a making an area in your hose a haven where your child can relax and unwind and have time to be alone that can calm an over overstimulated child.

2/ If the child needs more stimulation or has to much energy and needs to burn some off, you can always get your child to exercise. skip, run play ball, trampoline, ride an bike

3/ Being aware of how you are feeling is really important to the autistic child if you are feeling calm and happy they will respond that way to you that way ,if you are feeling angry, frustrated, mad the autistic child will act out on how you are feeling..so trying our best to be conscious of how we are feeling.

4/ Give the autistic child an opportunity to self regulate by getting in touch with their own feelings and guide them in dealing with their feelings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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