Sometimes they even do it with meta-level discussion of threads getting derailed.
A few seconds once or twice, is fine. A few seconds every ten minutes is not. YMMV
True dat!
We only have two children and we often use the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy. We rarely take them out in public without both parents. So, if we are getting the grocery store tantrum problem (though more likely the ‘grocery store bugging incessently about the thing that we are not buying’ problem) one of us grabs the kid and sits them out in the car. (The other child then acts like a perfect angel and gets to help pick out the rest of the groceries, a coveted role.)
But when I have them on my own, all hell breaks loose. Okay, not really but it’s less clear cut. Usually, I just give the offending party a quick time out (yeah, wherever I am, even in the store) while second child and I have a nice conversation. That usually works. I have only had to remove both of them (because one was misbehaving) once and since they were buying a treat from the candy store, I just went back with the non-offender later.
Ever told an autistic kid to sit still and/or stop rocking or you are gonna take x away? Or to stop being echolalic? Or padding/pounding on a surface that stimulated his tactile senses? That’s setting him/her up to fail.
There certainly are times when my son knows what he’s doing is not appropriate, and we do address that as you have described. But there are other issues/behaviors where this will simply not work no matter how firm you are. You just can’t “ABA” autism away. That is why there is a distinction between between typical child behaviors and autistic behaviors and addressing those differently like I described upthread.
Look at the thread title…you know…the link you click on…if anything, I am the one sticking to the thread while other posters here are trying to lump typical child behaviors alongside with autistic child behaviors and misapplying the idea that those can be controlled like any other behavior.
Again, I state the mother in the OP dropped the ball on this one, but the kid’s behavior that was labeled “autistic” by the OP is a deeper issue than just a typical behavior, and gets a pass here.
Yes. Autistic children do not respond in the same manner. This is true. I’m very sorry that your child suffers from the disorder, and my heart goes out to you.
However, ABA or discrete trial training is certainly the best way to achieve change for kids with PDD, and the behavioral principles are very much the same. You can increase time in/tolerance of non-preferred activities, and you can reduce time spent in stim behavior. It may take much time and effort, depending on where a given child starts, but doing nothing takes a lot longer.
And simply letting a child tantrun in public will not yeild desirable behavior, autism or otherwise.
Parent of a child with autism here. If I thought my daughter couldn’t handle going to the movies I wouldn’t take her. If she had an issue, either behavioral or sensory, I’d remove her immediately. There’s no excuse not to.
However some adults should know that we aren’t all there to cater to their needs either. Noises can’t be helped sometimes.
You should have called the cops and they would have carted her off to psych as an EDP. She was at least a danger to others–jumping after a guy using the slicer. This isn’t someone who is going to look up a shrink or walk in to an ER on her own. She’s a menace. Just saying should anybody run into such a situation.
The mother must be very, very burned out. Sad.