Self-injurious behaviors are frighteningly common in children with autism. The truly frightening part is that this can carry into adulthood.

SIBs can take the form of biting, hair-pulling, banging their heads on walls, and extreme scratching. These actions can cause harm to your child and others around them.

As the parents, it is natural that you would want your child to stop hurting themselves. So Key Connections ABA Services, LLC is here to give some advice on how you can prevent or cut back on this behavior:

• Teach them communication skills

  One of the causes of SIBs is frustration due to communication difficulties. The best option for this is to teach your little one functional communication skills or to use a communication board. ABA Services in Chelmsford, Massachusetts can help with this.

• Staying firm

  In some cases, children with autism use SIBs as means of avoiding anything they deem unpleasant. It could be a doctor’s visit or instructions given to them by their parents or therapist. It is important that you intercede the moment your child tries to hurt themselves, but continue to follow through with your requests to your child.

  This is important in order to teach your child that SIBs will not get them out of an activity.

• Giving positive attention

  If your child starts engaging in SIBs for attention, stop them immediately. But do so as neutral as possible. You don’t want to teach your child that they need to hurt themselves just to get attention. Give them positive attention when SIBs are not occurring.

It will take a few tries, but will eventually get better at managing your child’s SIBs. If you’re in need of Autism Therapy in Massachusetts, feel free to give us a call at 888-896-5227!