Now What? Part 4

Besides the speech and occupational therapy, we thought Zach needed something more to help him and us manage some his behavior issues at home.  Zach had issues with transitioning from one event to the next and would often times use verbal or physical actions as a means to express his objections.  He would also use a loud voice and became obsessed with using the computer and other things in the house.  There were times that Zach’s physical objections were so intense I would have to wrap him up in a body lock to calm him down and prevent him from harming himself, others, or property.  Unfortunately, there were moments   when he would hit one of his parents or sister, swipe pictures off the wall, or throw an item across the room. 

Some of the incidents were placed on public display, like, a grocery store, parking lot, park, playground or the mall, but a lot of incidents occurred within the walls of our home.  Regardless of when and where it happened, it was stressful and frustrating.  There was one time while driving in the car with his mother he got mad about doing an activity in which he had no interest so he picked some loose item up that was lying on the floor, threw it at his mother, and then chucked his shoes out the window.  There was another time he wanted to go pick his mother up from work and when we arrived he started to climb up a ladder.  I told him to get down and after he verbally objected the physical scuffle was on.  I had to pull Zach out of the store and while driving home he started to show more objections by hitting his sister.  I then pulled the car over on the side of the freeway. I remember it was cold outside, but I was wrestling with Zach to get some physical control of him that I became soaked in sweat.  Twenty minutes later we were able to continue our return home that was only a couple of miles away.   

I would say that 80-85 percent of the day Zach behaved fine, but that 15-20 percent when he would have a blowout was just mentally and physically draining, and caused a lot of tension between Debby and me.  We obviously needed some help with deescalating and managing his home behaviors with the hope that what we learned would translate into useful tools in public as well.  We were looking for someone who could help us with the behaviors, but also assist Zach with some academics at home.  One of the psychologists that evaluated Zach in order that we could apply for funding through a program recommended a behavior therapist to us.  Enter Ms. Emily and the beginning of Zach’s behavior transformation. 

For Zach and a lot of kids on the autism spectrum there is a need to have a visual schedule whether handwritten or using pictures.  Emily provided tremendous assistance with developing a schedule for our son with a reward system.  She would ask him, “What are you working for?”  Zachary mostly would work for computer, play the WII, use the IPOD touch, or build and play on an obstacle course (which he loves).  Then Emily would list out all of the things Zach would have to complete prior to getting one of the rewards he was working toward.  For example, Zach would have to complete a math sheet, read a stack of sight words, and practice handwriting (not his favorite task) before using the computer.

We then took the schedule with the reward system to manage Zach’s behavior with transitioning from one activity to the next in the hope that he would get use to transitioning, and over time it would become easier for him to do.  This also helped Zach to mentally prepare for what to expect for the day.  Previously Zach would want something at the grocery store and if that was not the first thing we did for the day Zach would have a blowout, and verbally or physically object.  Under Ms. Emily’s reward system we would list out everything we were doing for the day and would tell Zach if he did good while we completed all of these other things he would get his reward of going to the grocery store.  Today, Zach has gotten so use to the schedule that we typically do not have to write it down, but rather we verbally tell him what we are doing and he picks one thing on the list he wants to do as his reward.  This is not to say that after all of this Zach does not have any blowouts, but they are considerably less frequent and virtually forgettable.  It took a lot of time to implement and for Zach to get use to, but Transitioning from one event to the next has never been easier. 

With the assistance of Ms. Emily we also established some basic rules of the house that we posted for Zach to see.  The rules consisted of gentle hands and feet, quiet voices, nice words, and listen to mom and dad.  We also established a list of things Zach could lose if he did not follow the rules, like, go to bed early, no computer, no watching one of his favorite shows on television at night, and extra chores he would need to complete around the house.  Whenever Zach would raise his voice out of anger or started to physically object to something we would remind him of the rules.  Reminding Zach of the rules consisted of us reading them to Zach and then making Zach read them to us as well.  Again this was not something that was implemented over night.  It took a lot of time, repetition, and positive reinforcement to get Zach use to the rules and how to respond to them.  Today, Zach understands the rules so well that we no longer post them in the house, but at times have to verbally remind him of the rules and we make him say them to us to make sure he still remembers them. 

Ms. Emily also suggested and then implemented time limits on how long he could use computer, WII, and other activities to reduce Zach’s obsessive behavior.  The longer Zach would play on something the harder it was to transition him to another activity.  For example, Ms. Emily would tell Zach he can use the computer for 15 minutes and would set a timer. Once the timer buzzed Zach would have to get off the computer.  By limiting the time he can spend on an activity and giving him the time limit has greatly reduced his obsessive compulsive type behavior with certain activities. 

It has been close to five years since we have been working with Ms. Emily, and not only has she transformed Zach’s behaviors she has made our family life a whole lot less stressful.   A great behavior therapist, like ours, can greatly assist a family with tempering some of the behaviors at home, provide structure, and reduce the stress among family members.  THANK YOU MS. EMILY!!!