Thursday, March 20, 2008

Bad Days and a Good Teacher

Dominic had a bad day Tuesday at pre-school. Hitting and acting out. Problem was a combination of tiredness from staying up late the night before, and possible trying to fixit from the staff. Monday night was the last Autism night we went to and it was about dealing with bad behavior.

Most interesting thing for me was what not to do, which turned out to be - don't do anything if you have a full on tantrum on your hands. Just stand back, give the child a quiet place to relax and let them come down on their own. Talking - no good. Explaining - no good. Also, trying to talk about the bad behavior and what not to do is not effective right away. The data wont get processed.

So Dominic started getting cranky and the staff tried to explain and talk to him and this just pushed him further into a tantrum. Finally, he just sat at a table and read a book until he was OK, and much better after a nap.

His teacher from the ECC - Ginger - came the next day and worked with the staff about finding him a quiet spot and getting him some thing to help him change his focus from whatever caused the tantrum. I like her - she seems to be able to handle and talk to kids.

Easter Sunday - three services - no telling what will happen.

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